Panama Canal

Definition: Panama Canal

Panama Canal

Noun

1. A ship canal 40 miles long across the Isthmus of Panama built by the United State (1904-1914).

Crosswords: Panama Canal

English words defined with "Panama Canal": Aspinwall ♦ colon ♦ George Washington Goethals, Goethals, Gorgas ♦ President Roosevelt, President Theodore Roosevelt ♦ Roosevelt ♦ Strait of Magellan ♦ Theodore Roosevelt ♦ William Crawford Gorgas. (references)

Specialty definitions using "Panama Canal": like nailing jelly to a tree ♦ ROOSEVELT ♦ Suez Canal clause. (references)

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Specialty Definition: Panama Canal

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The Panama Canal is a large canal that cuts through the isthmus of Panama and connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The canal has two sets of locks on the Pacific side and one on the Atlantic. The Pacific end, called Miraflores, is 24 cm higher than the Atlantic end, called Gatún, and has much greater tides. Between Miraflores Locks and Gatún Lake are Pedro Miguel Locks; each of these sets consists of one lock for Atlantic-bound ships and one for Pacific-bound. Lake Gatún, which is 26 meters above sea level, is fed by the Chagres River, which was dammed to make the lake. Gaillard Cut, between Miraflores and Pedro Miguel, is 9 meters above sea level. The Atlantic end is northwest of the Pacific end.

Several islands are located within the Lake Gatún portion of the Panama Canal, including Barro Colorado Island, a nature preserve.

History

The dream of a canal across the isthmus of Central America went back centuries, and there was serious discussion that such could be built from the 1820s on. The two routes appearing most favorable were across Panama and across Nicaragua, with a route across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico a third option. There was serious discussion and surveys taken concerning the Nicaragua route; see: Nicaragua Canal.

The Panama Railway was built across the isthmus from 1850 to 1855. The existance of the infastructure of this functioning railroad was a key consideration in plans to build the canal in Panama.

Prior to the Panama Canal's construction, the fastest way to travel by ship from New York to California would have been to round the tip of South America, a long and dangerous route. After the success of the Suez Canal in Egypt, the French believed that they could connect another two seas with as little difficulty. Ferdinand de Lesseps, the same person who was in charge of the construction of the Suez Canal, was first called upon to build the new canal at Panama. Construction on the canal began on January 1, 1880.

Unfortunately, the French did not realise the difference between digging quantities of sand in a dry flat area and removing vast quantities of rock from the middle of a jungle. Technical problems and high mortality rates from malaria, yellow fever and other tropical diseases eventually forced the French to give up.

President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States felt that the USA could complete the project and that US control of the passage from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans would be militarily and economically important to the United States. At the time Panama was part of Colombia so Roosevelt proceded to negotiate with the Colombians to obtain the rights needed to build the canal. In early 1903 the Hay-Herran Treaty was signed by both nations but the Colombian Senate failed to ratify the treaty. In what was then, and still is, a very controversial move, Roosevelt implied to Panamanian rebels that if they revolted that the US Navy would assist their cause for independence. Panama then proclaimed it independence on November 3, 1903.

Here, three locks of the canal can be seen (Larger Version)

Then when fighting began Roosevelt ordered US battleships stationed off of Panama's coast for "training exercises." Many argue that fear of a war with the United States caused the Colombians to largely avoid serious opposition to the revolution. The victorious Panamanians returned the favor to Roosevelt by allowing the United States to gain control of the Panama Canal Zone on February 23, 1904 for $10 million (as provided in the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, signed on November 18, 1903).

The first success of the North Americans was in eliminating the noxious yellow fever that had been killing so many workers. Walter Reed had determined in Cuba during the Spanish-American War that mosquitos spread the disease. 20,000 French workers had died from disease, but new sanitary procedures led by Dr. William Gorgas eliminated yellow fever in 1905.

John Findlay Wallace was the first chief engineer of the project. His work did not go well, hampered by disease. He resigned after one year. The second chief engineer, John Stevens, started by improving living conditions for the workers. He eventually abandoned the sea level canal plan and started work on a lock and dam system. He resigned in 1907. US Colonel George Washington Goethals was the last chief engineer and his engineering of the Canal earned much praise at the time. The work on the canal was still grueling, but great progress was made.

US President Woodrow Wilson triggered the explosion of the Gamboa Dike on October 10, 1913 thus ending construction on the canal.

Pedro Miguel Locks under construction, early 1910's, showing center wall and intakes, looking north

When the canal opened in 1914 it was a technological marvel. A complex series of locks let even large ships pass through. The canal was an important strategic and economic asset to the US, and revolutionized world shipping patterns.

