Demographics
Panama forms the land link between the North and South American continents. Panama borders Colombia to the east, Costa Rica to the west, and the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean to the north and south. The country forms an S-shaped isthmus which runs east-west over a total length of 772km (480 miles) and is 60 to 177km (37 to 110 miles) wide. The landscape is mountainous with lowlands on both coastlines cut by streams, wooded slopes and a wide area of savannah-covered plains and rolling hills called El Interior between the Azuero peninsula and the Central Mountains.

• Country name: Republic of Panama
• Capital Name: Panama
• Population: 3,292,693 (July 2008 est.)
• Nationality: Panamanian(s)
• Languages: Spanish (official), English 14%
• Ethnic Groups: Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 70%, Amerindian and mixed (West Indian) 14%, white 10%, Amerindian 6%

Economy
Panama's dollarized economy rests primarily on a well-developed services sector that accounts for two-thirds of GDP. Services include operating the Panama Canal, banking, the Colon Free Zone, insurance, container ports, flagship registry, and tourism. Economic growth will be bolstered by the Panama Canal expansion project that began in 2007 and should be completed by 2014 at a cost of $5.3 billion (about 30% of current GDP). The expansion project will more than double the Canal's capacity, enabling it to accommodate ships that are now too large to transverse the transoceanic crossway and should help to reduce the high unemployment rate. The government has implemented tax reforms, as well as social security reforms, and backs regional trade agreements and development of tourism. Not a CAFTA signatory, Panama in December 2006 independently negotiated a free trade agreement with the US, which, when implemented, will help promote the country's economic growth.

• GDP (purchasing power parity): $34.51 billion (2007 est.)
• GDP - real growth rate: 11.2% (2007 est.)
• GDP - per capita (PPP): $10,300 (2007 est.)
• Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.2% (2007 est.)
• Exports: $9.312 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
• Imports: $12.63 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Government
Panama is a representative democracy with three branches of government: executive and legislative branches elected by direct vote for 5-year terms, and an independently appointed judiciary. The executive branch includes a president and two vice presidents. The legislative branch consists of a 78-member unicameral National Assembly. The Constitution was changed in 2004, however, and beginning with national elections in 2009, the executive branch will have only one vice president, and the membership of the National Assembly was to be capped at 71 (subsequently changed to 74). The judicial branch is organized under a nine-member Supreme Court (each judge is appointed for a 10-year term) and includes all tribunals and municipal courts. An autonomous Electoral Tribunal supervises voter registration, the election process, and the activities of political parties. Anyone over the age of 18 may vote.

• Administrative divisions: 11 provinces and 1 territory; Bocas del Toro, Comarca Kuna Yala, Comarca Ngobe-Bugle, Chiriqui, Cocle, Colon, Darien, Herrera, Los Santos, Panama, San Blas(Kuna Yala), and Veraguas.
• Legal system: Based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court of Justice; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
• Constitution: 11 October 1972; major reforms adopted 1978, 1983, 1994, and 2004
• Independence: 3 November 1903 (from Colombia; became independent from Spain 28 November 1821)

References
Panama Government - Official Website
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - The World Factbook
Nation Master - World Data Center
Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia
The Library Congress - Country Studies
Lonely Planet - Travel Guidebook