Panama

Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country at the southern end of Central America bordering South America, bordered by Costa Rica to the west and Colombia to the southeast between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, with Panama City, home to nearly half of its more than 4 million people, as its capital and largest city. Before Spanish colonists arrived in the sixteenth century the region was home to a number of Indigenous peoples; Panama broke away from Spain in 1821 and joined the Republic of Gran Colombia, and after that union dissolved in 1831 it eventually became part of the Republic of Colombia, from which it seceded in 1903 with United States backing, allowing the United States Army Corps of Engineers to complete the Panama Canal between 1904 and 1914. The 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties agreed to transfer the canal to Panama, a handover completed on 31 December 1999. Canal toll revenue continues to represent a significant share of Panama's GDP, especially since the 2016 canal expansion doubled its capacity, and commerce, banking and tourism are major sectors of what is regarded as a high-income economy; Panama is a founding member of the United Nations and other international bodies including the Organization of American States.