The United States used the canal during World War II to help revitalize their devastated Pacific Fleet. Some of the largest ships the United States needed to pass through the canal were aircraft carriers, in particular the Essex class aircraft carrier. These ships were so large that, although the locks could hold the carriers, the lampposts which lined the canal needed to be removed to allow for the carrier's required space to pass through.

The canal and the Canal Zone surrounding it were administered by the United States until 1999 when control was relinquished to Panama. This was the result of the September 7, 1977 signing of the Torrijos - Carter Treaty in which US president Jimmy Carter conceded to Panamanian demands for control. The treaty called for a gradual changeover, placing the canal completely in Panamanian jurisdiction by December 31, 1999.

Panama has since managed the Canal in a very professional way, breaking all previous traffic, revenue and safety records year after year.

It has been declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

External links

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Panama Canal."

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Modern Usage: Panama Canal

Domain	Usage
Movie/TV Titles	The Panama Canal (1918)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Panama Canal

Domain	Title
Books	Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 (reference) Panama Canal by Cruise Ship: The Complete Guide to Cruising the Panama Canal (reference) Eastern Caribbean Ports of Call: From Puerto Rico to Aruba Including the Panama Canal (reference) How Wall Street Created a Nation: J.P. Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, and the Panama Canal (reference) Destiny by Design : The Construction of the Panama Canal (reference) (more book examples)

Theater & Movies	Modern Marvels: Panama Canal (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Panama Canal

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Photo Album: Panama Canal

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	NOAA Ship RESEARCHER passing through the Panama Canal.Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.		Sanitary engineering : Health Department laying tile drains, Panama Canal.Credit: National Library of Medicine.
	Sanitary engineering : Health Department laying tile drains, Panama Canal.Credit: National Library of Medicine.		Sanitary engineering : Front view of Panama Canal garbage incinerator.Credit: National Library of Medicine.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Panama Canal

Subject	Topic	Quote
Economic History	Panama	As a result of the Panama Canal Treaties of 1977, on December 31, 1999, the United States completed the process of transferring to Panama the Canal, 364,000 acres of land, more than 4,000 buildings and other infrastructure located in the former Canal Zone. (references)
	Panama	Areas which offer more opportunities for consulting services are: the environment, health, tourism, use of former military facilities and the Panama Canal. (references)
	Panama	Other large projects included commercial shopping centers in Panama City, a water purification plant; and the rehabilitation of the Panama Canal Railway. (references)
Political Economy	PANAMA	Panama's economy is based on a well-developed services sector that accounts for about 75 percent of GDP. Services include the Panama Canal, container port activities, shipping, ship registry, banking, insurance, wholesaling and distribution out of the Colon Free Zone, and government activities (which represents about 14 percent of GDP). The industrial sector, which accounts for 18 percent of GDP, is made up of manufacturing, mining, utilities, and construction. (references)
	Panama	Formal U.S.-Panamanian relations date to 1903, when a bilateral treaty gave the U.S. the right to build and unilaterally control the transisthmian canal that was completed in 1914. This traditional, at times controversial, relationship was ended by mutual agreement in the 1977 Panama Canal Treaties, which stipulated that Canal administration would pass to Panama and all U.S. troops would withdraw from the country by December 31, 1999. (references)
	PANAMA	The Moscoso Administration has refused to include the Panama Canal Authority as part of it offer for accession to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). (references)
Trade	Panama	It also permits direct sales to foreign vessels transiting the Panama Canal, and to foreign airlines. (references)
Worker Rights	Panama	The law governing the autonomous Panama Canal Authority prohibits the right to strike for its 10,000 employees, but does allow unions to organize and to bargain collectively. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Speeches: Panama Canal

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
Jimmy Carter	1977-1981	The world is watching to see how we act on one of our most important and controversial items of business, approval of the Panama Canal treaties.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Expression: Panama Canal

Expression using "Panama Canal": the panama canal. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Panama Canal

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Expression	Frequency per Day
panama canal	1,208
panama canal cruise	244
panama canal history	82
panama canal picture	57
panama canal map	39
panama canal zone	31
panama canal cruise vacation	17
building the panama canal	14
princess cruise to panama canal	12
discount cruise panama canal	11
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translations: Panama Canal

Language		Translations for "Panama Canal"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		kanali i panamasë. (various references)

Bulgarian		панамски канал. (various references)

Czech		panamský prùplav. (various references)

German		panamakanal. (various references)

Hungarian		panama csatorna. (various references)

Italian		canale di panama. (various references)

Pig Latin		anamapay analcay.(various references)

Portuguese		panamá (Panama, Republic of Panama). (various references)

Russian		панамский канал. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		panamski kanal. (various references)

Spanish		canal de panamá. (various references)

Swedish		panamakanalen (the panama canal). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Anagrams: Panama Canal

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-a-a-a-a-c-l-m-n-n-p"
	-4 letters: almanac.
	-5 letters: alpaca, manana, napalm, panama.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.