PANAMA

PANAMA. -

I. GEOGRAPHY

The Republic of P., the southernmost of the Central American countries, separated from Colombia in 1903, occupies the narrow (70–100 km.) elongated isthmus that connects the most extensive area of Central America to South America; the isthmus is divided in two by the eponymous canal.

The territory (74,000 sq. km.) is covered with mountains (volcanoes) and hills and is difficult to traverse; the scarcity of communications delays its development. It produces chiefly bananas, cocoa, coffee, coconut, and sugar cane. The forests, though rich, are little exploited; hydraulic resources are considerable. Of the 82,000 inhabitants (11 per sq. km.), more than half are mestizos, few are whites (6%), the rest Negroes, Amerindians, and mulattos. Catholics form 93% of the total. It comprises 9 provinces; it is governed by a president and an assembly, both elective and renewable every four years. The capital, Panama City (150,000 inhabitants), and Colón (53,000 inhabitants), at the two ends of the canal, are the only two notable inhabited centers. The Panamanian merchant fleet (3,016,000 tons) is almost equal in tonnage to the French fleet.

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II. EVANGELIZATION

The evangelization of P. followed immediately upon the Spanish conquest through the work of the Franciscans. In 1513, in fact, the diocese of Santa María in Darién had already been established (within the present boundaries of Colombia); it was entrusted to the Franciscan Juan de Quevedo. This was the first diocese on the entire New Continent.

In 1519 the see of the diocese was transferred from Darién to Panama, where the Dominican Reginaldo de Pedraza was sent from Santo Domingo with some companions. Panama was the point of departure for all military expeditions, and the apostolic conquests of the north and south had their base in the eponymous diocese. Toward the middle of the 16th century the Augustinians also arrived. In 1648 the Capuchins entered Panama, where they soon made great progress. From 1604 the Jesuits, operating from their colleges in the New Granada (Colombia), organized flying missions that achieved good results. But then came the suppression of the Jesuits, the struggle for independence from Spain (Spanish missionaries were expelled), followed by revolutionary disturbances, and the Church suffered very serious damage.

At present it comprises the archdiocese of Panama (29 Nov. 1925) and the apostolic vicariate of Darién (v.). **

III. EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Article 26, Title III, of the Panamanian Constitution provides for the freedom of teaching of any religion that is not in conflict with Christian morality and public order. The Catholic religion is defined as that of the majority of the inhabitants of the Republic, and consequently the State pledges to lend it its support by permitting the existence in the capital of a Catholic seminary and the activity of Catholic missions among the indigenous peoples. The establishment of private schools is permitted only when they follow the curriculum of the public schools. The entire educational system is under the Department of Education and comprises 815 primary schools, divided into 763 rural primary schools and 52 urban primary schools. There are also 13 elementary schools for Indians, secondary, industrial, vocational, and higher schools. The latter include an art school, a national conservatory, and the University of Panama, founded in 1935. - See plate L. **