Panama Canal
What is it?
The Panama Canal is a 77.1-kilometer ship canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. France began work on the canal in 1881, but had to stop because of engineering problems and high mortality due to disease. The United States took over the project in 1904, and took a decade to complete the canal, which was officially opened on August 15, 1914.
Who made it?
France began to work on it in the 1881, but then the United States took over in 1904, and it was opened August 15, 1914
Why?
One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route. The shorter, faster, and safer route to the U.S. West Coast and to nations in and around the Pacific Ocean allowed those places to become more integrated with the world economy.
Ownership
During construction, ownership of the territory that the Panama Canal now passes through was first Colombian, then French, and then American. The US continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for handover to Panama. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, the canal was taken over by the Panamanian government in 1999, and is now managed and operated by the Panama Canal Authority, a Panamanian government agency.
Facts
Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008. By 2008, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal; the largest ships that can transit the canal today are called Panamax. It takes 20 to 30 hours to pass through the Panama Canal.