Panama (2006) | Bolivia (2008) | |
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Administrative divisions | 9 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 territory* (comarca); Bocas del Toro, Chiriqui, Cocle, Colon, Darien, Herrera, Los Santos, Panama, San Blas*(Kuna Yala), and Veraguas | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 30.3% (male 492,403/female 472,996)
15-64 years: 63.4% (male 1,025,898/female 998,926) 65 years and over: 6.3% (male 94,122/female 106,974) (2006 est.) |
0-14 years: 34.3% (male 1,593,509/female 1,532,155)
15-64 years: 61.1% (male 2,730,359/female 2,841,872) 65 years and over: 4.6% (male 187,123/female 234,134) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | bananas, rice, corn, coffee, sugarcane, vegetables; livestock; shrimp | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber |
Airports | 117 (2006) | 1,061 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 53
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 18 under 914 m: 28 (2006) |
total: 16
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 64
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 53 (2006) |
total: 1,045
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 57 914 to 1,523 m: 183 under 914 m: 800 (2007) |
Area | total: 78,200 sq km
land: 75,990 sq km water: 2,210 sq km |
total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km water: 14,190 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than South Carolina | slightly less than three times the size of Montana |
Background | Explored and settled by the Spanish in the 16th century, Panama broke with Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador - named the Republic of Gran Colombia. When the latter dissolved in 1830, Panama remained part of Colombia. With US backing, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903 and promptly signed a treaty with the US allowing for the construction of a canal and US sovereignty over a strip of land on either side of the structure (the Panama Canal Zone). The Panama Canal was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. In 1977, an agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the Canal from the US to Panama by the end of the century. Certain portions of the Zone and increasing responsibility over the Canal were turned over in the subsequent decades. With US help, dictator Manuel NORIEGA was deposed in 1989. The entire Panama Canal, the area supporting the Canal, and remaining US military bases were transfered to Panama by the end of 1999. In October 2006, Panamanians approved an ambitious plan to expand the Canal. The project, which is to begin in 2007 and could double the Canal's capacity, is expected to be completed in 2014-15. | Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and countercoups. Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and illegal drug production. In December 2005, Bolivians elected Movement Toward Socialism leader Evo MORALES president - by the widest margin of any leader since the restoration of civilian rule in 1982 - after he ran on a promise to change the country's traditional political class and empower the nation's poor majority. However, since taking office, his controversial strategies have exacerbated racial and economic tensions between the Amerindian populations of the Andean west and the non-indigenous communities of the eastern lowlands. |
Birth rate | 21.74 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 22.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $3.426 billion
expenditures: $3.959 billion; including capital expenditures of $471 million (2005 est.) |
revenues: $4.1 billion
expenditures: $4 billion (2007 est.) |
Capital | name: Panama
geographic coordinates: 8 58 N, 79 32 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
name: La Paz (administrative capital)
geographic coordinates: 16 30 S, 68 09 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Sucre (constitutional capital) |
Climate | tropical maritime; hot, humid, cloudy; prolonged rainy season (May to January), short dry season (January to May) | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid |
Coastline | 2,490 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 11 October 1972; major reforms adopted 1978, 1983, 1994, and 2004 | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994; possible referendum on new constitution to be held in 2008 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Panama
conventional short form: Panama local long form: Republica de Panama local short form: Panama |
conventional long form: Republic of Bolivia
conventional short form: Bolivia local long form: Republica de Bolivia local short form: Bolivia |
Death rate | 5.36 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) | 7.44 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $9.758 billion (2005 est.) | $3.8 billion (31December 2007 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador William A. EATON
embassy: Avenida Balboa and Calle 37, Apartado Postal 0816-02561, Zona 5, Panama City 5 mailing address: American Embassy Panama, Unit 0945, APO AA 34002 telephone: [507] 207-7000 FAX: [507] 227-1964 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Philip S. GOLDBERG
embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, La Paz mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032 telephone: [591] (2) 216-8000 FAX: [591] (2) 216-8111 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Federico HUMBERT Arias
chancery: 2862 McGill Terrace NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-1407 FAX: [1] (202) 483-8416 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Tampa |
chief of mission: Ambassador Gustavo GUZMAN Saldana
chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410 FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712 consulate(s) general: Houston, Miami, New York, Oklahoma City, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, DC |
Disputes - international | organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia operate within the border region with Panama | Chile rebuffs Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, offering instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile for Bolivian natural gas and other commodities |
