Panama

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Panama fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. 🇪🇸 Crown of Castile1510 to 1530

   Spanish settlers under Balboa and then the governor Pedrarias Dávila raided the chiefdoms of the isthmus for gold and slaves. The Cueva people of central Panama were destroyed within a generation, while the Guna survived in the forests of the Darién.

2. 🇬🇧 Kingdom of England1572 to 1671

   English raiders targeted Spain's treasure route. Francis Drake attacked Nombre de Dios in 1572 and died off Portobelo in 1596. Henry Morgan took Portobelo in 1668 and sacked Panama City in 1671.

3. 🇬🇧 Kingdom of Scotland1698 to 1700

   The Scottish Darién Company planted a colony on Spanish claimed land on the Caribbean coast. Hunger, fever and a Spanish siege forced the colonists to surrender Fort Saint Andrew in 1700.

4. 🇬🇧 Kingdom of Great Britain1739 to 1742

   In the War of Jenkins' Ear, Admiral Edward Vernon captured and wrecked Portobelo in 1739 and attacked the fort of San Lorenzo at the mouth of the Chagres River in 1740, shaking Spain's hold on the isthmus.

5. 🇨🇴 Colombia1830 to 1921

   Panama tried to break away from Colombia in 1830, 1831 and 1840. It finally seceded in 1903, protected by American warships that stopped Colombian troops from landing. Colombia recognised Panama only in 1921, after the United States paid it 25 million dollars.

6. 🇺🇸 United States1903 to 1979

   The 1903 treaty gave the United States a zone across Panama's middle as if it were sovereign. Resentment grew over decades and exploded in the 1964 flag riots. The Zone was abolished in 1979, when the Torrijos Carter Treaties came into force.

7. 🇨🇷 Costa Rica1903 to 1941

   Panama inherited Colombia's border quarrel with Costa Rica. Arbitrations in 1900 and 1914 failed to end it, and in 1921 the two countries fought the brief Coto War. A treaty in 1941 finally fixed the border.

8. 🇺🇸 United States1989 to 1990

   On 20 December 1989 the United States invaded Panama to remove Manuel Noriega, who was wanted in Florida on drug charges. He surrendered in January 1990 and was flown to the United States for trial.

Today

Panama now

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 that was named the Republic of Gran Colombia. When the union 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 known as the Panama Canal Zone on either side of the structure.

Capital

Panama City

Government

presidential republic

Head of government

José Raúl Mulino

Languages

Spanish

Area

75,320 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population4.5 million2023 · 860,900 in 1950
• Life expectancy79.6 years2023 · 55.4 years in 1950
• GDP per person$23,5572022 · $2,577 in 1950
• Living in cities66%2025 · 38% in 1950
• Literacy96%2024 · 68% in 1950
• Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Electoral autocracy in 1950
• Military alliancesRio Pact2024 · Rio Pact in 1950
• Military spending0.0% of GDP2025
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 24 October 2026.