Panama

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Panama
Panama (i/ˈpænəmɑː/ pan-ə-mah; Spanish: Panamá), officially the Republic of panama (Spanish: República de Panamá[reˈpuβlika ðe panaˈma]), is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North andSouth America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to thenorth and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital is Panama City.
Explored and settled by the Spanish in the 16th century, Panama broke with Spain 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. Nueva Granada later became the Republic of Colombia.
*Provinces and regions
Panama is divided into nine provinces, with their respective local authorities (governors) and has a total of ten cities. Also, there are five Comarcas (literally: "Shires") populated by a variety of indigenous groups.
Provinces
* Bocas del Toro
* Chiriquí
* Coclé
* Colón
* Darién
* Herrera
* Los Santos
* Panamá
* Veraguas
Regions
* Emberá* Guna Yala
* Ngöbe-Buglé Comarca
* Guna de Madugandí
* Guna de Wargandí
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Geography
Panamá is located in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, between Colombia and Costa Rica. It mostly lies between latitudes 7° and 10°N, and longitudes 77° and 83°W (a small area lies west of 83°). Somepeople consider the territory east of the Panama Canal as part of South America[citation needed] although this is rare. Its location on theIsthmus of Panama is strategic. By 2000, Panama controlled the Panama Canal which connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea to the North of the Pacific Ocean. Panama, at 75,515 km2, is ranked 118th worldwide on the basis of land size. For comparison,Panama is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of South Carolina or slightly larger than the Canadian province ofNew Brunswick.
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Politics
Panama's politics take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Panama is both head ofstate and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The president of panamá is Ricardo Martinelli
* Climate
Panama has a tropical climate. Temperatures are uniformly high—as is the relative humidity—andthere is little seasonal variation. Diurnal ranges are low; on a typical dry-season day in the capital city, the early morning minimum may be 24 °C (75.2 °F) and the afternoon maximum 30 °C (86.0 °F). The temperature seldom exceeds 32 °C (89.6 °F) for more than a short time. Temperatures on the Pacific side of the isthmus are somewhat lower than on the Caribbean, and breezes tend to rise after dusk inmost parts of the country. Temperatures are markedly cooler in the higher parts of the mountain ranges, and frosts occur in the Cordillera de Talamanca in western Panama.
Climatic regions are determined less on the basis of temperature than on rainfall, which varies regionally from less than 1,300 millimeters (51.2 in) to more than 3,000 millimeters (118.1 in) per year. 
* Religion
Thegovernment of Panama does not collect statistics on the religious affiliation of citizens, but various sources estimate that 75 to 85% of the population identifies itself as Roman Catholic and 15–25% as evangelical Christian.[35] The Bahá'í Faith community of Panama is estimated at 2.00% of the national population, or about 60,000[36] including about 10% of the Guaymí population;[41]the Bahá'ís...