Panama

The Great American Interchange — when two worlds connected

The formation of the Isthmus of Panama (c. 3 million years ago) was one of the most consequential geological events in the history of life on Earth — connecting North and South America allowed animals to migrate in both directions (the Great American Biotic Interchange), separated the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and changed the global ocean circulation system that drives the modern climate.

Balboa discovers the Pacific — the second ocean revealed

Vasco Núñez de Balboa's crossing of the Darién Gap and sighting of the Pacific Ocean (25 September 1513 CE) was one of history's great geographical revelations — European awareness that America was a continent separate from Asia, and that another ocean lay beyond it, transformed the understanding of the globe and set off the race to find a western route to Asia.

The Spanish Main — pirates, gold, and the mule road

Panama City and Portobelo (1519–1739 CE) were the choke point of the Spanish Empire's entire wealth transfer from the Americas to Europe — Peruvian silver and Andean gold crossed Panama on mule trains along the Camino Real to Portobelo, where the Spanish treasure fleet loaded it, making the isthmus the most lucrative and most attacked stretch of coastline in the world.

Panamanian independence — the canal creates a country

Panama's independence from Colombia (3 November 1903 CE) was engineered by the United States, which wanted to build the canal without negotiating with a recalcitrant Colombian Senate — a US warship prevented Colombian troops from suppressing the Panamanian revolt, and the US signed a canal treaty with the new Panamanian government within days.

The Panama Canal — the cut that changed world trade

The Panama Canal (1914 CE), an 80 km waterway through the Isthmus of Panama connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, required 10 years' labour by 75,000 workers (of whom 5,600 died), used more explosives than any previous engineering project, and reduced the sea route between New York and San Francisco from 22,500 km to 9,500 km.

Noriega and the US invasion — Operation Just Cause

The US invasion of Panama (20 December 1989 CE), code-named Operation Just Cause, to remove Manuel Noriega — the CIA-connected dictator who had been indicted for drug trafficking — was the largest US military operation since Vietnam, killed hundreds of Panamanians, and ended with Noriega seeking asylum in the Vatican nunciature before surrendering.