Cultural Demography
The total population of Panama numbers over 3.5 million. More than half the population lives in the Panama City-Colon metropolitan corridor.
Ethnically, the majority of the population -- 70 percent -- is "mestizo" (mixed Spanish and Indian) or mixed Spanish, indigenous Indian, Chinese, and West Indian (Caribbean) ancestry. There are also a small number of people of other European ancestries, a more significant number of people of West Indian (Caribbean) heritage, as well as a fairly sizable minority of indigenous Indians.
Spanish is the official and dominant language; English is a common second language spoken by the West Indians and by many businessmen and professionals.
Christianity is the major religion, with more people -- about 85 percent -- being adherents of Roman Catholicism. Variants of Protestantism are also practiced.
Cultural Legacy
Panama is rich in folklore, popular traditions, culture, and customs. Brightly colored national dress is worn during local festivals and the pre-Lenten carnival season, especially for traditional folk dances like the tanborito. Lively salsa, a mixture of Latin American popular music, rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock, is a Panamanian specialty. Indian influences dominate handicrafts such as the famous Kuna textile molas. Artist Roberto Lewis' works, such as the Presidential Palace murals and the ceiling in the National Theater are well known and admired.
Education
About 92 percent of Panamanians, over the age of 15, are literate. In terms of education, over 65,000 Panamanian students attend the University of Panama, the Technological University, and the University of Santa Maria La Antigua, a private Catholic institution. Includ ing smaller colleges, there are 14 institutions of higher education in Panama. The first six years of primary education are compulsory, and there are 357,000 students currently enrolled in grades one through six. The total enrollment in the six secondary grades is 207,000.
Human Development
Panama's infant mortality rate was 15.96 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to recent estimates. Life expectancy at birth was estimated to be 75.25 years of age.
One notable measure used to determine a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which has been compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a ranking of 169 countries, the HDI placed Panama in the high human development category, at 54th place.
Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief at CountryWatch; see Bibliography for list of research sources.