in the latin-american world Panama is
kind of like come on Panama yeah well
come on it's a Central American mixer
come on join the finally what do you
what are you doing back there by
yourself oh yeah no I'm I'm good I'm
like not one of you
come on Costa Rica you're the cool one
let's ditch this joint but I'm kind of
one of them and that's basically it I
mean without the gin martinis I've lived
by a bunch of Guatemalans I've never
seen them go for that stuff everyone I'm
your host Barb's Panama the country that
links the north and south the gateway
between two worlds and two oceans this
little sliver of land has and still
plays such a powerful role in the entire
Western Hemisphere
not bad now let's find it on the map now
shall we Panama has a saying for itself
punta del mundo Corazon del Universal or
bridge of the world heart of the
universe and with good reason
first of all Panama is the narrow
isthmus that joins the north and
southern American continents attached to
the very end of Costa Rica and on top of
Colombia straddling the Caribbean Sea
and Atlantic Ocean to the east and a
Pacific to the west because of its
curved shape this makes Panama the only
place in the world where you can see
both a sunrise on the Pacific and a
sunset on the Atlantic at its narrowest
point the country is only about 30 miles
or 48 kilometers wide the country is
divided interestingly into ten provinces
three indigenous regions and to
indigenous municipalities within two of
the provinces we'll talk more about this
in a bit after coasts they have about
1500 islands including the largest
island in Central America coiba island
just off the southwest coast the capital
of Panama is Panama City of course we're
about half the population lives and
holds the largest airport to commend
international just on the eastern
outskirts of the city the second largest
airport would be the Bocas del Toro
Airport on the popular resort island
otherwise remaining airports are mostly
just small regional air strips
nonetheless much of Panama's economy is
based on the famous Panama Canal built
by the Americans for shipping and
passenger vessels the largest ports of
course being the port of Balboa in
Panama City which connects via canal all
the way to the port of Cologne in the
north side of the country along the
entire canal runs the Panama Canal
railway the second most vital transport
line after the canal again built by the
Americans pre
creating the canal by about half a
century otherwise Panama is kind of
where the famous pan-american highway
gets cut off people trying to travel the
world's longest motorable Road to
Colombia will have no luck as this
entire area of marshy forest known as
the Darien Gap is where all the roads
for about 60 miles or hundred kilometers
cuts off the dense forest area in itself
kind of acts as like the border with
Colombia as no demarcation line is drawn
the furthest you can go is a town of
yeah visa and from there good luck most
people just take a boat off the coast to
Colombia two interesting things to note
the American Society of Civil Engineers
has named the canal as one of the modern
seven wonders of the world the canal was
actually once considered u.s. territory
and finally relinquished in 1999 also
Panama is the second largest duty-free
Zone in the world after Hong Kong so
that's a thing or at one point the
Scottish tried to colonize Panama but
they grossly miscalculated the size of
the mountains and the heat anyway I
asked some of you guys the Panamanian
jogger peeps to list some of the top
notable sites to check out in case if
you visit some of them include places
like the Casco Viejo and San Jose Church
gold altar the Panama Canal Museum cinta
Costera
poke at a town supposedly has the best
coffee the biodiversity museum the coiba
and sub-aqua islands anton Valley Hot
Springs the American digitus villages
fort san lorenzo plaza de Francia
causeway plastic bottle village and the
seafood markets not just about does it
of course we could have mentioned a lot
of other crazy amazing waterfalls and
force that they have here hey they even
have a forest were square shaped tree
trunks but that's the natural beauty
which means we got to move on to you
panama is one of those countries that
just kind of respects nature you know
they got a good thing going on so why
try to taint it first of all the country
is actually located and its own mini
tectonic plate known as the panama plate
smashed in between the Coco's Nazca and
Caribbean plates this in return subjects
panama to occasional earthquakes but not
much volcanic activity the tallest peak
in the country is actually a volcano
volcan baru but it is not erupted in
hundreds of years it is part of the
tempest order mountain chain the longest
in the country and on the east side you
find this on blast Sabu and Darien
mountain chains which extend all the way
to Colombia otherwise it's just a small
skip east you can find the largest lake
the man-made artificial lake thun rated
by the got une dam on the Chagas River
this Lake of course assists the
transporting of ships along the canal
across the country a skip further east
you find the longest river
shukran aki which flows south into the
unknown thick force of the darién gap
otherwise the country has three main
gulfs a mosquito gulf in the north and
the s where open insula splits off the
gulf of Chile ki and the gulf of panama
from each other effectively making the
country look like the shape of a limp
hammer now of course the abundance of
nature and landforms gives panama much
more of an advantage than just the canal
and with that it's time for my triple
shot espresso break which means it's
time for Noah let's do it shall we
panama has in recent decades seen a
massive construction and business boom
with a huge expat community moving in
they had 12 of the 15 tallest
skyscrapers in Latin America I still
