Panama is a country in Central America. Its official name is the Republic of Panama, and it is most famous for the Panama Canal. Countries bordering Panama are Costa Rica in the Northwest and Colombia in the Southeast. Panama is between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Most of the people in Panama are Roman Catholic (about 80%).
Panama City, also simply known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama.
The Caribbean coastline has many good natural harbors. However, Cristóbal, at the Caribbean terminus of the canal, had the only important port facilities in the late 1980s. The many islands of the Archipiélago de Bocas del Toro, near the beaches of Costa Rica, made an extensive natural roadstead and shield for the port of Almirante. The over 350 San Blas Islands, near Colombia, are spread out for more than 160 km along the sheltered Caribbean coastline.