In December 2024, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump began repeatedly calling for the return of the Panama Canal to the United States. In a Dec. 21, 2024 post on his social media platform Truth ...

In a column titled “The troubled history of the Panama Canal’s racial and social divide,” Dvorak explains how the legacy of the U.S.-built shipping route “includes segregation and violence.” ...

Panama's voters approved a 2006 referendum authorizing a major expansion of the canal to accommodate larger modern cargo ships. The expansion took until 2016 and cost more than $5.2 billion.

According to a study released in December by IDB Invest, 23.6% of Panama’s annual income is generated from the canal and companies that provide services related to the canal’s operations.

The Panama Canal, key link between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, handling about 5 percent of all global maritime trade, the U.S. its biggest user, it's now a focal target of the president.

President Trump wants Panama to return its namesake canal to the U.S. Panama’s birth as a nation is directly linked to the U.S.’s coming of age as a young imperial power after its victory in ...

The final treaty ratified in 1978 established Dec. 31, 1999, as the date the U.S. turnover of the canal zone would occur. Today, Panama has a population of 4.5 million people and operates as a ...

During Monday’s inauguration, Donald Trump repeated his threat to retake the Panama Canal. The United States controlled the waterway since the early 20th century, but in 1977 President Jimmy ...

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty with Panama to gradually transfer control of the 51-mile canal to the nation it bisects, and on Dec. 31, 1999, Panama assumed full control of the canal.

For the curious traveler contemplating a trip to Panama — also home to rainforests, deserts, volcanoes and more than 1,600 islands — here’s CNN Travel’s guide to how to visit the canal.