Panama is a port on the Pacific Ocean, near the Panama Canal. Originally there was an Indian village named Panama, which means “many fish,” on the site of the capital. On 15th August 1519, Spanish conquistador Pedro Arias Davila founded the city of Panama, which was the starting point of the expeditions that conquered the Inca Empire in Peru. It was also a stop on one of the most important trade routes on the American continent, leading to the Nombre de Dios and Portobelo (former Puerto Bello) markets, through which most of the gold and silver mined by Spain in the Americas passed.
