North & Central America and Caribbean

Panama
Last reviewed: 4 August 2009

Country information

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HISTORY

1502 Spanish explorer, Rodrigo de Bastidas visits Panama
1503 Christopher Columbus visits
1513 Establishment of Spanish “Castilla de Oro” by King Ferdinand II the Catholic
1519 Panama City is founded
1698 Establishment of the Scottish Colony (New Caledonia) in the Darién led by William Paterson (founder of the Bank of England)
1700 Spanish forces surround the Scottish Colony and force the remnants to flee the isthmus and return to Scotland causing serious losses to Scottish treasury and business and influencing the Union between Scotland and England in 1706.
1821 Independence from Spain. Joined the confederacy of Gran Colombia (comprising Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia)
1830 Collapse of Gran Colombia and assimilation into Colombia
1846 Treaty with USA for the building of a railway across the isthmus to serve the California Gold Rush miners.
1880 Ferdinand de Lesseps (France) attempted over a ten year period to build a canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Financial and management difficulties, climatic conditions, and deaths of more than 20,000 workers from tropical diseases finally destroyed the project. De Lesseps became a broken man and investors lost all their money. France was almost bankrupted.
1903 Panama achieves independence from Colombia, engineered by US President Theodore Roosevelt.
1903 Hay/Bunau-Varilla Treaty signed in Washington giving US rights over a zone of 10 miles width and 51 miles in length across the isthmus
1914 Construction of the Panama Canal completed by US Military Corps of Engineers.
1919 Canal, mothballed during the First World War, opened to commercial shipping.
1968 Election of Dr Arnulfo Arias Madrid as President followed 10 days later by National Guard coup. Led by Major Boris Martinez and Major Omar Torrijos
1977 Panama Canal Treaty and Neutrality Treaty signed by President Carter and General Torrijos on 7 September at OAS, Washington. Agreed handover of Canal in stages to Panama.
1983 General Manuel Noriega assumes control of National Guard and assumes power
1988 Noriega charged by US with drug smuggling and money-laundering.
1989 US invasion of Panama (Operation Just Cause). Noriega removed by US forces to Miami to stand trial, replaced by elected President Guillermo Endara
1991 Legislative Assembly approves constitutional reforms, abolishes armed forces.
1992 Noriega found guilty by US courts of drug smuggling and money-laundering, sentenced to 40 years imprisonment, to be served in a US prison.
1998 Referendum rejects constitutional amendment proposed by President Balladares, which would permit a second presidential term.
1999 Panama assumes full control of Panama Canal from US in handover ceremony attended by Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso. US Former President, Jimmy Carter, also attended the event.
2002 Panama removed from a list of uncooperative tax havens, drawn up by Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, after promising to make its tax system more transparent.
2004 (2 May)Presidential Elections. Martin Torrijos Espino, PRD, wins with 47% of the vote. (1 September) Inauguration of the new President, Martin Torrijos.
2006 (15 July) President Torrijos announced a referendum to decide on the proposed $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal. (22 October) Referendum takes place with almost 80% of those who voted in favour of canal expansion.
2009 (3 May) Presidential Elections. Ricardo Martinelli, Democratic Change, wins with 59.97% of the vote. (1st July) Inauguration of the new President, Ricardo Martinelli.