Colón is a sea port city on the Caribbean Sea coast of Panama. ||-||-|-||-||-||-||-||-||-|} A port is a facility for receiving Ships and transferring cargo A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status For the region see Caribbean. The Caribbean Sea (kəˈrɪbiən or /ˌkærɨˈbiːən/ is a tropical Sea in the Western Hemisphere Panama, officially the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá) is the southernmost country of Central America. It is near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal is a man-made Canal in Panama which joins the The city is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city. Colón is a Province of Panama. The capital is the city of Colón.
Colón was traditionally located entirely on Manzanillo Island, surrounded by Limon Bay, Manzanillo Bay and Folks River. Since the abolition of the Canal Zone, the city's limits have been redefined to include the former Canal Zone towns of Cristobal, Rainbow City, Margarita and Coco Solo, as well as the former US military base of Fort Gulick. The Panama Canal Zone (Zona del Canal de Panamá was a 553 square mile (1432 km² territory inside of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally Rainbow City is a section of the city of Colón in the Republic of Panama. The Margarita is one of the most common Tequila -based Cocktails made with tequila mixed with Triple sec and Lime or Lemon juice Coco Solo was a United States Navy Submarine base established in 1918 on the Atlantic Ocean (northwest side of the Panama Canal Zone, near Colon is the registered birth place of U. S. Senator John McCain.
History
The city was founded by American entrepreneurs in 1850 as the Atlantic terminus of the Panama Railroad, then under construction to meet the gold rush demand for a fast route to California. For the game see 1850 (board game. 1850 ( MDCCCL) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link The Panama Railway or Panama Rail Road is a Railway line that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean across Panama in California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. For a number of years early in its history, the sizable United States emigré community called the town Aspinwall while the Hispanic community called it "Colón". The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The name "Colón" is in honor of Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus (1451 &ndash May 20 1506 was an Italian Navigator, colonizer The city was founded on the western end of a treacherously marshy islet known as Manzanillo Island. As part of the Panama Railroad's construction, the island was connected to the Panamanian mainland by a causeway and part of the island was drained to allow the erection of permanent buildings. The Panama Railway or Panama Rail Road is a Railway line that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean across Panama in
Much of the city was burned during a Colombian civil war in 1885, and again in a massive fire in 1915. Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. A civil war is a War between a State and domestic political actors that are in control of some part of the territory claimed by the state
In 1948, the southeastern corner of Manzanillo Island was made a Free Trade Zone. Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Colón Free Trade Zone is a gigantic entity at the Atlantic gateway to the Panamá Canal, dedicated to re-export an enormous variety of merchandise to Latin America The Free Trade Zone has since been expanded through land reclamation on the Folks River and annexation of parts of France Field and Coco Solo. Coco Solo was a United States Navy Submarine base established in 1918 on the Atlantic Ocean (northwest side of the Panama Canal Zone, near
During its heyday, Colón was home to dozens of night clubs, cabarets and movie theaters. It was known for its citizens' civic pride, orderly appearance and outstanding native sons and daughters. Politically-instigated riots in the 1960s destroyed the city's beautiful municipal palace and signaled the start of the city's decline, which was further accelerated by Panama's military dictatorship of 1968-1989.
Since the late 1960s, Colón has been in serious economic and social decline. Nowadays, the unemployment rate is around 40% and the poverty rate is even larger than that. Drug addiction and poverty have contributed to crime and violence issues which successive Panamanian governments have neglected to address effectively.
Population
In 1900 the population was some 3,000 people. Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar It grew significantly with the building of the Panama Canal, and was 31,203 in 1920. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar In 2000 it had a population of about 204,000 people. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.
With the city's economic decline, much of the city's elite and middle class left the city, reducing its former diversity and orderliness. Formerly vibrant European and American expatriate communities, as well as Panamanians of Greek, Italian, Jewish, Chinese and South Asian heritage, abandoned the city, moving to Panama City, former Canal Zone towns and overseas.
Today, sizable South Asian and Arab communities live in the remaining prosperous areas of the city as well as in gated communities outside the city. The majority of the city's population are of West Indian and mestizo/hispanic ancestry.
Colón was home to some of the most respectable, educated and well-heeled Panamanians families of West-Indian heritage, including the Moodys, the Beebys, the Archibolds, the Edwards, the Crowns, the Hoys, the Warehams, the Abrahams, the Mckintoshs, and many more. From these familes sprang the teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, engineers, business men, and politicians that contributed to the city's prosperity. Most of them eventually left the city for the USA or the UK. However, their influence can still be seen by the descendants that remain in the province.
Notable Colonenses include
- George Westerman, publisher and editor
- Alberto Motta (1916-2006), Panamanian businessman and philanthropist
- Pedro Heilbron, CEO of Copa Holdings, S.A.
- Al Sprague, painter
- Fernando A. Pedro Heilbron (born 1958 in Colon Panama) is since 1988 the CEO of Copa Holdings S Edwards, II, scholar and attorney in the United States
- Victor Mckintosh, prominent engineer in the United States
- Eric Jackson, publisher, journalist and talk show host
- Rod Carew, major league baseball player
- Mario Campo, olympic track star, major league softball player (MVP 1987,'88,'92,'99)
- Ismael Laguna, boxer, World featherweight champion in 1965 and 1970. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Eric Jackson (born 1952 in Colon Panama) is a politician journalist and radio talk show host Rodney Cline "Rod" Carew (born October 1,) is a former Major League Baseball Infielder for the Minnesota Twins and the former Ismael Laguna Meneses (born June 28, 1943, in Colon Panama) was a professional boxer.
- Irving Saladino, athlete, long jump current world champion
- Kenneth B. Clark,psychologist,educator, his research, was crucial to the desegregation of the public schools in the United States of America, case know as Brown vs. Board of Education
- Benjamin Oglivie, major league baseball player, Panama's home run King (41HR in 1980)
- Humberto V. Irving Jahir Saladino Aranda (born 23 January 1983 is a Panamanian Long jumper He is the current World and Olympic champion and Panama's first Olympic gold medallist The long jump is an Athletics (track and field event in which athletes combine speed strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far from the take-off point as possible Kenneth Bancroft Clark ( July 24, 1914 – May 1, 2005) and Mamie Phipps Clark (1917-1983 were a husband-and-wife team of African Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, 347 US 483 (1954 was a Landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court, which overturned earlier Robinson, first Panamanian and first Central American in major league baseball
- Camilo A. Alleyne, gynecologist. In 1990 performed the first successful In Vitro fertilization of Panama, Central America and the Caribbean.
External links
- Colon City Panama extensive site about Colon, Panama
For a historical perspective see: Mellander, Gustavo A. ; Nelly Maldonado Mellander (1999). Charles Edward Magoon: The Panama Years. Río Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor. ISBN 1563281554. OCLC 42970390.
Mellander, Gustavo A. (1971). The United States in Panamanian Politics: The Intriguing Formative Years. Danville, Ill. : Interstate Publishers. OCLC 138568.
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