Panama Canal

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Artificial waterway, lock-type canal

• Length

  82 kilometers (51 miles) from deep water to deep water; 65 kilometers (40 miles) from shoreline to shoreline

• Connects

  Atlantic Ocean (Caribbean Sea) and Pacific Ocean

• Location

  Panama, Isthmus of Panama (Point(-79.75 9.12))

• Recognition

  One of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers

• Original Lock Width

  33.5 meters (110 ft)

• Average Transit Time

  Approximately 10 hours (11.38 hours in 2017)

• Gatun Lake Elevation

  26 meters (85 ft) above sea level

• Annual Traffic (2008)

  14,702 vessels (333.7 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System tons)

• Expanded Ship Capacity

  Neopanamax ships

• Original Ship Capacity

  Panamax ships

• Administering Authority

  Panama Canal Authority

• Total Vessels (by 2012)

  More than 815,000

• Top 5 User Countries (2012)

  United States, China, Chile, Japan, South Korea

• Fresh Water Usage per Ship Transit

  200 ML (52,000,000 US gal)

Timeline

• Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa first crossed the Isthmus of Panama and conceived the idea of a canal. (Source: Web Search Results)

  1513

• The United Kingdom attempted to develop a canal across the Isthmus of Darien (Panama). (Source: Web Search Results)

  1843

• France began construction of the Panama Canal. (Source: Summary)

  1881

• France halted construction due to engineering problems and high worker mortality rates. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1889

• The United States took over the canal project. (Source: DBPedia)

  1904-05-04

• The Panama Canal officially opened for commercial operation. (Source: Summary)

  1914-08-15

• The Torrijos-Carter Treaties were signed, initiating the process of transferring territorial control of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1977

• The Panamanian government assumed full control and management of the Panama Canal. (Source: Summary)

  1999-12-31

• Construction began on a third, wider lane of locks for the canal expansion. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2007-09

• Construction of the third, wider lane of locks was completed. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2016-05

• The expanded waterway, including the new locks, began commercial operation. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2016-06-26

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a conduit for maritime trade between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial fresh water lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created by damming the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal. Locks then lower the ships at the other end. An average of 200 ML (52,000,000 US gal) of fresh water is used in a single passing of a ship. The canal is threatened by low water levels during droughts. The Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage, the Strait of Magellan or the Beagle Channel. Its construction was one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken. Since its inauguration on 15 August 1914, the canal has succeeded in shortening maritime communication in time and distance, invigorating maritime and economic transportation by providing a short and relatively inexpensive transit route between the two oceans, decisively influencing global trade patterns, boosting economic growth in developed and developing countries, as well as providing the basic impetus for economic expansion in many remote regions of the world. Colombia, France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped in 1889 because of a lack of investors' confidence due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The US took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal in 1914. The US continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for its handover to Panama in 1977. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, the Panamanian government took control in 1999. It is now managed and operated by the Panamanian government-owned Panama Canal Authority. The original locks are 33.5 meters (110 ft) wide and allow the passage of Panamax ships. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded waterway began commercial operation on 26 June 2016. The new locks allow for the transit of larger, Neopanamax ships. Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal. In that year, the top five users of the canal were the United States, China, Chile, Japan, and South Korea. In 2017, it took ships an average of 11.38 hours to pass between the canal's two outer locks. The American Society of Civil Engineers has ranked the Panama Canal one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

Web Search Results

• Panama Canal | Definition, History, Ownership, Treaty, Map, Locks ...

  The Panama Canal is a constructed waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Isthmus of Panama. It is owned and administered by Panama, and it is 40 miles long from shoreline to shoreline. Ships can cross going in either direction, and it takes about 10 hours to get from one side to the other. Ships from any country are treated equally with respect to conditions of passage and tolls. ### Why is the Panama Canal important? [...] Panama Canal, lock-type canal, owned and administered by the Republic of Panama, that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the narrow Isthmus of Panama. The length of the Panama Canal from shoreline to shoreline is about 40 miles (65 km) and from deep water in the Atlantic (more specifically, the Caribbean Sea) to deep water in the Pacific about 50 miles (82 km). The canal, which was completed in August 1914, is one of the two most strategic artificial waterways in the world, the [...] The Panama Canal lies at a latitude of 9° N, at a point where the North American Continental Divide dips to one of its lowest points. The canal does not, as is generally supposed, cross the isthmus from east to west. It runs due south from its entrance at Colón on the Atlantic side through the Gatún Locks to a point in the widest portion of Gatún Lake; it then turns sharply toward the east and follows a course generally to the southeast until it reaches the Bay of Panama, on the Pacific side.

