MS MSC Orchestra is a cruise ship that was built in 2007 for MSC Cruises. She is the second ship of the Musica class. She could at the time accommodate 2,550 passengers in 1,275 cabins. Most inside cabins were later refitted with two bunk beds and therefore she can now accommodate 3,200 passengers. Her crew complement is approximately 990. read more…
The MSC Musica is a cruise ship belonging to MSC Cruises. It was christened in Venice by the Italian actress Sophia Loren in June 2006 and went on its maiden voyage on July 1. The ship has four different restaurants, a sushi bar, an 800 m² casino, the Havana Club smoking room and a theater 1200 seats and a discotheque, as well as a tennis and a mini golf course. Other features: read more…
Santiago de Veraguas is the capital of the province of Veraguas, and the district or municipality of the same name. Located in the countryside on the banks of the Pan-American Highway. Bounded on the north by San Francisco District, south with the District of Montijo, east District of Atalaya and west by the District of La Mesa. The population of the city of Santiago is at 90,000. read more…
Penonomé is the capital of the province of Coclé with a populaton of 20,000. The town is located along the Inter-American Highway in the wide, flat lowlands of central Coclé. Especially for Carnival and the national festivals, the otherwise quiet city turns into a colorful spectacle with numerous open-air discos and lively street parades. read more…
Antón is a corregimiento in Antón District, Coclé Province. It is located near the north-western shore of the Gulf of Panama. It is the seat of Antón District. It has a land area of 106.3 square kilometres (41.0 sq mi) and had a population of 12,000. Most of them are mestizos, Chinese or African Americans. For Panamanian standards, the city is quite small, in the center there is a casino, three small supermarkets, run by the Chinese (“chinos”) and a market where livestock (chickens) are slaughtered and sold. read more…
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Yaviza is a town and corregimiento in Pinogana District, Darién Province, with a population of 4,500. The town marks the southeastern end of the northern half of the Pan-American Highway, at the north end of the Darién Gap. Two major national parks exist in the Darién Gap: Darién National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Darién) in Panama and Los Katíos National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional de Los Katíos) in Colombia. The Darién Gap forests had extensive cedrela and mahogany cover at one time, but many of these trees were removed by loggers. Darién National Park covers around 5,790 square kilometres of land and was established in 1980. It is the largest national park in Central America. read more…
Panama, officially called the Republic of Panama, is a country in Central America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia in South America to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half of the country’s 4 million people. Panama was inhabited by several indigenous tribes prior to settlement by the Spanish in the 16th century. Panama broke away from Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela named the Republic of Gran Colombia. When Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada remained joined, eventually becoming the Republic of Colombia. With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the Panama Canal to be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. In 1977 an agreement was signed for the transfer of the Canal from the United States to Panama by the end of the 20th century, which culminated on December 31, 1999. read more…
Panama City is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a metro population of 1,5 million, and is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of Panama. The city is the political and administrative center of the country, as well as a hub for international banking and commerce. It is considered a “beta-” world city, one of three Central American cities listed in this category. The city of Panama was founded on August 15, 1519, by Spanish conquistador Pedro Arias Dávila. The city was the starting point for expeditions that conquered the Inca Empire in Peru. It was a stopover point on one of the most important trade routes in the history of the American continent, leading to the fairs of Nombre de Dios and Portobelo, through which passed most of the gold and silver that Spain took from the Americas. On January 28, 1671, the original city was destroyed by a fire when privateer Henry Morgan sacked and set fire to it. The city was formally reestablished two years later on January 21, 1673, in a peninsula located 8 km (5 miles) from the original settlement. The site of the previously devastated city is still in ruins and is now a popular tourist attraction known as Panama Viejo. read more…
