Panama canal

Panama Canal 100 years

Evelyn Rodriguez

Juliette Delgado

Mariana Vergara

Josue Caballero

Panama Canal

• The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is a 77.1-kilometre (48 mi) ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for international maritime trade.

History• The earliest mention of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama

dates back to 1534, when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, ordered a survey for a route through the Americas that would ease the voyage for ships traveling between Spain and Peru. Such a route would have given the Spanish a military advantage over the Portuguese. During an expedition from 1788 to 1793, Alessandro Malaspina outlined plans for its construction.

French construction attempts, 1881–1894

• The first attempt to construct a canal through what was then Colombia's province of Panama began on 1 January 1881. The project, designed as a sea-level canal (i.e., without locks), was under the leadership of Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal, with substantial financing and support from Paris.

Ferdinand Lesseps

U.S. acquisition

• At this time, the President and the Senate of the United States were interested in establishing a canal across the isthmus, with some favoring a route across Nicaragua (see Nicaragua Canal) and others advocating the purchase of the French interests in Panama.

U.S. construction, 1904–1914U.S. construction, 1904–1914

The U.S. formally took control of the canal property on May 4, 1904, inheriting from the French a depleted workforce and a vast jumble of buildings, infrastructure and equipment, much of it in poor condition.

Excavator at work, in Bas Obispo, 1886The Culebra Cut, or Gaillard Cut, in 1896

The Culebra Cut in 1902

Construction of locks on the Panama Canal, 1913

• Satellite image showing location of Panama Canal. Dense jungles are visible in green.