• How the Panama Canal helped make the U.S. a world power - PBS

  Considered one of the wonders of the modern world, the Panama Canal opened for business 100 years ago this Friday, linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and providing a new route for international trade and military transport. At the time it was built, the canal was an engineering marvel, relying on a series of locks that lift ships – and their thousands of pounds of cargo – above mountains. [...] Richard Feinberg: This is about Teddy Roosevelt, the great nationalist, the imperialist. The canal is built in the early part of the 20th century, right after the US-Spanish war. It was when the US was sowing its oats. They had expanded their power over Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Caribbean, but also the Philippines, so the US is becoming a Pacific power, and the Panama Canal was about linking our growing Pacific power to more traditional Atlantic relationships. It was linked to the idea of the

• History of the Panama Canal - Wikipedia

  During World War II, the canal proved vital to American military strategy, allowing ships to transfer easily between the Atlantic and Pacific. Politically, the canal remained a territory of the United States until 1977, when the Torrijos–Carter Treaties began the process of transferring territorial control of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama, a process which was finally completed on 31 December 1999. [...] The first to conceive the idea of the Panama Canal was the Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa, who first crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513. He wrote in his journal the possibility of a canal but did not take action. Instead, the first trans-isthmian route was established to carry the plunder of Peru to Spain from Panama to Nombre de Dios. [...] The United Kingdom attempted to develop a canal in 1843. According to the New-York Daily Tribune, 24 August 1843, Barings Bank of London and the Republic of New Granada entered into a contract for the construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Darien (Isthmus of Panama). They referred to it as the Atlantic and Pacific Canal, and it was a wholly British endeavor. These plans for the canal led in 1848 to capture by a British gunboat of the town of San Juan de Nicaragua, at the Caribbean Sea

• Why the Construction of the Panama Canal Was So Difficult—and ...

  In a quest to fulfill a centuries-old dream to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the builders of the Panama Canal quickly learned that the construction of a waterway across a narrow ribbon of land looked easier on a map than in reality. The Panamanian isthmus proved to be one of the most difficult—and deadly—spots in the world in which to construct a channel. The builders of the passage attempted to re-engineer the natural landscape, but nature didn’t give up without a fight. [...] ## A French Attempt Ends in Death and Failure A French venture started construction of the Panama Canal in 1881. Seeking to duplicate his success in leading the construction of the Suez Canal, French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps found that building a 51-mile sea-level canal through Panama’s mountainous jungle would be far more difficult than a 120-mile passage through the flat Egyptian desert. [...] Buyenlarge/Getty Images Workers on the Panama Canal project deal with a landslide, 1913. Topical Press Agency/Getty Images Thousands of Italians, Spaniards, West Indians and other nationalities were brought in to work on the construction of the Panama Canal. Corbis/Getty Images Preparations before dynamiting in Culebra Cut, an artificial valley that cuts through the continental divide in Panama John van Hasselt/Sygma/Getty Images

• Why the Panama Canal is so important to Trump - FreightWaves

  The Panama Canal, a marvel of engineering and a critical artery of global trade, has once again become the center of geopolitical tension. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to demand the canal’s return to U.S. control, citing concerns over its management and strategic importance to America. [...] As geopolitical tensions evolve, the Panama Canal will remain a focal point for U.S. foreign policy, requiring a delicate balance between asserting American interests and respecting Panamanian sovereignty. The interplay of these dynamics will continue to influence global trade routes, supply chain stability, and international relations in the region. ### Craig Fuller, CEO at FreightWaves [...] Initially opened in 1914 following a monumental construction effort led by the United States, the canal was handed over to Panamanian control in 1999 under the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. These treaties, negotiated during the Carter administration, have been a longstanding point of contention among some U.S. politicians who see the transfer as a strategic error.

• Image

  

• Country

  Panama

• Located In

  Panamá Province

• Instance Of

  Q949819

• Coordinates

  Lat: 9.12, Lon: -79.75

The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82 km (51 mi) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan and the even less popular route through the Arctic Archipelago and the Bering Strait. Colombia, France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped because of lack of investors' confidence due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The United States took over the project on May 4, 1904, and opened the canal on August 15, 1914. The US continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for handover to Panama. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, the canal was taken over by the Panamanian government in 1999. It is now managed and operated by the government-owned Panama Canal Authority. Canal locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 33.5 meters (110 ft) wide. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded waterway began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, New Panamax ships. Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal. In 2017 it took ships an average of 11.38 hours to pass between the canal's two locks. The American Society of Civil Engineers has ranked the Panama Canal one of the seven wonders of the modern world.