Panama

Panama occupies the isthmus that connects North and South America. Colonized by Spain in the early 16th century, it was freed from imperial control in 1821 and became a Colombian province. It gained full independence in 1903, although the construction of the Panama Canal and the leasing of the zone around it to the US split the country in two. In 1989, US troops invaded Panama and arrested the country’s president, Gen. Manuel Noriega, on charges of drug trafficking. According to an agreement signed in 1977, the Panama Canal and the surrounding zone were turned over to Panama at the end of 1999