The deep history of a young nation
Explored by Christopher Columbus and Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Panama was colonized by Spainin the 16th century. In 1821, as part of the grand independence movement of the era, Panama separated from Spain and entered into the Republic of Gran Colombia, a union with Ecuador, Venezuela and Columbia that lasted until 1830. Panama then remained joined with Colombia itself until 1903, when negotiations by the separatist movement and support from the United States led to independence. This was accompanied by the immediate signing of a treaty with the U.S., permitting construction of the canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, completed in 1914, and ceding sovereignty over an area on either side known as the “Panama Canal Zone”. In1977 a new treaty was signed, providing for the custody, control, jurisdiction and administration of the Canal Zone to return to Panama before the year 2000, an even which actually took place on 31 December 1999. This relatively recent history is based on the deep roots of the local Pre-Columbian populations, extending far into prehistory.