Panama

Explored and settled by the Spanish in the 16th century, Panama broke with Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela - named the Republic of Gran Colombia. When the latter dissolved in 1830, Panama remained part of Colombia. With US backing, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903 and promptly signed a treaty with the US allowing for the construction of a canal and US sovereignty over a strip of land on either side of the structure (the Panama Canal Zone). The Panama Canal was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. In 1977, an agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the Canal from the US to Panama by the end of the century. Certain portions of the Zone and increasing responsibility over the Canal were turned over in the subsequent decades. With US help, dictator Manuel NORIEGA was deposed in 1989. The entire Panama Canal, the area supporting the Canal, and remaining US military bases were transferred to Panama by the end of 1999. In October 2006, Panamanians approved an ambitious plan (estimated to cost $5.3 billion) to expand the Canal. The project, which began in 2007 and could double the Canal's capacity, is expected to be completed in 2014-15.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: Balboa, U.S.Dollar (ISO code: PAB, USD)
* This country does not seem to have a central bank.
* Central bank discount rate: 
* Commercial banks lending rate: 8.16% (31 December 2008)
* Stock of money (M1): $3.764 billion (31 December 2008)
* Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $15.84 billion (31 December 2008)
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "Panama: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	11 456	11 621	11 808	12 272	12 933	14 179	15 465	17 137	19 485	23 088
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Panama: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Panama: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	23.230	23.125	25.555	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Panama: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.	21.320	22.096	23.172	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Debt to revenue (years) 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* Panama on Wikipedia
* Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
* Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
* BBC country profile
Category:Countries