Panama, City

Panama City, Panama Central American…
Localization
Is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to thewest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital is Panama City.
Explored and settled by the Spanish in the 16th century, Panama broke withSpain in 1821 and joined a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela, named the Republic of Gran Colombia. When Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada remained joined. NuevaGranada later became the Republic of Colombia. With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the Panama Canal to be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between1904 and 1914. In 1977, an agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the Canal from the United States to Panama by the end of the 20th century.
Revenue from canal tolls represents today asignificant portion of Panama's GDP. Panama has the third- or fourth-largest economy in Central America and[5] it is also the fastest growing economy and the largest per capita consumer in CentralAmerica.[6][7] In 2010 Panama ranked 4th among Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index, and 54th in the world in 2010.[8] As of 2010, Panama is the second most competitive economyin Latin America as well according to the Global Competitiveness Index from the World Economic Forum (WEF). Panama's jungle is home to an abundance of tropical plants, animals and birds – some of themto be found nowhere else in the world.
Etymology
There are several theories about the origin of the name "Panama". Some believe that the country was named after a commonly found species of trees.Others believe that the first settlers arrived in Panama in August, when butterflies abound, and that the name means "many butterflies" in an indigenous language.

The best known version is that a...