Central America · Interventions and the long 20th century
Panama
1903/1904–present
Panama, the narrow isthmus linking the Americas, was part of Gran Colombia and then Colombia after independence from Spain (1821). Its history has been defined by its geography as a transit route — the 1850s Panama Railroad, and the failed French canal effort under Ferdinand de Lesseps in the 1880s.
- Existed
- 1903/1904–present
- Shown on the map
- 1905–2024
- Peak area
- 84k km²
- Region
- Central America
Overview
Panama, the narrow isthmus linking the Americas, was part of Gran Colombia and then Colombia after independence from Spain (1821). Its history has been defined by its geography as a transit route — the 1850s Panama Railroad, and the failed French canal effort under Ferdinand de Lesseps in the 1880s. When the Colombian senate rejected a treaty permitting the United States to build a canal, Panama — with decisive US naval backing — declared independence from Colombia on 3 November 1903. Manuel Amador Guerrero became its first president (1904). The Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty (1903) granted the US control of the Panama Canal Zone "in perpetuity," and the canal opened in 1914.
Later history and present status
The Canal Zone and pervasive US influence dominated 20th-century Panama and fueled nationalist grievance. The Torrijos–Carter Treaties (7 September 1977) provided for the gradual transfer of the canal to Panama, completed on 31 December 1999. In December 1989 the United States invaded Panama ("Operation Just Cause") to depose the military strongman Manuel Noriega, who was captured and tried in the US. Panama has since been a stable presidential democracy with a dollarized economy centered on the canal, banking, and services (the canal underwent a major expansion completed in 2016). José Raúl Mulino became president in July 2024.
Common questions
- What was Panama?
- Panama, the narrow isthmus linking the Americas, was part of Gran Colombia and then Colombia after independence from Spain (1821). Its history has been defined by its geography as a transit route — the 1850s Panama Railroad, and the failed French canal effort under Ferdinand de Lesseps in the 1880s.
- When did Panama exist?
- Panama existed 1903/1904–present. On this map it is drawn 1905–2024.
- How large was Panama?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Panama covered about 84,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- What is the present status of Panama?
- The Canal Zone and pervasive US influence dominated 20th-century Panama and fueled nationalist grievance. The Torrijos–Carter Treaties (7 September 1977) provided for the gradual transfer of the canal to Panama, completed on 31 December 1999.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity and for the key figures and events as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, EBSCO Research Starters and academic sources. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Panama en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
See Panama in its world
Open the atlas at 1965 and every neighbour, rival and successor is on screen with it — then drag the slider and watch what happens next.
Open the map at 1965 →