Economic aid - recipient | $197.1 million (1995) | $582.9 million (2005 est.) |
Economy - overview | Panama's dollarised economy rests primarily on a well-developed services sector that accounts for three-fourths of GDP. Services include operating the Panama Canal, banking, the Colon Free Zone, insurance, container ports, flagship registry, and tourism. A slump in the Colon Free Zone and agricultural exports, the global slowdown, and the withdrawal of US military forces held back economic growth in 2000-03; growth picked up in 2004 and 2005 led by export-oriented services and a construction boom stimulated by tax incentives. The government has implemented tax reforms, as well as social security reforms, and backs regional trade agreements and development of tourism. Unemployment remains high. | Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. Following a disastrous economic crisis during the early 1980s, reforms spurred private investment, stimulated economic growth, and cut poverty rates in the 1990s. The period 2003-05 was characterized by political instability, racial tensions, and violent protests against plans - subsequently abandoned - to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. In 2005, the government passed a controversial hydrocarbons law that imposed significantly higher royalties and required foreign firms then operating under risk-sharing contracts to surrender all production to the state energy company, which was made the sole exporter of natural gas. The law also required that the state energy company regain control over the five companies that were privatized during the 1990s - a process that is still underway. In 2006, higher earnings for mining and hydrocarbons exports pushed the current account surplus to about 12% of GDP and the government's higher tax take produced a fiscal surplus after years of large deficits. Debt relief from the G8 - announced in 2005 - also has significantly reduced Bolivia's public sector debt burden. Private investment as a share of GDP, however, remains among the lowest in Latin America, and inflation reached double-digit levels in 2007. |
Electricity - consumption | 4.87 billion kWh (2003) | 3.385 billion kWh (2006) |
Electricity - exports | 175 million kWh (2003) | 177,000 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 25 million kWh (2003) | 18,000 kWh (2007) |
Electricity - production | 5.398 billion kWh (2003) | 5.293 billion kWh (2006) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Volcan de Chiriqui 3,475 m |
lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
Environment - current issues | water pollution from agricultural runoff threatens fishery resources; deforestation of tropical rain forest; land degradation and soil erosion threatens siltation of Panama Canal; air pollution in urban areas; mining threatens natural resources | the clearing of land for agricultural purposes and the international demand for tropical timber are contributing to deforestation; soil erosion from overgrazing and poor cultivation methods (including slash-and-burn agriculture); desertification; loss of biodiversity; industrial pollution of water supplies used for drinking and irrigation |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 70%, Amerindian and mixed (West Indian) 14%, white 10%, Amerindian 6% | Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15% |
Exchange rates | balboas per US dollar - 1 (2005), 1 (2004), 1 (2003), 1 (2002), 1 (2001) | bolivianos per US dollar - 7.8616 (2007), 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Martin TORRIJOS Espino (since 1 September 2004); First Vice President Samuel LEWIS Navarro (since 1 September 2004); Second Vice President Ruben AROSEMENA Valdes (since 1 September 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Martin TORRIJOS Espino (since 1 September 2004); First Vice President Samuel LEWIS Navarro (since 1 September 2004); Second Vice President Ruben AROSEMENA Valdes (since 1 September 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice presidents elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms (eligible for two more terms); election last held 2 May 2004 (next to be held 3 May 2009); note - beginning in 2009, Panama will have only one vice president. election results: Martin TORRIJOS Espino elected president; percent of vote - Martin TORRIJOS Espino 47.5%, Guillermo ENDARA Galimany 30.6%, Jose Miguel ALEMAN 17%, Ricardo MARTINELLI 4.9% note: government coalition - PRD (Democratic Revolutionary Party), PP (Popular Party) |
chief of state: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: Juan Evo MORALES Ayma elected president; percent of vote - Juan Evo MORALES Ayma 53.7%; Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez 28.6%; Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana 7.8%; Michiaki NAGATANI Morishit 6.5%; Felipe QUISPE Huanca 2.2%; Guildo ANGULA Cabrera 0.7% |
Exports | NA bbl/day | 18,500 bbl/day (2007 est.) |
Exports - commodities | bananas, shrimp, sugar, coffee, clothing | natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin |
Exports - partners | US 44.9%, Spain 8.9%, Sweden 5.6%, Netherlands 4.9%, Costa Rica 4% (2005) | Brazil 45.5%, US 10.8%, Argentina 9.2%, Colombia 6.8%, Japan 5.5%, South Korea 4.3% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | divided into four, equal rectangles; the top quadrants are white (hoist side) with a blue five-pointed star in the center and plain red; the bottom quadrants are plain blue (hoist side) and white with a red five-pointed star in the center | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band
note: similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 6.8%
industry: 15.6% services: 77.6% (2005 est.) |
agriculture: 14.5%
industry: 30.5% services: 55% (2006 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 6.4% (2005 est.) | 4% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 9 00 N, 80 00 W | 17 00 S, 65 00 W |
Geography - note | strategic location on eastern end of isthmus forming land bridge connecting North and South America; controls Panama Canal that links North Atlantic Ocean via Caribbean Sea with North Pacific Ocean | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.2%
highest 10%: 35.7% (1997) |
