6o 



The National Geographic Magazine 



including the assassination of leaders 

 and bloody battles, constituted the pro- 

 gram until 1862, when the opposing 

 parties came to terms to a sufficient 

 extent to permit the appointment of a 

 provincial government and the drawing 

 up of a constitution. At this time an- 

 other attempt, not successful, was made 

 to reestablish the former republic of the 

 three countries — Venezuela, Colombia, 

 and Ecuador ; but under the constitu- 

 tion adopted May 8, 1863, the Republic 

 of Colombia was erected, and it has 

 endured to the present time. Insur- 

 rections and internal disorganizations 

 prevailed for a number of }^ears, and 

 the history of the Republic has been 

 accentuated bj' frequent revolutions, 

 many of which have taken place in 

 Panama. 



EXTENT OF THE PRESENT REPUBLIC 



This brings us to the consideration 

 of the Republic of Panama as it now 

 stands, having declared its independence 

 on November 3, 1903. The Republic 

 of Panama is identical in territorial 

 limits with the department of Panama 

 of the Republic of Colombia. This de- 

 partment extended from Costa Rica on 

 the west to a line drawn first nearly due 

 south from Cape Tiburon at the south- 

 ern limit of the Gulf of Darien, then 

 southwesterly to a point on the Pacific 

 coast a short distance southeast of Punta 

 Cocalito. This last or eastern limit of 

 the department of Panama is almost en- 

 tirely along the divide between the 

 Atrato River and the watershed drain- 

 ing into the Gulf of San Miguel. 



The Republic of Panama lies between 

 the parallels of 7 15' and 9 north lati- 

 tude, and also between 77 ° 15' and 82 ° 

 30' longitude west from Greenwich. 

 Approximately speaking, therefore, its 

 extreme length east and west is about 

 three hundred and fifty miles, and its ex- 

 treme width north and south one hun- 

 dred and twenty miles. Its population 

 is not well determined, but it probably 



does not extend three hundred thousand. 

 This population is largely composed of 

 people of Spanish descent, but there are 

 also large numbers of negroes, who have 

 come chiefly from Jamaica during the 

 constructing work conducted by the old 

 Panama Company. A few Chinamen 

 have also found their way to the Isthmus 

 and become permanent residents. The 

 native Indians are also occasionally seen 

 on the zone of population between Pan- 

 ama and Colon. These races have been 

 mingled in all conceivable proportions, 

 so that the features or racial character- 

 istics of one or more or even all of these 

 various nationalities may be traced in 

 the face of a single individual. Some 

 of the old Spanish families have still re- 

 tained the purity of their blood and are 

 among the prominent people of the 

 Isthmus. Its entire area is about 31,- 

 600 square miles, or about the area of 

 the State of Indiana. 



The Cordillera forming the main 

 mountain ridge extending from South 

 to North America and constituting the 

 continental divide runs through the 

 entire length of the Republic of Panama, 

 in the eastern portion the divide being 

 much nearer the Caribbean Sea than the 

 Pacific Ocean, while in the western por- 

 tion its location is more nearly central. 

 The low notch or saddle in the Cordil- 

 lera near the city of Panama, with a 

 summit elevation about 300 feet above 

 sea level, the lowest throughout the 

 Central American Isthmus except at 

 Nicaragua, affords the railroad location 

 built upon nearly fifty years ago and 

 the recommended route for the isthmian 

 ship canal. 



Not less than one-half of the entire 

 territory of the Republic is mountainous 

 and covered with luxuriant tropical 

 vegetation, including heavy forest trees, 

 some of which are among the highly 

 valuable woods. These forests are prac- 

 tically trackless. Tribes of Indians, not 

 in large numbers, live along the Carib- 

 bean coast between Panama and Darien, 



