Some Quick Facts:| Area: | 75.517 sq.km |
| Population: | 3.4 Mio |
| Time zone: | GMT -5 hours |
| Electricity: | 110 Volt |
| Prefix: | 00 507 |
| Currency: | Balboa (PAB) |
| 1 Euro | approx. 1.48 PAB |
| 1 Dollar US | 1.00 PAB |
| 1 Pound | approx. 0.50 PAB |
Main Cities:
Panama City (0.7 Mio.)
Airports:
Panama City – 2
3 more International
Harbours:
Panama City
many more
From Past to Present
The first exploration of the territory was 1502 by Christopher Columbus. In the following it was occupied by the Spanish and it was the main shipping point to and from the Americas during the time of colonialization. When the whole of Central America revolted against the Spanish occupation in 1821, Panama joined the Republic of Gran Colombia of Simon Bolivar. And it took 82 years, until Panama finally became completely independent in 1903 – with the help of the USA, who were interested in the building of the Panama Canal.
1904 – 1914 the Panama Canal was built by US-Engineers and the USA had guaranteed sovereignty over the Canal and a 10 mile strip along both sides of the Canal. According to a treaty from 1977, signed by President Carter, the Canal was completely handed over to Panama on 31.st of December 1999. And in 2006 Panama decided to double the capacity of the canal by the end of 2015.
1968 the recently elected president was taken from power by a coup from the military. And in the following, military dictators stayed in power until 1989, when the dictator Noriega was removed from power and arrested for drug-trafficking by armed forces of the United States. A new president was sworn in and since then, Panama is a stable constitutional democracy.
Geography and Climate
Panama is the southernmost nation of Middle or Central America. To the North it shares a border with Costa Rica, to the South with Colombia. The natural border to the East is the Caribbean Sea, to the West the Pacific Ocean. The terrain of Panama is in the interior mostly steep and rugged mountains. The coastal areas are rolling hills and large plains. The highest point of the country is the Volcan Baru with 3.745 metres; the lowest is at the Pacific Coast.
On the border to Colombia is the “Darien Gap”, an area of almost impenetrable rain forest, where road building would be extremely expensive and the damage to the environment would be severe. Therefore here in Panama is the only gap of the Pan-American Highway, which reaches from Alaska to Patagonia – with a break in Panama.
The climate in Panama is tropical maritime. This means: Hot and humid throughout the year, with very little difference between summer and winter. The rainy season lasts from May to December and there is actually less rain on the Pacific side of Panama. The average rainfall in the West is 2970 mm and in the East it is 1650 mm. The annual average temperature in the coastal areas is between 23 and 27 degrees, in the higher parts of the interior, the temperature is 19 degrees.
Economical Facts
The economy of Panama is “dollarized”. This means the US-Dollar is besides the Balboa the second official currency in Panama. The exchange rate is fixed between those two currencies at 1 : 1.
The service sector accounts for more than 75 per cent of the GDP. Operating the Panama Canal, container ports, banking and flagship registry are the main “moneymakers”, together with a rapidly growing tourism industry. The GDP-growth is around 6 per cent and the future is even looking brighter, because of the expansion of the Canal.
With this expansion project, the capacity of the Canal will be more than doubled. The total investment is around 5,3 Billion Dollars-US and construction should be completed by 2015. From then onwards, the Canal should be able to accommodate all ships, even the ones which are now too big to use this transoceanic crossway.
Additionally tax-reforms and social security reforms were introduced by the government, which should also help to reduce unemployment and poverty. The further development of the tourism industry is one of the prime targets of the administration.
Economically important is as well that the government understands the importance of tourism and foreign home-owners for the future of Panama. 20 per cent of the land area is already protected; there are already 14 national parks, over a dozen forest reserves and hundreds of miles of protected corral reefs. No question: Panama is and will be in the future – a beautiful and attractive country!
Real Estate Facts
Panama is at the very beginning of a Real-Estate boom, according to all studies and reports a very long boom. For at least the next ten years, the property prices in the Central American country know only one way: UP!
And there are many reasons besides the excellent weather, why Panama became a property hot-spot. Nor property tax for the next twenty years is an incentive from the government, to attract international buyers. The living costs in Panama are about 50 per cent cheaper than in the US and about 75 per cent cheaper than in the UK. To expect a 10 per cent rental yield is absolutely realistic and Panama got recently the highest tourist safety rating from Pinkerton Intelligence Security.
The building quality in Panama is absolutely fulfilling western standards. Supervision and quality control is mostly done by US-Engineers or companies, no matter if the property is in Panama-City or in one of the beautiful beach- or golf-resorts along the Caribbean or Pacific coast.
Central and South America are without a doubt the next “Place to be”, when it comes to buying property. Real-Estate is still relatively cheap, compared to Europe or the US. And unlike Dubai or other Muslim countries, western people do not have the slightest problem to get accustomed to the “Way of Life”.