1987 Edition

Climate

tropical; hot, humid, cloudy; prolonged rainy season (May to January), short dry season (January to May)

Coastline

2,490 km

Comparative area

slightly larger than West Virginia

Environment

dense tropical forest in east and northwest

Land boundaries

630 km total

Land use

6% arable land; 2% permanent crops; 15% meadows and pastures; 54% forest and woodland; 23% other; includes NEGL®% irrigated

Special notes

strategic location on eastern end of isthmus forming land bridge connecting North and South America; controls Panama Canal that links Atlantic Ocean via Caribbean Sea with Pacific Ocean

Terrain

interior mostly steep, rugged mountains and dissected, upland plains; coastal areas largely plains and rolling hills

Territorial sea

200 nm

Total area

See regions! map 111

77,080 km?; land area: 75,990 km?

Ethnic divisions

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

Infant mortality rate

20.1/1,000 (1984)

Labor force

680,471 (1984 est.); 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; 20% unemployed (January 1985 est.); shortage of skilled labor, but an oversupply of unskilled labor

Language

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

Life expectancy

71

Literacy

90%

Nationality

noun—Panamanian(s); adjective—Panamanian

Organized labor

17% of labor force (1986)

Population

2,274,833 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.14%

Religion

over 93% Roman Catholic, 6% Protestant

Administrative divisions

9 provinces, | comarca

Branches

under April 1983 reforms, a President, two Vice Presidents, and a 67-member Legislative Assembly are elected by popular vote for five-year terms; nine Supreme Court Justices and nine alternates serve 10-year terms; two justices and their alternates are replaced every other December by presidential nomination and legislative confirmation

Capital

Panama

Communists

People’s Party (PdP), progovernment mainline Communist party, did not obtain the necessary three percent of the total vote in 1984 elections to retain its legal status; about 3,000 members

Elections

seven electoral slates made up of 14 registered political parties were on the May 1984 ballot with the president and other winners decided by simple pluralities; mayoral and municipal elections were held in June 1984 Political parties and leaders: (registered for 1984 presidential and legislative elections) National Democratic Union (UNADE; government coalition—Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD, official government party), Romulo Escobar Bethancourt, Carlos Ozores Typaldos; Republican Party (PR), Eric Arturo Devalle Henriquez; Liberal Party (PL), Roderick Lorenzo Esquivel; Labor Party (PALA), Ramén Sieiro Murgas and Carlos Eleta Almardan; Panamenista Party (PP), Luis Suarez; Popular Broad Front Party (FRAMPO), Alvaro Arosemena; Democratic Opposition Alliance (ADO, opposition)— Christian Democratic Party (PDC), Ricardo Arias Calderon; Authentic Panamenista Party (PPA), Arnulfo Arias Madrid; Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement (MOLIRENA), Alfredo Ramirez, Sr.; other opposition parties—Popular Nationalist Party (PNP), Olimpo A. Saez Maruci; Popular Action Party (PAPO), Carlos Ivan Zuniga; People’s Party (PdP, Sovietoriented Communist), Rubén Dario Sousa Batista; Socialist Workers Party (PST), José Cambra; Revolutionary Workers Party (PRT), Graciela Dixon

Government leaders

Eric Arturo DELVALLE Henriquez, President (since September 1985); Roderick ESQUIVEL, First Vice President (since October 1985); Second Vice President, unfilled Panama (continued) Suffrage 18: universal and compulsory over age 18

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; accepts compulsory 1CJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Member of

FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IDB— Inter-American Development Bank, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, 1WC—International Whaling Commission, 1WC—International Wheat Council, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day, 3 November

Official name

Republic of Panama

Other political or pressure groups

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

Type

centralized republic

Voting strength

in the May 1984 elections the government coalition received 800,748 votes, narrowly defeating the opposition alliance, which received 299,035 votes; UNADE won 45 seats in the 67-member Legislative Assembly, and ADO won the remaining 22 seats

Agriculture

bananas, rice, sugarcane, coffee, corn; self-sufficient in basic foods; an illegal producer of cannabis for the international drug trade

Aid

US, including Ex-Im commitments (FY70-85), $468 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (1970-84), $494 million; Communist countries (1970-85), $4 million

Budget

(1984) revenues, $886 million; expenditures, $1.175 billion

Electric power

1,109,000 kW capacity; 8,120 million kWh produced, 1,400 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$410 million (f.0.b., 1985); petroleum products, bananas, shrimp, sugar

Fiscal year

calendar year

Fishing

catch 143,000 metric tons (1983); exports $53.2 million (1984)

GNP

$4.4 billion (1984), $2,060 per capita; real growth - 3.3% (1985)

Imports

$1.34 billion (f.0.b., 1985); petroleum products, manufactured goods, machinery and transportation equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs

Major industries

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

Major trade partners

exports—59.1% US, 17% Central America and Caribbean, 16% EC, 8% other; imports—-30% US, 19% Central America and Caribbean, 10% Mexico, 8% Japan, 8% Venezuela, 6% EC, 15% other (1984)

Military transfers

US (FY70-85), $47 million

Monetary conversion rate

1 balboa=US$1 (January 1986)

Natural resources

copper, mahogany forests, shrimp

Airfields

138 total, 183 usable; 44 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 16 with runways 1,220-2,489 m

Civil air

16 major transport aircraft

Highways

8,530 km total; 2,745 km paved, 3,270 km gravel or crushed stone, 2.515 km improved and unimproved earth

Inland waterways

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

Pipelines

crude oil, 180 km

Ports

2 major (Cristobal and Balboa), 8 minor

Railroads

238 km total; 78 km 1.524meter gauge, 160 km 0.914-meter gauge

Telecommunications

domestic and international facilities well developed; connection into Central American microwave net; 2 Atlantic Ocean satellite antennas; 220,000 telephones (10.5 per 100 popl.); 80 AM, 14 TV stations; 1 coaxial submarine cable

Branches

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, Department of Immigration

Military budget

for fiscal year beginning 1 January 1987, $104.6 million; about 4% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 579,000; 400,000 fit for military service; no conscription