Panama City (Spanish: Ciudad de Panamá), population 708,738, with a total metro population of 1,063,000 is the capital of Panama, located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, at . Panama City is the political, administrative and cultural center of the country. Juan Carlos Navarro (PRD) is the current mayor of the city. Recently, Panama City has become one of the most important financial centers in Central America, with more than 104 banks, and has become a hub for high-rise buildings (eight of the ten tallest skyscrapers in Latin America are either in Panama City or in the process of being built). The city enjoys five large multilevel malls and many five-star hotels.
History

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The city was founded on August 15, 1519, by Pedro Arias de Ávila, also known as Pedrarias Dávila. Within a few years of its founding, the city became a launching point for the exploration and conquest of Peru and a transit point for gold and silver headed back to Spain through the Isthmus. In 1671 Henry Morgan with a band of 1400 men attacked and looted the city, which was subsequently destroyed by fire. The ruins of the old city still remain and are a popular tourist attraction known as Panamá la Vieja (Old Panama). It was rebuilt in 1673 in a new location about 5 miles southwest of the original city. This location is now known as the Casco Viejo or Old Hull of the city.

The year before the discovery of gold, the Panama Railroad Company was formed, but the railroad did not begin operation until 1855. Between 1848 and 1869, the year the first transcontinental railroad was completed in the United States, about 375,000 persons crossed the isthmus from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and 225,000 in the opposite direction. That traffic greatly increased the prosperity of the city during that period.
Not surprisingly, construction of the Panama Canal was of great benefit to the infrastructure and economy. Of particular note are the improvements in health and sanitation brought about by the American presence in the Canal Zone. These include the eradication of yellow fever and malaria and the introduction of a first-rate water supply system. However, most of the laborers for the construction of the canal were brought in from the Caribbean, which created unprecedented racial and social tensions in the fledgling city.

During World War II, construction of military bases and the presence of larger numbers of U.S. military and civilian personnel brought about unprecedented levels of prosperity to the city. Panamanians had limited access, or no access at all, to many areas in the Canal Zone neighboring the Panama City metropolitan area. Some of these areas were military bases accessible only to United States personnel. Some tensions arose between the people of Panama and the U.S. citizens living in the Panama Canal Zone. This erupted in the January 9, 1964 events, known as Martyrs' Day.

In the late 1970s and through the 1980s Panama City became an international banking center,...