have the tallest one though for now
anyway not only are they one of the
fastest growing economies in Latin
America they are an incredibly popular
spot for retirees this is one of the
reasons why you don't see too many
Panamanians leaving their country there
is kind of more stability and
opportunity available in contrast to
some of their neighbors most the
economic activity in Panama at about 80
percent is based in the service sector
and the canal alone provides a
significant portion mostly through tolls
I almost said trolls holes are based on
size cargo and type of vessel crossing
and the most ever paid was over three
hundred seventy six thousand dollars
from a Norwegian cruise ship agriculture
only makes up about 7 percent of their
GDP with crops like coffee bananas
sugarcane and coconuts country has that
1,000 bird species including the
national animal of the harpy eagle as
well as hundreds of mammal species
ranging from giant anteater to slaw over
a third of Panama's Natural Park which
helps assist these animals from going
endangered there's even a cool turtle
sanctuary run by this guy and a top it
all off they have about 9 months of rain
which is why building that canal was so
difficult to kept getting flooded and
people died anyway food some of the top
dishes you guys a Panamanian jawed or
people suggest to be mentioned include
things like boyo Carli Minneola
Panamanian styled thick tortillas ropa
vieja bien may sabe fried fish like
Pargo frito with fat okones south south
south every city has ever seen Epic Meal
Time they would do that like got some
sounds in the national dish sancocho
you look closer you can tell some of
these dishes have a somewhat Caribbean
Flair and that's what the story gets
interesting because now we talk about
the people in
Thank You Noah now Panama sticks out
from the rest of Latin America because
it doesn't really quite belong or
identify with either Central America or
South America they never were part of
the Federated States of Central America
and they fought to break away from
Colombia back when it was Gran Colombia
so it's like they wanted space from
everyone in any case a country is made
up of about 4 million people and is the
least populated nation in Central
America about 65% of the population is
mestizo that's mixed with native and
European to some extent about 13% of the
population is native Amerindian the
largest groups being the nabe Kuna and
embedder about 16% of the population is
black or mixed black and the remainder
at about six percent are white
panamanians
they use the US dollar but balboa coins
as their currency they use the american
type A and B plug outlets and they drive
on the right side of the road now if you
notice in the political section we
mentioned how the country has three
indigenous regions and to indigenous
municipalities these areas are
designated for the native population of
Panama which has one of the highest
percentages of Amerindians per
population in the Americas after Bolivia
and Guatemala
these groups still live in traditional
communities to varying degrees of
modernization of course Spanish is the
official language Panamanians though do
have their own distinct dialect for
example here are some of you guys the
Panamanian geography they also use many
English words today like friend or
pretty so you can say hey bring it SOPA
Kumasi Karen pista con la novia some
people said when you are pressed to our
channel there are also many expressions
that describe sadness or disappointment
for example I yell Evita or to stop by
thank you
however like Costa Rica it is not
uncommon to hear English spoken
especially by the younger people and
people in the cities Panama is one of
the most English Proficient countries in
Latin America and it all kind of has to
do with the fact that the u.s. kind of
well yeah oh wouldn't it be great if we
could build a canal come on come on and
maybe later ah I tried to give it the
goal but it's not possible the mountains
are too tall and there
too much yeah I'll give it go too many
people have died and the rain keeps
messing it up I'm abandoning this gig
yeah okay Panama you're a part of our
country now can we finally build that
canal most likely not are you kidding me
hey Panama USA here BAM 1903 now I just
asked that you give me the rights to the
canal in a sovereign zone well split the
profits did you just like forcibly ask
me out on a date yeah yeah I do that all
the time but you know we'll break up in
a few decades and in the end you'll
thank me and that's basically how Panama
started speaking English better
otherwise what does it mean to be
Panamanian well that question comes from
a lot of backstory because even for a
small population Panama is an incredibly
diverse nation and the quickest way I
can summarize it they have the Hispanic
the black and the Amerindian groups that
all dominate the culture and give you a
quick rundown
here's Hanna with culture stuff you're
still here marriage I guess we're doing
this together again within Panama the
black and mixed black communities are
descendants from either slaves brought
over from the 16th century or affluent
ilion's that emigrated from places like
Jamaica Barbados and Trinidad to work on
the rail lines back in the 1840s since
then they've played an important role in
society and have brought much to the
Panamanian identity through things like
music and art many have become famous
figures including Princess Angela of
Liechtenstein the indigenous community
is made up of many groups of tribes but
about half of them are comprised of
these two groups the Kuna and embarrass
our very famous peoples that gets lots
of attention as well for their colorful
textiles and rituals most of these
people live with the three indigenous
regions or to indigenous municipalities
they have their own languages housing
and lifestyles set apart from the rest
of Panama's westernized society if