lowest 10%: 0.3%
highest 10%: 47.2% (2002) |
Illicit drugs | major cocaine transshipment point and primary money-laundering center for narcotics revenue; money-laundering activity is especially heavy in the Colon Free Zone; offshore financial center; negligible signs of coca cultivation; monitoring of financial transactions is improving; official corruption remains a major problem | world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 26,500 hectares under cultivation in August 2005, an 8% increase from 2004; transit country for Peruvian and Colombian cocaine destined for Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Europe; cultivation steadily increasing despite eradication and alternative crop programs; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade, especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay; major cocaine consumption |
Imports | NA bbl/day; note - imports oil | 8,600 bbl/day (2007 est.) |
Imports - commodities | capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, chemicals | petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans |
Imports - partners | US 27.5%, Netherlands Antilles 11.4%, Costa Rica 4.7%, Japan 4.5% (2005) | Brazil 29.3%, Argentina 16%, Chile 12.1%, US 9.1%, Peru 8.1% (2006) |
Independence | 3 November 1903 (from Colombia; became independent from Spain 28 November 1821) | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 1.7% (2005 est.) | 1.1% (2007 est.) |
Industries | construction, brewing, cement and other construction materials, sugar milling | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing |
Infant mortality rate | total: 16.37 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 17.75 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
total: 50.43 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 53.93 deaths/1,000 live births female: 46.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.9% (2005 est.) | 12% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | CAN (observer), CSN (observer), FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO | CAN, CSN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMISET, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Irrigated land | 430 sq km (2003) | 1,320 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (nine judges appointed for 10-year terms); five superior courts; three courts of appeal | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges appointed for 10-year terms by National Congress); District Courts (one in each department); provincial and local courts (to try minor cases); Constitutional Tribunal (5 primary or titulares and 5 alternate or suplente magistrates appointed by Congress; to rule on constitutional issues); National Electoral Court (6 members elected by Congress, Supreme Court, the President, and the political party with the highest vote in the last election for 4-year terms) |
Labor force | 1.39 million
note: shortage of skilled labor, but an oversupply of unskilled labor (2005 est.) |
4.793 million (2006 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 20.8%
industry: 18% services: 61.2% (1995 est.) |
agriculture: 40%
industry: 17% services: 43% (2006 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 555 km
border countries: Colombia 225 km, Costa Rica 330 km |
total: 6,940 km
border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,423 km, Chile 860 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 1,075 km |
Land use | arable land: 7.26%
permanent crops: 1.95% other: 90.79% (2005) |
arable land: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 97.03% (2005) |
Languages | Spanish (official), English 14%; note - many Panamanians bilingual | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) |
Legal system | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court of Justice; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly (formerly called Legislative Assembly) or Asamblea Nacional (78 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms); note - in 2009, the number of seats will change to 71
elections: last held 2 May 2004 (next to be held 3 May 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRD 40, PA 17, PS 8, MOLIRENA 3, CD 2, PP 2, PLN 1, other 5 note: legislators from outlying rural districts are chosen on a plurality basis while districts located in more populous towns and cities elect multiple legislators by means of a proportion-based formula |
bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; 70 members are directly elected from their districts and 60 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms)
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PODEMOS 13, MAS 12, UN 1, MNR 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 73, PODEMOS 43, UN 8, MNR 6 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.22 years
male: 72.68 years female: 77.87 years (2006 est.) |
total population: 66.19 years
male: 63.53 years female: 68.97 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.6% male: 93.2% female: 91.9% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.7% male: 93.1% female: 80.7% (2001 census) |
Location | Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Colombia and Costa Rica | Central South America, southwest of Brazil |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | South America |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 5,473 ships (1000 GRT or over) 146,511,342 GRT/219,940,567 DWT
by type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 1,776, cargo 992, chemical tanker 476, combination ore/oil 2, container 663, liquefied gas 193, livestock carrier 7, passenger 49, passenger/cargo 77, petroleum tanker 518, refrigerated cargo 299, roll on/roll off 123, specialized tanker 23, vehicle carrier 274 foreign-owned: 4,922 (Anguilla 1, Argentina 9, Australia 3, Bahamas, The 2, Belgium 11, Bermuda 1, Bulgaria 1, Canada 4, Chile 9, China 420, Colombia 5, Croatia 5, Cuba 11, Cyprus 14, Denmark 34, Egypt 16, Estonia 3, France 15, Gabon 1, Germany 35, Greece 524, Hong Kong 169, India 19, Indonesia 50, Iran 4, Ireland 2, Israel 6, Italy 15, Japan 2007, Jordan 13, South Korea ( ( (291, Kuwait 2, Latvia 3, Lebanon 2, Lithuania 5, Malaysia 13, Maldives 1, Malta 3, Mexico 5, Monaco 9, Morocco 1, Netherlands 21, Nigeria 7, Norway 66, Pakistan 3, Peru 15, Philippines 13, Poland 15, Portugal 10, Qatar 1, Romania 9, Russia 7, Saudi Arabia 8, Singapore 67, South Africa 3, Spain 53, Sri Lanka 5, Sudan 1, Sweden 5, Switzerland 226, Syria 18, Taiwan 308, Thailand 9, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Turkey 42, UAE 105, UK 37, Ukraine 8, US 94, Venezuela 14, Vietnam 4, Yemen 3) registered in other countries: 1 (Venezuela 1) (2006) |
