le land 6%; permanent crops 2%; meadows and pastures
15%; forest and woodland 54%; other 23%; includes irrigated NEGL%

_#_Environment: dense tropical forest in east and northwest

_#_Note: strategic location on eastern end of isthmus forming
land bridge connecting North and South America; controls Panama Canal
that links North Atlantic Ocean via Caribbean Sea with North Pacific
Ocean

_*_People
_#_Population: 2,476,281 (July 1991), growth rate 2.1% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 26 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 21 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 76 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 3.0 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Panamanian(s); adjective--Panamanian

_#_Ethnic divisions: mestizo (mixed Indian and European ancestry) 70%,
West Indian 14%, white 10%, Indian 6%

_#_Religion: Roman Catholic over 93%, Protestant 6%

_#_Language: Spanish (official); English as native tongue 14%;
many Panamanians bilingual

_#_Literacy: 88% (male 88%, female 88%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)

_#_Labor force: 770,472 (1987); government and community services
27.9%; agriculture, hunting, and fishing 26.2%; commerce, restaurants,
and hotels 16%; manufacturing and mining 10.5%; construction 5.3%;
transportation and communications 5.3%; finance, insurance, and real
estate 4.2%; Canal Zone 2.4%; shortage of skilled labor, but an
oversupply of unskilled labor

_#_Organized labor: 17% of labor force (1986)

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Republic of Panama

_#_Type: centralized republic

_#_Capital: Panama

_#_Administrative divisions: 9 provinces (provincias,
singular--provincia) and 1 territory* (comarca); Bocas del Toro,
Chiriqui, Cocle, Colon, Darien, Herrera, Los Santos, Panama,
San Blas*, Veraguas

_#_Independence: 3 November 1903 (from Colombia; became independent
from Spain 28 November 1821)

_#_Constitution: 11 October 1972; major reforms adopted April 1983

_#_Legal system: based on civil law system; judicial review of
legislative acts in the Supreme Court of Justice; accepts compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 3 November (1903)

_#_Executive branch: president, two vice presidents, Ca