r construction material, sugar mills,
paper products

_#_Agriculture: accounts for 12% of GDP (1990 est.), 25% of labor
force (1989); crops--bananas, rice, corn, coffee, sugarcane; livestock;
fishing; importer of food grain, vegetables, milk products

_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $516
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $575 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $4 million

_#_Currency: balboa (plural--balboas); 1 balboa (B) = 100 centesimos

_#_Exchange rates: balboas (B) per US$1--1.000 (fixed rate)

_#_Fiscal year: calendar year

_*_Communications
_#_Railroads: 238 km total; 78 km 1.524-meter gauge, 160 km
0.914-meter gauge

_#_Highways: 8,530 km total; 2,745 km paved, 3,270 km gravel or
crushed stone, 2,515 km improved and unimproved earth

_#_Inland waterways: 800 km navigable by shallow draft vessels; 82 km
Panama Canal

_#_Pipelines: crude oil, 130 km

_#_Ports: Cristobal, Balboa, Puerto de La Bahia de Las Minas

_#_Merchant marine: 2,932 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
41,314,623 GRT/66,226,104 DWT; includes 22 passenger, 22 short-sea
passenger, 5 passenger-cargo, 1,060 cargo, 188 refrigerated cargo,
165 container, 62 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 105 vehicle carrier,
8 livestock carrier, 5 multifunction large-load carrier,
301 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 175 chemical tanker,
27 combination ore/oil, 91 liquefied gas, 8 specialized tanker, 651 bulk,
37 combination bulk; note--all but 5 are foreign owned and operated;
the top 4 foreign owners are Japan 36%, Greece 9%, Hong Kong 9%, and the
US 8%; (China owns at least 127 ships, Vietnam 10, Yugoslavia 10, Cuba 5,
Cyprus 3, and USSR 2)

_#_Civil air: 16 major transport aircraft

_#_Airports: 113 total, 101 usable; 41 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
15 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

_#_Telecommunications: domestic and international facilities well
developed; connection into Central American Microwave System; 2 Atlantic
Ocean satellite antennas; 220,000 telephones; stations--91 AM, no FM,
23 TV; 1 coaxial submarine cable

_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: note--the Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) ceased to exist
as a military institution shortly after the United States invaded Panama
on 20 December 1989; President Endara is attempting to restructure the
forces into a civ