total: 25 ships (1000 GRT or over) 73,877 GRT/110,148 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 12, carrier 1, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 9 foreign-owned: 9 (Argentina 1, China 1, Egypt 1, Iran 1, Italy 1, Singapore 1, Syria 1, Taiwan 1, Yemen 1) (2007) |
Military - note | on 10 February 1990, the government of then President ENDARA abolished Panama's military and reformed the security apparatus by creating the Panamanian Public Forces; in October 1994, Panama's Legislative Assembly approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting the creation of a standing military force, but allowing the temporary establishment of special police units to counter acts of "external aggression" | - |
Military branches | an amendment to the Constitution abolished the armed forces, but there are security forces (Panamanian Public Forces or PPF includes the Panamanian National Police, National Maritime Service, and National Air Service) | Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Bolivian Navy (Armada Boliviana; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB) (2008) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $150 million (2005 est.) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1% (2005 est.) | 1.9% (2006) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 3 November (1903) | Independence Day, 6 August (1825) |
Nationality | noun: Panamanian(s)
adjective: Panamanian |
noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian |
Natural hazards | occasional severe storms and forest fires in the Darien area | flooding in the northeast (March-April) |
Natural resources | copper, mahogany forests, shrimp, hydropower | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) | -1.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 4,860 km; liquid petroleum gas 47 km; oil 2,475 km; refined products 1,589 km; unknown (oil/water) 247 km (2007) |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Change or CD [Ricardo MARTINELLI]; Democratic Revolutionary Party or PRD [Hugo GUIRAUD]; National Liberal Party or PLN [Anibal GALINDO]; Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement or MOLIRENA [Jesus ROSAS]; Panamenista Party or PA (formerly the Arnulfista Party) [Marco AMEGLIO]; Popular Party or PP (formerly Christian Democratic Party or PDC) [Ricardo ARIAS Calderon]; Solidarity Party or PS [Jose Raul MULINO] | Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Franz BARRIOS]; Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Juan Evo MORALES Ayma]; Movement Without Fear or MSM [Juan DEL GRANADO]; National Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Mirta QUEVEDO]; National Unity [Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana]; Poder Democratico Nacional or PODEMOS [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez]; Social Alliance [Rene JOAQUINO] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Chamber of Commerce; National Civic Crusade; National Council of Organized Workers or CONATO; National Council of Private Enterprise or CONEP; National Union of Construction and Similar Workers (SUNTRACS); Panamanian Association of Business Executives or APEDE; Panamanian Industrialists Society or SIP; Workers Confederation of the Republic of Panama or CTRP | Cocalero groups; indigenous organizations; labor unions; Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia or CSUTCB |
Population | 3,191,319 (July 2006 est.) | 9,119,152 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 37% (1999 est.) | 60% (2006 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.6% (2006 est.) | 1.42% (2007 est.) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 101, FM 134, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) |
Railways | total: 355 km
standard gauge: 77 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 278 km 0.914-m gauge (2005) |
total: 3,504 km
narrow gauge: 3,504 km 1.000-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 15% | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.961 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.799 male(s)/female total population: 0.979 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single) |
Telephone system | general assessment: domestic and international facilities well developed
domestic: NA international: country code - 507; 1 coaxial submarine cable; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to the Central American Microwave System |
general assessment: privatization beginning in 1995; reliability has steadily improved; new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile- cellular telephone use expanding rapidly; fixed-line teledensity of 7 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density of 27 per 100 persons
domestic: primary trunk system, which is being expanded, employs digital microwave radio relay; some areas are served by fiber-optic cable; mobile cellular systems are being expanded international: country code - 591; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2007) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 440,100 (2005) | 646,300 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1.352 million (2005) | 2.421 million (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 38 (including repeaters) (1998) | 48 (1997) |
Terrain | interior mostly steep, rugged mountains and dissected, upland plains; coastal areas largely plains and rolling hills | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin |
Total fertility rate | 2.68 children born/woman (2006 est.) | 2.76 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 9.8% (2005 est.) | 8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2006) |
Waterways | 800 km (includes 82 km Panama Canal) (2005) | 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2007) |