Panama Canal Zone
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Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
the part of Panama through which the Panama Canal flows. The zone is a 16.1-km-wide strip stretching along both banks of the Panama Canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans and cutting Panama into two parts. Area, 1,432 sq km. Population, 51,400 (1975). The administrative center is Balboa Heights. Railroads and highways have been built within the zone.
Under the United States-Panamanian Treaty of 1903 the USA acquired the Panama Canal Zone in perpetuity and established political, military, and economic control over the area. Since 1939 the Canal Zone has been officially under the jurisdiction of the US Defense Department and is administered by a governor appointed by the president of the USA. At the same time the governor, who is a general of the US Army, heads the “civil government” of the Canal Zone, and he is the president of the Panama Canal Company. In addition to naval and air force bases at both ends of the canal and at the ocean ports, the USA maintains fortresses, airfields, and a permanent military force in the zone, all under the control of the US Southern Command. There are several US military schools for training Latin American officers in the Canal Zone. In compensation, the US government pays Panama $2.3 million annually; in 1973 the USA earned about $100 million from the operation of the canal. The Panamanian people and government are waging a stubborn struggle for the return of the Canal Zone. [19–408–2; updated]