Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Its capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half the country's over 4 million inhabitants.
Guna Yala, formerly known as San Blas, is a comarca indígena in northeast Panama. Guna Yala is home to the indigenous people known as the Gunas. Its capital is Gaigirgordub. It is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea, on the south by the Darién Province and Emberá-Wounaan, on the east by Colombia, and on the west by the province of Colón.
Darién is a province in Panama whose capital city is La Palma. With an area of 11,896.5 km2 (4,593.3 sq mi), it is located at the eastern end of the country and bordered to the north by the province of Panamá and the region of Kuna Yala. To the south, it is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and Colombia. To the east, it borders Colombia; to the west, it borders the Pacific Ocean and the province of Panama.
The Guna are an indigenous people of Panama and Colombia. Guna people live in three politically autonomous comarcas or autonomous reservations in Panama, and in a few small villages in Colombia. There are also communities of Guna people in Panama City, Colón, and other cities. Most Guna live on small islands off the coast of the comarca of Guna Yala known as the San Blas Islands. The other two Guna comarcas in Panama are Kuna de Madugandí and Kuna de Wargandí. They are Guna-speaking people who once occupied the central region of what is now Panama and the neighboring San Blas Islands and still survive in marginal areas.
The Mola or Molas is a hand-made textile that forms part of the traditional women's clothing of the indigenous Guna people from Panamá. Their clothing includes a patterned wrapped skirt (saburet), a red and yellow headscarf (musue), arm and leg beads (wini), a gold nose ring (olasu) and earrings in addition to the mola blouse (dulemor). Two groups, Choco and Cuna lived side by side without intermarriage and without adopting a similar culture. In Dulegaya, the Guna's native language, "mola" means "shirt" or "clothing". The mola originated with the tradition of Guna women painting their bodies with geometric designs, using available natural colors; at a certain point, after the arrival of the Spanish, these same designs were woven in cotton, and later still, sewn using cloth "acquired by trade from the ships that came to barter for coconuts during the 19th century".
The San Blas Islands of Panama is an archipelago comprising approximately 365 islands and cays, of which 49 are inhabited. They lie off the north coast of the Isthmus of Panama, east of the Panama Canal. A part of the comarca (district) Guna Yala along the Caribbean coast of Panama, it is home to the Kuna people.
Panamanian culture is a hybrid of African, Native Panamanian, and European culture - specifically Spanish. For example, the tamborito is a Spanish dance that was blended with Native American rhythms and dance moves. Dance is a symbol of the diverse cultures that have coupled in Panama. The local folklore can be experienced through a multitude of festivals, dances and traditions that have been handed down from generation to generation.
The Kuna language, spoken by the Kuna people of Panama and Colombia, belongs to the Chibchan language family.
Narganá or Yandup in the Guna language is one of the islands belonging to the Guna Yala, an autonomous territory or comarca in Panama. The culture in Nargana is influenced heavily by Panama and most people there are bilingual speaking both Spanish and the Kuna language. The island has an area of 5.5 hectares and is completely overbuilt, and could be walked around in less than 10 minutes. There is a small hospital and school on the island. The nearest populated island, Corazón de Jesús, is connected to Nargana by a concrete bridge. Both islands are among the most westernized of the San Blas Islands.
Abya Yala is a neologism used by indigenous peoples of the Americas to refer to the American continent. The term is used by indigenous organisations, institutions, and movements as a symbol of identity and respect for the land one inhabits. The increasing usage of the term can be viewed in the context of decolonization, as it serves to create an understanding that "land and discourse, territorio y palabra, cannot be disjointed" and a geography in which a struggle for sovereignty and resistance occurs on an everyday basis for Indigenous communities.
Ukupseni or Uggubseni, also called Playón Chico, is one of the most populous islands in the Guna Yala territory of Panama, 100 metres (330 ft) from the mainland. The literal translation for Ukupseni is 'little beach' in English, or playa chica in Spanish, thus Playón Chico is a mistranslation, which means roughly 'Little Big Beach'.
Cartí Sugtupu, also spelled Gardi Sugdub, is an island in the San Blas Archipelago in the Guna Yala province of Panama. It is the southernmost and largest of four populated Carti Islands, and it lies 1200 meters off the northern coast of mainland Panama. The island is densely populated and houses a small harbour and a museum.
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the Republic of Panamá.
Panama is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America.
Rio Sidra is a densely populated island town in the San Blas Archipelago of the Kuna Yala comarca of Panama. Among the native Guna population, the island is called, Urgandi. The island is 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) off Panama's north coast. Rio Sidra is a municipality or corregimiento of Narganá.
The Emberá, also known in the historical literature as the Chocó or Katío Indians are an Indigenous people of Panama and Colombia. In the Emberá language, the word ẽberá can be used to mean person, man, or indigenous person, depending on the context in which it is used. There are approximately 33,000 people living in Panama and 50,000 in Colombia who identify as Emberá.
Joel Fred Sherzer was an American anthropological linguist known for his research with the Guna people of Panama and his focus on verbal art and discourse-centered approaches to linguistic research. He co-founded the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America. Sherzer completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 and thereafter taught at the University of Texas at Austin for his entire career.
Richard Oglesby Marsh (1883-1953) was an American engineer, explorer, diplomat, and ethnologist. He participated in engineering and ethnological expeditions to Panama and he is known for his participation in the Guna Revolution in 1925 on the side of the Kuna Indians.
Moraggedub or Mormaketupu also called Isla Maquina is a densely populated island in the San Blas Archipelago, a group of islands off the coast of northeast Panama specifically in the Guna Yala Region. The island is part of the municipality or corregimiento of Narganá.
Narvagandub Dummad is an island off the northeast coast of Panama. The Spanish colonizers called this island, Naranjos Grandes or Big Orange Trees. The island is part of the chain of islands named San Blas Islands, which stretches from the east of the Panama Canal up to the border of Colombia. The archipelago is inhabited by the Guna people, a Native American ethnic group that resides in border areas of Panama and northern Colombia. Their language is part of the Chibchan language family
