Panama Canal Zone

Gamboa is a small town in corregimiento of Cristóbal in the Colón Province, Panama close to the Panama Canal and the Chagres River. It was one of a handful of permanent Canal Zone townships, built to house employees of the Panama Canal and their dependents. The name Gamboa is the name of a tree of the quince family. Gamboa is considered an attractive location for ecotourism.

The Caraba Formation (Tcr) is a geologic formation in Panama. The formation was first defined in 1950 by Jones as a facies member of the Caimito Formation. The formation consists of poorly lithified, pebbly, tuffaceous, calcareous sandstones and conglomerates and preserves fossils dating back to the Early Oligocene period.

The Panama Formation (Tp) is a geologic formation in Panama. The formation consists of tuffaceous sandstones, conglomerates, tuffaceous shales and algal and foraminifera-rich limestones, and preserves bivalve fossils of Leopecten gatunensis and Nodipecten sp. and dates back to the Late Oligocene period.

The Culebra Formation (Tcb) is a geologic formation in Panama. It preserves fossils dating back to the Miocene period; Early Miocene epoch, Aquitanian to Burdigalian stages (Late Arikareean to Hemingfordian in the NALMA classification). Fossils of Culebrasuchus have been found in and named after the formation. The thickness of the formation is at least 250 metres (820 ft) thick, and the age has been estimated as from 23 to 19 Ma.

The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82-kilometre (51-mile) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, cutting across the Isthmus of Panama, and is a conduit for maritime trade. Canal locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial freshwater lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created by damming up the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, and then lower the ships at the other end. An average of 200,000,000 L (52,000,000 US gal) of fresh water are used in a single passing of a ship. The Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan. It is one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken. Colombia, France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped because of lack of investors' confidence due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal in 1914. The US continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for its handover to Panama in 1977. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, the canal was taken over by the Panamanian government in 1999. It is now managed and operated by the Panamanian government-owned Panama Canal Authority. The original locks are 33.5 meters (110 ft) wide. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded waterway began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, NeoPanamax ships. Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal. In 2017, it took ships an average of 11.38 hours to pass between the canal's two outer locks. The American Society of Civil Engineers has ranked the Panama Canal one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The canal is threatened by low water levels during drought and due to climate change.

The Culebra Cut, formerly called Gaillard Cut, is an artificial valley that cuts through the Continental Divide in Panama. The cut forms part of the Panama Canal, linking Gatun Lake, and thereby the Atlantic Ocean, to the Gulf of Panama and hence the Pacific Ocean. It is 7.8 miles (12.6 km) from the Pedro Miguel lock on the Pacific side to the Chagres River arm of Lake Gatun, with a water level 85 feet (26 m) above sea level. Construction of the cut was one of the great engineering feats of its time; the immense effort required to complete it was justified by the great significance of the canal to shipping, and in particular the strategic interests of the United States of America. Culebra is the name for the mountain ridge it cuts through, and was also originally applied to the cut itself. From 1915 to 2000 the cut was named Gaillard Cut after US Major David du Bose Gaillard, who had led the excavation. After the canal handover to Panama in 2000, the name was changed back to Culebra. In Spanish the cut is known as the Corte Culebra and is also called the Snake Cut.

Soberanía National Park (Parque Nacional Soberanía) is a national park in Panama near the banks of the Panama Canal in the provinces of Panamá and Colón, some 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Panama City. The Chagres River runs through the park. Established as a national park in 1980, the park covers 55,000 acres (220 km2).Visitors to the Soberanía National Park can also explore the Las Cruces Trail (Camino de Cruces). This historical trail dates back to the 16th century and was used by the Spanish to transport gold. Parts of the trail are still lined with old stones that once marked the trail's original path. The land that is now the Parque Municipal Summit was originally included in this park, but was turned over to Panama City in 1985.

Santa Clara is a town and corregimiento in Arraiján District, Panamá Oeste Province, Panama with a population of 2,139 as of 2010. Its population as of 1990 was 1,422; its population as of 2000 was 1,744.

The Parque Municipal Summit (Summit Municipal Park) is a botanical garden with a facility for rescue and wildlife rehabilitation of exotic and native wildlife in central Panama. Many of the animals that arrive at the rescue center that cannot be returned to the wild, are displayed to the public in a well-kept zoo. The park has 250 hectares (620 acres) in total area (of which 55 hectares (140 acres) belong to the botanical garden), which is located right next to the Soberania National Park, less than an hour's drive from Panama City, at about kilometer 18 on the road leading to Gamboa.

Panama's Centennial Bridge (Spanish: Puente Centenario) is a major bridge crossing the Panama Canal. It was built to supplement the overcrowded Bridge of the Americas and to replace it as the carrier of the Pan-American Highway. Upon its opening in 2004, it became the second permanent crossing of the canal.

Paraíso is a town in the Republic of Panama, located just north of the Panama Canal's Pedro Miguel Locks. It was a vibrant township of the old Canal Zone, though it was segregated for most of its history.

The Rio Grande (Panama) is a river in Coclé Province in Panama.Its river mouth is at the Gulf of Panama on the Pacific Coast of Panama.