Panama City, Panama
| Panama City | |||
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| City | |||
| Ciudad de Panamá | |||
Top to bottom, left to right: Panama Canal, Skyline, Bridge of the Americas, The bovedas, Casco Viejo of Panama and Metropolitan Cathedral of Panama.
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 Panama City
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| Coordinates: Country 8°59′N 79°31′W / 8.983°N 79.517°W | |||
| District | Panamá | ||
| Foundation | August 15, 1519 | ||
| Founded by | Pedro Arias de Ávila | ||
| Government | |||
| • President | Juan Carlos Varela | ||
| • Mayor | José Isabel Blandón Figueroa | ||
| Area | |||
| • City | 275 km2 (106 sq mi) | ||
| • Metro | 2,560.8 km2 (988.7 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 2 m (7 ft) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • City | 880,691 | ||
| • Density | 5,750/km2 (7,656/sq mi) | ||
| • Urban | 430,299 | ||
| Area code(s) | (+507) 2 | ||
| HDI (2007) | 0.780 – high | ||
| Website | mupa.gob.pa | ||
Panama City (Spanish: Ciudad de Panamá; pronounced: [sjuˈða(ð) ðe panaˈma]) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has an urban population of 430,299, and its population totals 880,691 when rural areas are included. The city 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 "gamma+" world city, one of three Central American cities listed in this category.
Panama's , the largest and busiest airport in Central America, offers daily flights to major international destinations. Panama was chosen as the 2003 American Capital of Culture jointly with Curitiba, Brazil. It is among the top five places for retirement in the world, according to International Living magazine.
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 (see Panamá Viejo) 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.
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Wikipedia