Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country covering an area of 75,420 km² and is geographically part of Latin America.

Due to its unique location on the Isthmus of Panama, it occupies a transcontinental position, linking Central America and South America. To the west, Panama borders Costa Rica, while to the east, it shares a border with Colombia, of which it was once a part in the former Gran Colombia. Panama has a population of 4,612,397 as of 2026. The country is the second least populous country in Central America, ahead of only the small country of Belize. The canal of the same name, the Panama Canal, which once belonged to the United States of America, is now a major source of revenue for the Panamanian government. One of the country’s unique political characteristics is that it has chosen to forgo a powerful military in favor of protecting its environment; it is also the country with the largest proportion of its territory covered by national parks.

The name “Panama” is said to derive from a Native American term meaning “fish-filled.”