1984 Edition

Agriculture

main crops— bananas, rice, sugarcane, corn, coffee; self-sufficient in basic foods

Aid

economic — US, authorized, including Ex-Im (FY70-82), $375 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (197081), $400 million; military— US (FY70-82), $18 million

Airfields

145 total, 143 usable; 42 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 17 with runways 1,2202,439 m

Area

75,650 km2 (excluding Canal Zone, 1,430 km2); 24% agricultural land (11% pasture, 9% fallow, 4% crop); 20% exploitable forest; 56% other forest, urban or waste

Branches

President and Vice President, elected by National Assembly; popularly elected unicameral legislature, National Assembly of Community (Corregimientos) Representatives; legislative powers currently exercised in the main by National Legislative Council, but constitutional amendments, approved in October 1978, give somewhat broader role to National Assembly; Supreme Court (appointed by President and Cabinet) subject to legislative branch review under new constitutional amendment; under April 1983 reforms there will be a President, two Vice Presidents, and a 67-member Legislative Assembly, all popularly elected

Defense Forces of the Republic of Panama (formerly known as the National Guard) includes military ground forces (still designated National Guard), Panamanian Air Force, National Navy, Panama Canal Defense Force, police force, traffic police/highway patrol, National Department of Investigation, and Department of Immigration

Budget

(1982) $865 million in revenues, $1.355 billion in expenditures

Capital

Panama

Civil air

16 major transport aircraft

Coastline

2,490 km People

Communists

People's Party (PdP), progovernment mainline Communist party, met requirements for certification as a legal party in 1981; PdP has approximately 35,000 adherents; 1,500 members and sympathizers of rival Fraccion movement, which split from PdP in 1974

Elections

elections for National Assembly in August 1978, Assembly chose President (Aristides Royo, who resigned in July 1982) and Vice President in October 1978; constitutional reforms allow Assembly to elect from its own membership representatives comprising two-thirds of the primary legislative organ, the National Legislative Council; the remaining third of the Council's 56 representatives were chosen in September 1980 by direct popular elections; major electoral reforms were adopted in September 1983; direct popular elections for the President, two Vice Presidents, and the legislature are scheduled for May 1984; elections for mayors and corregimientos are scheduled for June Political parties and leaders: legislation providing for legalization of political parties, which were suspended following 1968 coup, approved October 1978; since early 1979, all political parties and groups have been allowed to organize under new democratization program; Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD; official government party), Berta Torrijos de Arosemena; Communist People's Party (PdP; progovernment), Ruben Dario Souza; Liberal Party (PL; opposition), Roderick Esquivel; Christian Democratic Party (PDC; opposition), Ricardo Arias Calderon; Authentic Panamenista Party (PPA; opposition), Arnulfo Arias; Panamenista Party (PP; opposition, breakaway faction), Luis Caspar Suarez and Alonso Pinzon; Popular Action Party (PAPO), Carlos Ivan Zuniga Guardia; Labor Party (PALA), Carlos Eleta Almaran; Popular Nationalist Party (PNP), Olimpo Saez Marcuchi; Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement (MOLIRENA), Cesar Arrocha Graell; Popular Broad Front (FRAMPO), Miguel Montiel; Republican Party (PR), Eric A. Delvalle; Socialist Workers Party (PST), Jose Cambra; Revolutionary Workers Party (PRT), Graciela Dixon

Electric power

765,000 kW capacity (1983); 2.1 billion kWh produced (1983), 1,020 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

70% mestizo, 14% West Indian, 10% white, 6% Indian

Exports

$345 million (f.o.b., 1982); petroleum products, bananas, sugar, shrimp

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

Fishing

catch 113,861 metric tons(1981); exports $60.2 million (1981)

GNP

$3.945 billion (1982), $1,934 per capita; 55% private consumption, 19% government consumption, 26% gross fixed investment, —2% net foreign balance (1982); real growth (1982), 4.0%

Government leaders

Jorge ILLUECA is constitutional President and Chief of State, but he remains accountable to the Panamanian Defense Forces

Highways

8,400 km total; 2,715 km paved, 3,170 km gravel or crushed stone, 2,515 km improved and unimproved earth

Imports

$1.441 billion (f.o.b., 1982); manufactured goods, crude oil, transportation equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs

Inland waterways

800 km navigable by shallow draft vessels; 82 km Panama Canal

Labor force

est. 625,000 (January 1982); 45% commerce, finance, and services; 29% agriculture, hunting, and fishing; 10% manufacturing and mining; 5% construction; 5% transportation and communications; 4% Canal Zone; 1.2% utilities; 2% other; unemployed estimated at 20% (January 1983); shortage of skilled labor but an oversupply of unskilled labor

Land boundaries

630 km Water

Language

Spanish (official); 14% speak English as native tongue; many Panamanians bilingual

Legal system

based on civil law system; constitution adopted in 1972, but major reforms adopted in April 1983; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; legal education at University of Panama; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

200 nm (continental shelf, including sovereignty over superjacent waters)

Literacy

85%

Major industries

food processing, beverages, petroleum products, construction materials, clothing, paper products

Major trade partners

exports — 56% US, 6% FRG; imports— 33% US, 8% Venezuela, 6% Japan (1981)

Member of

FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IDE— InterAmerican Development Bank, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, IWC— International Whaling Commission, IWC — International Wheat Council, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO Economy

Military budget

for fiscal year beginning 1 January 1984, $88 million; 3.4% of the central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 536,000; 369,000 fit for military service; no conscription

Monetary conversion rate

1 balboa=US$l (January 1984)

National holiday

Independence Day, 3 November

Nationality

noun — Panamanian(s); adjective— Panamanian

Official name

Republic of Panama

Organized labor

approximately 15% of labor force (1982) Government

Other political or pressure groups

National Council of Private Enterprise (CONEP); Panamanian Association of Business Executives (APEDE)

Pipelines

refined products, 96 km; crude oil, 130km

Political subdivisions

9 provinces, 1 intendancy

Population

2,101,000 (July 1983), average annual growth rate 2.1%

Ports

2 major (Cristobal Colon/Coco Solo, Balboa/Panama City), 4 minor

Railroads

278 km total; 78 km 1.524-meter gauge, 200 km 0.914-meter gauge

Religion

over 93% Roman Catholic, 6% Protestant

Suffrage

universal and compulsory over age

Telecommunications

domestic and international telecom facilities well developed; connection into Central American microwave net; 2 Atlantic Ocean satellite antennas; 191,900 telephones (9.9 per 100 popl.); 72 AM, 30 FM, and 14 TV stations; 1 coaxial submarine cable Defense Forces

Type

centralized republic

Voting strength

only two progovernment and two small opposition parties registered candidates for 1980 legislative elections; half the candidates ran as independents; 14 parties registered at the end of 1983, with two more possible before May 1984 elections