Yearbook 2012
Panama. Former dictator Manuel Noriega’s return to Panama at the end of 2011, after 23 years in prison in the United States and France, created some real political concern in some circles. Within both his old party Revolutionary Democratic Party (PRD) and the current President Ricardo Martinelli’s administration, several of Noriega’s old colleagues remain, among them the National Police Chief Gustavo Pérez de la Ossa, and about which Noriega could provide compromising information during the upcoming judicial process in Panama. Noriega ruled Panama by iron in 1983-89 and was deposited by a US invasion in December 1989.
The government’s investments in mining and hydropower projects created furious protests from Panama’s Indians during the year. It was mainly the exploitation of Cerro Colorado, believed to be the country’s largest copper deposit and located in the Ngabe Bugié area with large groups of indigenous people, which created dissatisfaction. Forty people were killed and injured in demonstrations in January. In the same area, the construction of a hydropower plant is planned.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Provides most commonly used acronyms and abbreviations for Panama. Also includes location map, major cities, and country overview.
President Martinelli also presented a proposal for reform of the electoral system which was quickly approved by Congress, which is completely dominated by his coalition. The reform included the elimination of proportional representation through the parties’ electoral lists. Not unexpectedly, the opposition complained that the reform was tailor-made for Martinelli personally and they also complained that the reforms did not intend to increase transparency in the funding of election campaigns.
Population 2012
According to countryaah, the population of Panama in 2012 was 3,968,376, ranking number 131 in the world. The population growth rate was 1.730% yearly, and the population density was 53.3829 people per km2.
Panama is a Republic of Central America, which includes the southernmost and narrowest part of the isthmus region and is wet to the north for 760 km. from the Atlantic Ocean and south for 1220 km. from the Pacific, which forms the great gulf of the same name. It borders to the west with Costa Rica (the border, with irregular course, goes from Punta Carreta, on the Atlantic, to the Golfo Dulce, on the Pacific, passing through the Pico Blanco, 3565 m.) And to the east with Colombia (the border follows the watershed between the Río Tuyra basin and that of the Atrato, and goes from C. Tiburón, Atlantic, to Bahía Octavia, Pacific, passing on the crest of the Serrania del Darien). But the territory of the republic is divided into two parts by the Canal Zone (Canal Zone), which the United States has had in perpetual use from Panama and which consists of a strip of territory extending for a few km. on both sides of the interoceanic channel and vast 1433 sq km. (moreover, the cities of Panama and Colón are excluded from it).
The surface of the republic is calculated as 74,522 sq km. (4th place among the Central American states), equivalent to that of Piedmont, Lombardy and Veneto as a whole. By absolute population (483,780 residents according to the 1933 census), Panama ranks last among the republics of Central America.