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Geography of Panama – The Ultimate Free Guide 2021

Learn facts and Geography of Panama including Major Geographical Features, Natural resources, Region, area, Capital, Border countries, rivers in Panama.

• Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a transcontinental country in Central America and South America, bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south.
• The capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half the country’s 4 million people.
• Panama was inhabited by indigenous tribes before Spanish colonists arrived in the 16th century. It broke away from Spain in 1821 and joined the Republic of Gran Colombia, a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
• A commonly relayed legend in Panama is that there was a fishing village that bore the name “Panamá”, which purportedly meant “an abundance of fish”, when the Spanish colonizers first landed in the area.
• This S-shaped isthmus is situated between 7° and 10° north latitude and 77° and 83° west longitude. Panama encompasses approximately 75,417 km2 (29,119 sq mi). It is 772 km (480 mi) long, and between 60 and 177 kilometers (37 and 110 miles) wide.
• The dominant feature of Geography of Panama is the central spine of mountains and hills that forms the continental divide.
• The divide does not form part of the great mountain chains of North America, and only near the Colombian border are there highlands related to the Andean system of South America.
• The spine that forms the divide is the highly eroded arch of an uplift from the sea bottom, in which peaks were formed by volcanic intrusions.
• The mountain range of the divide is called the Cordillera de Talamanca near the Costa Rican border.
• Panama’s wildlife is the most diverse in Central America. It is home to many South American species as well as to North American wildlife.

Geography of Panama

Region:

Central America

Area:

75,417 km2

Capital:

Panama

Population:

4,379,039

Bordering Countries:

• Panama is a country located in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, between Colombia and Costa Rica. Panama is located on the narrow and low Isthmus of Panama.

Total Size:

29,119 sq mi

Geographical Coordinates:

8°58′N 79°32′W

World Region or Continent:

Central America

General Terrain:

• The highlands and mountains are made up primarily of igneous (volcanic) rocks.
• The lowlands include the plains of Panamá and Chiriquí provinces, the plains and hills of Colón province, the Chepo and Chucunaque river basins in the east, and the narrow northeastern plains of the Caribbean region

Geographical Low Point:

Pacific Ocean

Geographical High Point:

Volcán Barú

Climate:

• Panama has a tropical climate.
• Temperatures are uniformly high as is the relative humidity and there is little seasonal variation.
• Diurnal ranges are low.
• Temperatures on the Pacific side of the isthmus are somewhat lower than on the Caribbean, and breezes tend to rise after dusk in most parts of the country.
• Temperatures are markedly cooler in the higher parts of the mountain ranges, and frosts occur in the Cordillera de Talamanca in western Panama.
• Almost all of the rain falls during the rainy season, which is usually from May through November, but varies in length from seven to nine months, with certain exception due to monsoons.

Major cities:

Major Land forms:

• The Panamanian landscape is a mixture of forests and mountains, beaches and wetlands, plains and pastures. Within this small country exists a wide sampling of terrain from the towering primary forests of the Darién to the sunny Pacific coast beaches – there is a little bit of everything in Panama.

Major Rivers and Lakes:

Major Rivers:

Major rivers in Panama are

• Rio Balsas,
• Rio Changuinola,
• Rio Chepo,
• Rio Chucunaque,
• Rio Indo,
• Rio San Pablo, and
• Rio Santa Maria.

Major Lakes:

• Alajuela Lake
• Arrowhead Lake
• Bayano Lake
• Ciénaga de La Macana
• Ciénaga Juncalillo
• Ciénaga Las Pitahallas
• Cuenca Salud
• Gatun Lake

Natural Resources:

Natural Resources of Panama are copper, mahogany forests and hydropower.

Major Geographical Features:

Biomes & Ecosystems:

The biomes found in Panama include tropical lowland humid forests, tropical mountain forests, tropical dry forests, freshwater wetlands, mangroves, coral reefs, and tropical islands.

Oceans:

Oceans

Islands:

• Isla Bastimentos
• Cayos Zapatilla
• Isla Carenero
• Isla Cayo Agua
• Isla Colon
• Isla Cristóbal
• Isla Popa
• Isla Solarte

Mountain Ranges:

• Alto de Nique
• Ancon Hill
• Volcán Barú
• Cerro Echandi
• El Valle
• Cerro Fábrega
• Cerro Kamuk
• La Yeguada
• Cerro Picacho
• Picacho Mountain

Provinces of Panama:

See Also:

World Map

References:

• Wikipedia – Geography of Panama
• kids.nationalgeographic.com – Geography of Panama
• worldatlas.com Geography of Panama