Portobelo and San Lorenzo Forts, Panama

PORTOBELO AND SAN LORENZO FORTS (Panama)

In the 17th and 18th century, Spain built forts along Panama's Caribbean coast to protect the country's interests. Two of these, Portobelo and San Lorenzo, are located about 50 miles apart, and were used to store loot plundered from Incan mines, carried by ship from Peru to Panama's Pacific coast, and carried across the Isthmus by donkey for shipping on to Spain.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Darien, Panama

DARIEN (Panama)

"Central America" is a region, not a continent. Darien, in Panama, is a natural bridge spanning North and South America. It lies up against the border of Colombia (which is in South America); the rest of Panama and all countries of Central America are actually in North America. Balboa crossed the Isthmus here to become the first European to view the eastern edge of the Pacific.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Panama Canal

THE PANAMA CANAL (Panama, Central America)

This "wonder of the modern world" joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, dividing North and South America. Considered one of history's most difficult engineering projects, its system of locks eliminated the need for shipping "around the Horn" of South America. France began the work in 1881; the U.S. finished it in 1914. It is now controlled by the Panamanian government.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)