[ Home ] [ Up ]

The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is a 48 mi ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in the canal's early days to 14,702 vessels in 2008.In total over 815,000 vessels have passed through the canal. It has been named one of the seven modern wonders of the world by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the canal had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via either the Strait of Magellan or Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the canal travels 5,900 mi, well under half the 14,000 mi route around Cape Horn.

Click a thumbnail image to see the larger one.  Then click your browser back arrow (◄-- ) to return to this page.
Overview of the Canal Route	Guideboat Arrives at Dawn	Entering the 50-mile long Canal	One of the Six Sets of Locks
Filling the Lock with Water	Electric Locomotive Guides the Ship	Watching the Passage	Locks Raise Ship 85 feet above Sea level
A Bee-Hive of Inactivity	Canal Control and Valves	Headed for Gatun Lake	In Colon Panama
Tourist Greeters	Into the Panama Interior (Jungle)	Our Dugout Guide Awaits	Along the Chagres River
Arrival at Embera Native Village	The Welcome Band	Tribal Elder Oversee Activities	The Rhythm Sectioin
The Turtle Drummer	Clever Carved Staircase	Town Hall Interior	Group Discussion
Meal Preparation in Kitchen	The Stove	Serving Tilapia & Plantain	Young Weaver
Weaver and her Child	A Winning Smile	Crafts For Sale	Village Craftsmen
Girls in Dance Line	Hiding While Girls Dance	Watching and Waiting	Dancers Get Organized
Traditional Line Dance	Village Grandma	Household Storage	Interior Panama Landscape
Tranquility Along the Chagres River		Entertaining Departing Tourists at the pier