1981 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1981 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Area
75,650 km2 (excluding Canal Zone, 1,430 km2); 24% agricultural land (9% fallow, 4% cropland, 11% pasture), 20% exploitable forest, 56% other forests, urban, and waste
Coastline
2,490 km
Land boundaries
630 km
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
200 nm (continental shelf including sovereignty over superjacent waters)
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
70% mestizo, 14% Negro, 9% white, 7% Indian and other
Labor force
est. 625,000 (January 1982); 45% commerce, finance and services; 29% agriculture, hunting and fishing; 10% manufacturing and mining; 5% construction; 4% Canal Zone; 5% transportation and communications; 1.2% utilities; 2% other; unemployed estimated at 10-15% (January 1982); shortage of skilled labor but an oversupply of unskilled labor
Language
Spanish; about 14% speak English as native tongue; many Panamanians bilingual
Literacy
82% of population 10 years of age and over
Nationality
noun — Panamanian(s); adjective — Panamanian
Organized labor
10-15% of labor force (1978 est.)
Population
2,011,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.3%
Religion
over 90% Roman Catholic, remainder mainly Protestant
Government
Branches
President and Vice President, elected by National Assembly; popularly elected unicameral legislature, National Assembly of Community (Corregimiento) Representatives; legislative powers currently exercised in the main by National Council on Legislation, but constitutional amendments, approved in October 1978, give somewhat broader role to National Assembly; presidentially appointed Supreme Court subject to Corregimiento review under new constitutional amendment
Capital
Panama
Communists
500 active and several hundred inactive members People's Party (PdP); 1,500 members and sympathizers of rival Fraction movement which split from PdP in 1974
Elections
elections for National Assembly in August 1978, Assembly chose President and Vice President in October 1978; constitutional reforms allow Assembly to elect from its own membership representatives comprising twothirds of the primary legislative organ, the National Council on Legislation; the remaining one-third of the Council's 56 representatives was chosen in September 1980 by direct popular elections; direct popular elections for President and Vice President and the Assembly will be held in 1984 Political parties and leaders: legislation providing for legalization of political parties, which were suspended following 1968 Torrijos coup, approved October 1978; since early 1979, all political parties and groups have been allowed to organize under new democratization program; Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRO; official government party), Gerardo Gonzalez; Communist People's Party (PdP; progovernment), Ruben Dario Souza; Liberal Party (PL; opposition), Arnulfo Escalona; Christian Democratic Party (PDC; opposition), Guillermo Cochez; Panamenista Party (PP; opposition), Arnulfo Arias
Government leaders
Aristides ROYO is constitutional President and Chief of State, but remains accountable to the National Guard General Staff
Legal system
based on civil law system; constitution adopted in 1972; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; legal education at University of Panama; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Member of
FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IDE, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ITU, IWC— International Whaling Commission, IWC — International Wheat Council, NAM, OAS, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO
National holiday
Independence Day, 3 November
Official name
Republic of Panama
Other political or pressure groups
National Council of Private Enterprise (CONEP); Panamanian Association of Business Executives (APEDE)
Political subdivisions
9 provinces, 1 intendancy
Suffrage
universal and compulsory over age 18
Type
republic
Voting strength
only two progovernment and two small opposition parties registered candidates for 1980 legislative elections; half the candidates ran as independents