Panama Canal Zone
Also called: Canal Zone · Topic: World Transport and Communication · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 7 "Transport and Communication"
Meaning
The Panama Canal Zone was a strip of land about 8 km wide on each side of the Panama Canal. The USA held and ran it from 1903. Under the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties, the USA agreed to return the zone. The canal itself was handed over to Panama on 31 December 1999. The zone shows how a vital waterway can become a matter of national control and power.
Example
The zone ran across the Isthmus of Panama, from Colon on the Atlantic side to Panama City on the Pacific side. Today the whole canal is run by Panama.
Don't confuse with
- Suez Canal nationalisation: Egypt took control of the Suez Canal in 1956, which led to the Suez Crisis. The Panama handover was agreed by treaty and completed in 1999.
Related concepts
- Shipping canal
- Sea-level canal and lock canal
- Suez Canal
- Panama Canal
- Panama Canal water crisis
- Maritime chokepoint
- Northern Sea Route
- Northwest Passage