You may not believe it, there is such a country in the world, do not pay attention to the United States at all, and do not look at other countries including the mainland, not only that, but also ask the world for tens of billions of tolls every year, this country is Panama.
The Republic of Panama is located in Central America, bordering Colombia to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the south, Costa Rica to the west, and the famous Caribbean Sea to the north. It has an area of 75,000 square kilometers and a population of 4.36 million.
In 2021, Panama's per capita GDP of 18,475 US dollars ranks 54th in the world, surpassing most countries, and even Croatia and Bulgaria in Europe are behind.
No matter how you look at it, this is a small and unremarkable country, why it has such a high economy, and why is it so arrogant, even China and the United States do not pay attention to it, just because of a river - the Panama Canal.
The Panama Canal in Panama is the choke point connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea and is known as the "Bridge of the World". It is also the dividing line between North and South America, so Panama has established the world's most profitable toll gate. Most of Panama's overall income comes from the Panama Canal, and it can be said that a river enriches a country.
Countries around the world rely on this passage, taking the United States as an example, the United States is a major power in maritime trade, if there is no Panama Canal, the maritime trade between the east and west of the United States alone will need to circle around the entire South America, which is time-consuming and laborious. Since the opening of the canal, at least 15,000 kilometers of travel and more than half a month have been saved.
Although the canal has to pay a high fee every time, it still saves a huge amount of money and time compared with before.
In addition to its huge commercial value, its military value to the United States is immeasurable, the opening of the canal, so that the United States Pacific Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet perfect connection, greatly shorten the time of strategic deployment, further consolidate the United States position in the world, strategic position is extremely important.
It can be said that the United States is the biggest beneficiary of the Panama Canal, so why not take the canal into its own hands? With the strength and mentality of the United States, this kind of thing should not be difficult.
In fact, the opening of this canal was made by the Americans, and occupied the dominant power for a long time, and then gave up for some reasons.
It all starts with the history of Panama.
Panama was originally inhabited by Indians, who lived and multiplied here and lived peacefully. But after the age of discovery, the nightmare came, and in 1501, the Spanish colonists set foot on the land, and the humiliating colonial history began.
It was not until 1821 that Panama achieved independence, and the weaker ones had to find a place to rely on, so Panama became part of Colombia.
Until 1903, the United States rose to become the hegemon of the Americas, and saw the value of Panama, so it forced Colombia to sign an agreement to dig a Panama Canal, but this proposal was rejected by Colombia.
The United States, which was rejected by Colombia, became angry and began to constantly provoke the relations between Panama and Colombia, and sent troops to support Panama's independence, originally the relations between Colombia and Panama were not strong, under the provocation of the United States, Panama achieved independence in the same year, although Colombia was angry, but there was no way.
At the expense of U.S. support, Panama gave the United States a permanent monopoly on the construction and operation of the canal and the permanent use, occupation, and control of the canal zone.
In 1920, with the efforts of the Americans, the Panama Canal was officially opened, but although it was located in Panama, the entire canal area was under the jurisdiction of the United States and had nothing to do with Panama.
From the opening of the canal until the 1980s, more than 800,000 ships passed through the canal, accounting for 4.3% of the world's maritime trade, providing a great boost to human transportation, and at the same time, the United States also collected $45 billion worth of fees and made a lot of money, and due to the original treaty, Panama only received $1.1 billion in this feast, and discontent began to breed.
With the surge of the global independence movement and the successful recovery of the Suez Canal by Egypt, Panamanians saw the opportunity to negotiate with the United States many times and form a new government against the United States.
Unfortunately, the United States later sent troops to invade Panama, and soon after Panama was defeated, the president was escorted to the United States for trial. However, this has further aroused the opposition of the Panamanian people, and the voice of dissatisfaction has become higher and higher, and it has also aroused the great concern of the international community.
Under pressure from all sides, the United States decided to return the canal to Panama after December 31, 1999.
Panama's spring also began, after mastering the canal, Panama has made great efforts in how to charge fees, charging only a lot more than the United States, and the price is even higher.
Like what:
Reservations must be made in advance to enter the canal.
Access to the canal must be towed by a tugboat, or by a locomotive on the shore, and of course, these fees are not low.
There will be different standard charges for the size of the vessel, the weight of the loaded cargo, and the type of cargo.
It can be said that panamanians have made great efforts to study the issue of canal charges, although there are many charging items and high prices, it is still one of the busiest waterways in the world, 70% of the sea trade in the United States has to pass through here, and the ships on the mainland also pay tens of billions of dollars a year. And no matter which country's ship, it must come according to their requirements, otherwise it will not be adopted.
It is also with this canal that Panama has obtained a high income, and using its own geographical advantages, vigorously develop the service industry, financial industry, trade industry and tourism, have achieved good results, but also through this canal, has obtained a high international status, can be described as a lot of joy at the door, grievances for so many years, Panamanians finally achieved the transformation of serfs to sing.
It is worth mentioning that Panama announced that from 2022, the Chinese Lunar New Year will be designated as its national festival, which is also the first country in the non-Chinese cultural circle to designate the Spring Festival as a national festival.
What do you think of Panama?
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