By shortening route and reducing cost of transportation between two oceans, Panama Canal allows for lower-cost imported goods and commodities in many part of world. (It saves almost 8,000 miles on a trip from New York to San Francisco.) By eliminating for majority of shipping treacherous route around tip of Argentina, it has no doubt saved countless lives and millions of dollars in lost vessels. However, it is estimated to have cost some 30,000 lives in two attempts – French and American – to build it between 1880 and 1914.

Reducing distance between two oceans provides Panama with a major share of its gross domestic product. Some 13,500 ships transit canal each year, almost 40 a day.

Not commonly known is fact that two oceans have different sea levels, and different levels of high tide. At entrance to Panama Canal, Pacific Ocean can rise as much as 20 feet, but 45 miles away, difference between high tide and low in Atlantic is just three feet.

The longest part of canal, sandwiched between gigantic sets of locks at either end, is manmade Gatun Lake and Gaillard Cut. Gaillard Cut actually rips through a low point in mountain chain that runs all way from Alaska to tip of Argentina.

The Panama Canal has six locks, three near either end. From Pacific Ocean, near Panama City, Miraflores Locks' two chambers each raise vessels 27 feet. A short distance away, Pedro Miguel Lock lifts shipping a further 31 feet. Most of passage through canal is at 85 feet above sea level.

The Gaillard Cut is followed by town of Gamboa, where Chagres River enters canal. Without Chagres and immense amount of water that flows from it, there could be no Panama Canal.

The three steps of Gatun Locks each lower ships about 28 feet, to level of Atlantic Ocean.

Its capital is most modern city south of U.S. If this is third world, I missed first somewhere in my travels. Panama City is a world-leading financial center with some 120 banks, many with competing glass and steel monuments to commerce.

Panama is shopping, U.S. style. Many of stores found on Main Street, U.S.A., are here too. After all, Panama Canal was run by Americans for almost 100 years, and American military had a major presence here until 1999.

Panama once had a reputation as part of pipeline for Colombian drugs. It suffered under savage dictatorship of Manuel Noriega, until he was captured and imprisoned by American troops in December, 1989. The country has had a peaceful democracy ever since. Like Costa Rica, it has no military. Money is spent on education instead, and its people have a high level of literacy. And if you need medical attention here, your doctor is likely to have been trained in U.S. or Europe.

Panama is silver sand on Caribbean side and black volcanic sand on Pacific side. It has second-largest volcanic crater in world inside which nestles a popular tourist and retirement town. (The largest is Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania.) It is dessert and mountaintop. It can be humid all year, or like spring for all 12 months, depending on where you are in this small country.