Subdivisions: Nine provinces and five (Indigenous) territories (comarcas).

Political parties:  Panamenista Party (formerly the Arnulfista Party (PA); Democratic Change (CD); National Liberal Republican Movement (MOLIRENA); Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD); Patriotic Union (UP).

Suffrage: Universal at 18.

ECONOMY

GDP (2008 estimate): $23.42 billion.

Annual growth rate (2006) 8.1 percent;  (2007) 11.5 percent; (2008) 9.2 percent.

Per capita GDP (2008 estimate, purchasing power parity): $11,900.

Natural resources: Timber, copper, gold.

Services (77.6 percent of GDP): Finance, insurance, health and medical, transportation, telecommunications, the Canal and maritime services, tourism, Colon Free Zone, public administration, and general commerce.

Agriculture and fisheries (6.2 percent of GDP): Products--bananas and other fruit, corn, sugar, rice, coffee, shrimp, timber, vegetables, livestock.

Industry/Manufacturing (16.1 percent of GDP): Types--food and drink processing, petroleum products, chemicals, paper and paper products, printing, mining, refined sugar, clothing, furniture, construction. 

Trade (2008): Exports (goods)--$10.37 billion: bananas, petroleum products, shrimp, sugar, coffee, and clothing. Exports to U.S.-- $377 million (3.9 per cent of total). Imports (goods) -- $15.18 billion: capital goods, crude oil, foodstuffs, chemicals, other consumer and intermediate goods. Imports (goods) from U.S.--$4.9 billion (32 per cent of total).

PEOPLE

Panamanians' culture, customs, and language are predominantly Caribbean Spanish. The majority of the population is ethnically mestizo (mixed Spanish and indigenous or mixed Spanish, Chinese, and West Indian. Spanish is the official and dominant language; English is a common second language spoken by the West Indians and by many businesspeople and  professionals.  More than half the population lives in the Panama City-Colon metropolitan corridor.

Panama is rich in folklore and popular traditions. Brightly colored national dress is worn during local festivals and the pre-Lenten carnival season, especially for traditional folk dances like the tamborito. Lively salsa--a mixture of Latin American popular music, rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock--is a Panamanian specialty, and Ruben Blades is its best-known performer (and Minister of Tourism 2004-2009).  Indigenous influences dominate handicrafts such as the famous Kuna textile molas. Artist Roberto Lewis' Presidential Palace murals and his restoration work and ceiling in the National Theater are well known and widely admired.