Panama - History & Background

Panama has a total area of 30,420 square miles and, as of 1998, a population of 2.77 million. The four largest cities are Panama City, San Miguelito, Colón, and David. The country is located between Costa Rica in Central America and Colombia in South America. The Spaniards first arrived in Panama in 1501, and Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean when he visited the country in 1513. In 1821 Panama became free from Spanish rule but chose to be part of Colombia. In 1903 Panama won independence from Colombia with the help of the United States, which wanted to construct a canal linking the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. From 1880 to 1900 the French had unsuccessfully tried to build a passage between the two oceans but the Americans succeeded, and the canal was opened on August 14, 1914. Panama signed a treaty with the United States, giving it rights to administer an area 10 miles wide and 50 miles long. The Canal Zone, as this strip of land was known, would play an important and controversial role in the country for most of the twentieth century. In 1977 General Torrijos signed two treaties that would determine the future of the Canal Zone. The canal was finally transferred to Panama on December 31, 1999.

Although the Panamanian governments operated under a constitutionally democratic framework from 1903 to the late 1960s, the military took over in 1968 and deposed elected President Arnulfo Arias, installing the commander of the National Guard, Omar Torrijos, as president. Torrijos died in 1981 and his notorious military successor, General Noriega, was indicted in 1988 for drug trafficking. In fact, Noriega surrendered to the United States and was sent to prison in Florida, where, as of 2001, he still serves a 40-year sentence.

The majority of the population (70 percent) is mestizo (a combination of Indian and Spanish). But there are sizeable numbers of whites (10 percent) and West Indian Blacks (14 percent). Among the indigenous populations (6 percent) there are seven distinct groups, which have pride in their separate languages and cultures and constitute nearly ten percent of the population.

Education began in Panama with the arrival of the Jesuit priests in 1519, the year the city of Panama was founded. Jesuits were in charge of the primary schools, and they founded a high school in 1744 and the University of San Javier in 1750. But this Institution of higher learning did not last long because in 1767 the Jesuits were expelled from the country. Education, as a national and governmental endeavor, did not prosper until after 1903. Panama was economically and politically dependent on the United States, and, as a result of American influence, education was given a national priority.

Primary and secondary education as well as adult literacy programs flourished during the twentieth century. Panama has one of the highest literacy rates in Central America. While the literacy rate was less than 10 percent at the beginning of the twentieth century, it grew to over 90 percent by the 1990s. In the 1990s more than 83 percent of students aged 10 to 14 attended schools.