Panama Special Reports

For all intents and purposes, the “Zone” (as it was known prior to its handover to Panama in 1999) was U.S. sovereign territory. Residents were mainly U.S. military personnel or employed by the Panama Canal Company, which was controlled by the U.S. government.

With its old military barracks and facilities, these neighborhoods are tropical residential areas with unique architectural designs, popular with immigrants and those wanting to get away from the city and closer to nature.

Adjacent to the Amador area is the Balboa neighborhood, still a potential source of a convertible U.S.-style original home.

Albrook is filled with prior military barracks and officer quarters. One of the great things about Albrook, is how calm and quiet the area is. You can sit outside and listen to the breeze and kids playing in playgrounds nearby.

Clayton is spread over quite a large area separated by green areas and forest. There are a number of separate communities as well as some large private schools such as Colegio Javier, Las Esclavas, and Kings College, the British school of Panama. The U.S. Embassy is also located in this neighborhood.

As you enter the City of Knowledge area, you see row after row of one-story houses, which are now used for hospitality housing. Many visiting scientists and researchers stay in these houses while working in the area. City of Knowledge was really the original model by which the Panamanian government began to convert military installations to civilian facilities.

There’s plenty of entertainment around the former Canal Zone. Plus, you’re practically in Panama City, so you’re only minutes from everything else the city has to offer…

When the United States had control of the Panama Canal, this area was known as the Canal Zone (or Áreas Revertidas del Canal de Panama), and it is approximately 550 square miles.

The neighborhoods that make up the former Canal Zone, now known as Áreas Revertidas, are Ancón/ Balboa, Albrook, Diablo, Los Rios, Curundu, and Clayton/City of Knowledge…

In this Panama Special Report, we bring you the thriving metropolis of Panama City, complete with an in-depth comparison of the city’s neighborhoods.

In this Panama City comparison guide, we give you a good idea about where you might want to base yourself, be it permanently or just for a little while. Note that some of the neighborhoods encompass smaller areas within them, while others are amalgamated with adjacent, similar areas. With dozens of subdivisions and even more neighborhoods within those subdivisions, we’ve arranged them in ways that make it easier to analyze and compare.

In this Panama Special Report, we give you the ins-and-outs of Panama’s most exciting business development, Panama Pacifico.

Considered by many as the heartland of Panama, Azuero is home to more traditional Panamanian culture and folklore than any other area. The east coast of the Peninsula is dotted with quaint Panamanian villages steeped in vernacular history, pastoral folklore, and traditions, all held in the cradle of nature.

Getting around town is pretty easy. Bicycles are an important part of the transportation system. You see them everywhere. In Pedasí you could easily get by without a car. Sure, if you plan to head out of town often or want to shoot into the big city from time to time to pick up supplies, a car would be useful, but getting around the village can be done easily on foot or by bicycle. In fact, some locals still travel by horseback.

Farms, or fincas, make up a large part of the area around Pedasí. The road leading into and away from town is lined with farmland. Pedasí is home to a milk factory, and grows fruits and vegetable such as mangoes, rice, and corn. If you have an interest in farming your land, this is a great place to do it.

Pedasí is situated in the province of Los Santos, on the south-eastern tip of the Azuero Peninsula. The capital of the province is Las Tablas. The beaches surrounding Pedasí have become a lure to capital from around the world. People are buying tracts of land and lots, and are building and relocating to the equivalent of their vision of pristine paradise.

Puerto Armuelles, located in the province of Chiriquí and the capital of the district  of Barú, is a small town is on Panama’s Pacific coast—much closer to Costa Rica (bordering the country, in fact) than to Panama City at the other end of the country (about a seven-hour drive away).

The beach stretches for miles on end… Banana trees blow in the wind and people stroll down the street, stopping to chat with friends…

Many equate life in Puerto, as it’s informally called, as being lost in time.