Panama is located in the Southern part of the Central America.
It divides its borders with Colombia in the South East and
Costa Rica in the West. It is bordered by the Caribbean Sea
in North and by the Pacific Ocean in the South.
Of in West the extension of the country Is is of 772 km; North
in the South its width oscillates between 60 and 177 km. Its
geography is mountainous with grounds of low altitude on the
coasts.
The area of "El Interior" (interior) which goes
from the peninsula of Azuero to the Centrales mountains is
characteristic to be a zone of plains and hills with a vegetation
of savanna.
The Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean are linked by Panama
Canal whose construction started in 1903 and who was inaugurated
in 1914. This channel crosses a natural unevenness formed
by the cordillera of Talamanca and that of San Blas. Its real
length is of 65 km, however the length of the channel from
the deep water zones where navigation is possible is of 80
km.
Only a quarter of the country is inhabited. The majority
of the population live in the zones which surround the channel
and in the cities which are used of entry and exit with the
channel, especially the town of Panama and Colón. There
are also urban cores in the low grounds of the coast of the
Pacific Ocean and in the close mountainous zones.
