ABSTRACT
Strategically and economically, apart from Suez, Panama is the most important canal in the world. It is the only inter-oceanic waterway between the North West Passage of northern Canada and the Magellan Strait in southern Chile. The canal cuts through Central America at its narrowest point, the Isthmus of Panama. In 1880 using a design by de Lesseps, the engineer of the Suez Canal an attempt was made by France to breach the Isthmus of Panama. This was to be a sea-level waterway, but after a few years of effort it was abandoned as too expensive. During the period 190414, a lock-based canal was constructed by the USA which officially opened on 15 August 1914. From 1975, a widening programme was started and in 1979 a new Panama Canal Treaty was negotiated. The Panama Canal is vital to US strategic interests, particularly for the redeployment of its navy between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.
