The Panama Canal continued to play a central role in world trade and Panama's economy in the mid-1980s. Some 5 percent of the world's trade in goods passed through the canal, contributing 9 percent of Panamanian GDP in 1983. This canal's location at one of the crossroads of international trade has spawned a plethora of other service-oriented activities, such as storage, ship repair, break bulk (the unloading of a portion or all of a ship's cargo), transshipment, bunkering, and distribution and services to ship travelers. The dynamism of the canal also was instrumental in the development of the CFZ, the trans-isthmian pipeline, and offshore financing. Evidence suggests, however, that the canal's relative importance to world trade is likely to continue to experience a small relative decline in the future, which has led Panama, together with the United States and Japan, to study alternatives for improving or replacing the canal.  Click here to read more.

Panama City, Panama is often referred to as the “Crossroads of the world”, primarily because of the massive number of people that pass through.  Located in Central America between Costa Rica and Columbia, Panama has long been used as a route from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

Historians tell us that the earliest inhabitants of Panama were the Cocle and Cuevas cultures but because of overwhelming disease and fighting with the Spaniards in the 16^th century, the numbers quickly diminished.  Although it took a little time and effort, the Spanish finally established a settlement in 1510 at the mouth of the Rio Chagres called Nombre de Dios.  Eventually, this coastline area became a popular target for invasions of Peru and wealth generated by the incursions was brought over land from the port of Panama to the Spanish settlement.    Click here to read more.