you're lucky you might be able to
witness a new Chicana healing ritual
with wooden figurines for the Kuna
people in Talgo nut or vegetable ivory
carvings by the Ampera people are a
highly prized as it is a sustainable and
safe substitute for ivory the nabe
people have a game called ball syria
which is technically outlawed by the
government but it involves throwing
sticks at your opponent's legs until
they give up ouch quick side note the
Panama hat was not invented in Panama
but rather Ecuador baseball is their
favorite sport however soccer or
football has always been number two and
in fact they were so
happy it was kinda like hey Congrats
Panama you made it to FIFA I did I owe
you man you kind of helped me get there
I should I should probably give you my
Judy key province and gratitude well
actually I could always use yeah not
gonna happen and it is said that out of
the whole year only about 30 days do not
have some kind of national festivity
depending on the province yeah
panamanians love partying with music
which brings us to Keith's music segment
yeah what is wrong with Keith everything
dude although you can find all joiners
in Panama it's interesting to see how
they fused everything together from all
their people groups for one a caribbean
undertone will always kind of be around
reggae salsa ska calypso and dancehall
have all been around since the 20th
century although cumbia and salsa have
always been there go twos with this dude
being probably the most famous
Panamanian salsa musician nonetheless
folk music known as tipico is always a
go-to with notable artists like these
guys and the Tom burrito dance with
costumes can always be seen especially
at festivals
although reggaeton is it said to have
been Benin and Puerto Rico reggae and
espanol or Spanish reggae originated in
Panama which is seen by many as a
precursor to reggaeton with leading
artists like these guys thanks I'm Keith
thanks Keith alright that means we got a
round off this section like we always do
with extremely condensed history and
famous people Amerindians
colonisation independence from Spain
joined Gran Colombia French failed to
build the canal American forces came in
and stopped the Colombian forces from
stopping the Panamanian revolt
independence canal has finally built
couple conflicts with the Americans
after they built the canal Torrijos and
Carter agreed to leave the canal
president Torrijos died in a plane crash
Noriega dictatorship German Dada wins
the elections but Noriega was kind of
like not accepting it u.s. invasion to
remove Noriega fair a democratically
elected presidents rise of the economy
and here we are today some famous people
you guys the Panamanian Jagger people
suggested we mention include Justine
PASOK you Miss Universe 2002 all these
athletes so many of them all these
musicians there's a lot of them zone
Ian's or Americans that were born in the
Panama Canal Zone back when it was US
territory included
like Jordana Brewster John McCain Hulk
Hogan yeah even Hulk Hogan and Lori
hearing a ton of riders like these
people and of course the list of famous
politicians goes on and on like all
these people there's so much more we
could have mentioned or expound upon but
we don't really have a lot of time so if
I miss anything you guys let us know in
the comments otherwise we got to finish
off this episode with so as you can
probably tell by now Panama is in a
rather unique position diplomacy wise
many Latin Americans kind of see them as
the one that got influenced by Americans
and the fast growing with skyscrapers
one or the hmm I don't quite know what
to make of them but I guess I trust them
kind of guy as a nation linking two
continents plus having Caribbean ties
Panama has a wide range of people on
their guest list for one many people in
the black community have ties to the
Caribbean islands like Jamaica Barbados
and Trinidad and Tobago as their
ancestors moved from these nations in
the 19th century and played an important
role in the construction of the canal
today many still have family and travel
to these places as well as the former
colonizer Spain still holds close ties
and many Spanish people love to visit or
move or retire to Panama with its
relatively easy going chill atmosphere
the USA has an interesting back and
forth love and hate relationship on a
social political and economic scale
they've played an integral part in
developing much of what is now Panama
through not only occupying the canal for
nearly a century but building up the
infrastructure and things like roadways
and rail lines the Noriega thing made
things kind of messy and Americans
always kind of intervene whether or not
the Panamanians feel like they need them
or not
nonetheless Americans loved retiring to
Panama it's relatively easy for them
with the growing English proficiency and
shared currency
and many panamanians have family in the
US as well for their closest friends
though most panamanians I have talked to
have said either Costa Rica or Colombia
for one Colombia shares a lot of history
at one point they voluntarily joined
Colombia and became a department under
grande Colombia even though they broke
apart and still kept close ties both
nations love visiting and moving to each
other's nations marrying one another
they love Colombian telenovelas culture
and food out of everyone in Central
America though Costa Rica is probably
their best friend Costa Rica keeps
everything neutral and plays it safe
Panama likes that there's really no
drama and whenever they need someone to
back them up Costa Rica will always be
there for them
in conclusion Panama truly embodies the
bridge between two worlds its diverse
its fast-growing kind of
english-speaking and its
latin-american country with a somewhat
Singapore s kryb to it let's see where
the bridge leads to in the future
stay tuned Papua New Guinea is coming up
next
[Music]