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The Major Features Of The Panama Canal

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The Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a passage across the Isthmus of Panama that was mostly built by the Americans. The waterway connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The Panama Canal was started in 1881 by the French, but the idea was originated in the 16th century from a Spanish explorer. The French gave up on it because of engineering problems, bad planning, and workers getting unknown diseases. Then the U.S. took over the construction in 1904 and finished it in 1914.

The original waterway of the Panama Canal took about 33 years to build, since the French made the first major attempt to build the Panama Canal. The canal was started in 1881 and finished in 1914. Then in 2007 the Panama Canal started to be enlarged for today's larger cargo ships, and that project was finished in 2016. So, if you count from when the canal was first even thought about being built in 1513 until it had all of its additions completed, it took about 503 years!
The Panama Canal is an important feature to Latin America because it provides jobs, links with other countries through trade, and profits are made from the canal causing economic growth.

The Panama Canal has impacted travel and trade by having a shortcut from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific ocean. This makes an 8,000 mile short cut. So, instead of going all the way around the tip of Latin America, they can just cut through the middle. This cuts the travel time down from several days to about 8-10 hours. It lets trade and

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