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Panama official language is Spanish. English is also spoken and understood in the main cities. The most representative religion in the country is Catholicism with various religious celebrations all along the year. There are also other religions as Protestantism, le Judaism as well as the Muslim religion.
The population amounts to about 2,8 million inhabitants with an average density of 34 inhabitants per square kilometer. Its a young and urban population with multiple race mixings. The Panamanian ethnical melting pot is made up of European immigrants descendants (Spanish, Italians, French, German...), former black slaves who were freed, various native communities coming from the coast or the mountain, Chinese, Indians etc. This huge ethnical diversity composes the Panamanian population. |
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Child from the province of Colon, ©Y. VICENTE |
Santeño (Los Santos inhabitant) with his violin, ©Y.VICENTE |
Nnogbe-Bugle Child, © Y.VICENTE |
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The country counts 5 native autonomous territories (Cemaco, Wargandí, Madungandí, Kuna Yala, Ngobe Bugle) settled all along the Isthmus, provinces with breathtaking landscapes and abounding with wealth. The three most present native ethnies are:
• The Kunas : This ethnos counts with about 60 000 people who live on Kuna Yala Archipelago as well as in the capital city. Without doubt one of the most beautiful places in Panama with its 350 islands constituting the Archipelago. The handcraft: the Molas designed by the Kunas women are of an incredible precision and enable them, through the selling to the tourists to get an economical income which is not insignificant. French anthropologist Michel Perrin is one of the best specialists of this ethnos. |
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Indiens Embera, © Y.VICENTE |
Femmes Embera, © IPAT |
Femme Ngobe-Bugle, © Y.VICENTE |
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Caribbean Coast to Veraguas passing by Bocas del Toro. Ngobe-Bugle are also known as the Guaymie and can be differentiated through their colorful clothes and necklaces. Isolated from the big cities, this ethnos lives in conditions of extreme poverty. French Anthropologist Francoise Guionneau-Sinclair studied their traditions in detail.
Emberas and Wounaan : They are two ethnos coming from the Colombian province of Choco with a population of 30 000 people spread between the jungle of Darien up to the banks of Chagres river that supplies the Canal of Panama. Emberas and Wounaan live on fishing, hunting as well as gathering fruits and other comestible plants. Their handcraft is especially valued for its delicacy, with vegetable ivory carving, the tagua and the baskets weaving, based on palms fibers. |
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