Panama 🇵🇦
Panama is a country in North America with a population of 4,408,581. Its capital is Panama City. The official currency is PAB, and the main languages are Spanish.
Quick facts
- Capital: Panama City
- Continent: North America
- Population: 4,408,581
- Area: 75,417 km²
- Density: 58.5 people per km²
- Currency: PAB
- Languages: Spanish
- ISO code: PA
Where Panama sits
Panama 🇵🇦 is one of 23 countries in North America, with its capital at Panama City. It covers 75,417 square kilometres — 116th in the world — and is home to about 4,408,581 people, 127th globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include United States, Mexico, Canada, Guatemala and Haiti. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Panama compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Panama sits closest to Kuwait and Oman. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Czechia and Sierra Leone.
At 58.5 people per square kilometre it is close to the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by area than by population, so it is more spacious than its population alone suggests.
Spanish is an official language in 20 countries here, among them Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Colombia, and 15 others. The PAB is used by Panama and no one else.
To see Panama next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Panama
The capital has the same name as the country, Panama City, founded in 1519 by Pedro Arias Dávila. For the flag, picture four tiles like a window, two with stars and two plain.
The flag of Panama: red, white and blue
🇵🇦 The flag is four quarters: white with a blue star at top left, plain red at top right, plain blue at bottom left and white with a red star at bottom right. Blue and red stand for the two main political parties and white for peace between them. The blue star stands for purity and honesty, and the red star for authority and law.
Region and neighbours
Panama is a country on the Isthmus of Panama in Central America, bordering South America, with the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. It shares land borders with 2 countries: Costa Rica and Colombia.
- Costa Rica 🇨🇷 — capital San José
- Colombia 🇨🇴 — capital Bogotá
Three facts about Panama
- The Panama Canal was completed by the United States between 1904 and 1914, after Panama separated from Colombia in 1903.
- In 1513 Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the isthmus from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
- Panama uses both its own currency, the balboa, and the United States dollar.
Sources: Wikipedia: Panama, Wikipedia: Flag of Panama, Wikipedia: Panama City, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Panama
- North American capitals quiz — match Panama to Panama City
- North American flags quiz — spot the Panama flag among its neighbours
Quizzes that include Panama
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Panama those are:
- North America map quiz — place it on a blank map
- North America flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- North America capitals quiz — match it to Panama City
- Panama capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Panama
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Panama
- Capital of Panama: Panama City — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 23 countries of North America
Nearby countries
- Antigua and Barbuda 🇦🇬 — capital Saint John's
- Bahamas 🇧🇸 — capital Nassau
- Barbados 🇧🇧 — capital Bridgetown
- Belize 🇧🇿 — capital Belmopan
- Canada 🇨🇦 — capital Ottawa
- Costa Rica 🇨🇷 — capital San José
- Cuba 🇨🇺 — capital Havana
- Dominica 🇩🇲 — capital Roseau
- Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 — capital Santo Domingo
- El Salvador 🇸🇻 — capital San Salvador
- Grenada 🇬🇩 — capital Saint George's
- Guatemala 🇬🇹 — capital Guatemala City
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Panama flag?
The flag of Panama is four quarters: white with a blue star at top left, plain red at top right, plain blue at bottom left and white with a red star at bottom right. Blue and red stand for the two main political parties and white for peace between them. The blue star stands for purity and honesty, and the red star for authority and law.
Which countries border Panama?
Panama shares land borders with Costa Rica and Colombia.
How can I remember the capital of Panama?
The capital has the same name as the country, Panama City, founded in 1519 by Pedro Arias Dávila. For the flag, picture four tiles like a window, two with stars and two plain.