Colón, Panama

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Colón as seen from the ocean in January 2000

Colón is a sea port city on the Caribbean Sea coast of Panama. In 2000 it had a population of about 204,000 people.

It is near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. The city is the capital of Panama's Colón Province.

[edit] History

The city was founded in 1850 as one end of the Panama Railroad then under construction. For a number of years early in its history, the sizable United States emigré community called the town Aspinwall while the Hispanic community called it "Colón". The name "Colón" is in honor of Christopher Columbus.

Colón, circa 1910

Much of the city was burned during a Colombian civil war in 1885, and again in an accidental fire in 1915.

In 1900 the population was some 3,000 people. It grew significantly with the building of the Panama Canal, and was 31,203 in 1920.

In 1953 Colón was made a Free Trade Zone.

Since the late 1960's, Colón has been in economic decline. Nowadays, the unemployment rate is around 40% and the poverty rate is even larger than that.