Natural resources: copper, mahogany forests, shrimp
Land use:
arable land: 6%
permanent crops: 2%
meadows and pastures: 15%
forest and woodland: 54%
other: 23%
Irrigated land: 320 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: water pollution from agricultural runoff threatens
fishery resources; deforestation of tropical rain forest; land
degradation
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Law of the
Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Tropical Timber 94
Geographic note: strategic location on eastern end of isthmus
forming land bridge connecting North and South America; controls
Panama Canal that links North Atlantic Ocean via Caribbean Sea with
North Pacific Ocean
People ———
Population: 2,655,094 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 33% (male 445,382; female 426,111)
15-64 years: 62% (male 828,384; female 806,205)
65 years and over: 5% (male 71,823; female 77,189) (July 1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.64% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 23.2 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)