Panama Canal
Panama Canal is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 9.10°, -79.69°
About Panama Canal
The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial fresh water lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created by damming the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal. Locks then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 33.5 meters (110 ft) wide and allow the passage of Panamax ships. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded waterway began commercial operation on 26 June 2016. The new locks allow for the transit of larger, Neopanamax ships. An average of 200,000,000 litres (52 million US gallons) of fresh water is used in a single passing of a ship. The canal is threatened by low water levels during droughts.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Panama Canal (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Panama Canal in Depth
History
The idea of the Panama Canal dates back to 1513, when the Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa (c.1475–1519) first crossed the Isthmus of Panama. He wrote in his journal the possibility of a canal but did not take action. European powers soon noticed the possibility of digging a water passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across this narrow land bridge between North and South America. The earliest proposal dates to 1534, when the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered a survey for a route through the Americas in order to ease the voyage for ships traveling between Spain and Peru. In 1668, the English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne specifically proposed the Isthmus of Panama as the most convenient place for such a canal.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Panama Canal (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Panama Canal: Key Facts
| Length | 82 km |
|---|
Facts from Wikidata Q7350 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Panama Canal: Quick Answers
- Where is Panama Canal?
- Panama Canal is located in Panama, at 9.1035° N, 79.6905° W.
- Are there dams on the Panama Canal?
- No dam on the Panama Canal is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.