Panama is a transcontinental country located on the isthmus linking Central and South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the east, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south.

Situated along the continental divide, the country’s geology is highly complex, with a central mountain range formed by uplifted volcanic arcs rising from the seafloor. Among the many ecosystems found here are hundreds of tropical islands, long sandy beaches, and the dense, near-impenetrable rainforest of the Darién Gap along the border with Colombia.

Panama has a tropical climate, with consistently high temperatures and humidity throughout the year and relatively little seasonal variation, although conditions tend to be slightly cooler and drier along the Pacific side. Quite remarkably, Panama is one of only a handful of countries worldwide considered carbon negative, meaning it absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits, largely due to extensive forest cover and conservation policies.

Panama is one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet, packing an extraordinary range of ecosystems into a relatively small area. Thanks to its position as a biological bridge between North and South America, species from both continents converge here, resulting in staggering levels of plant and animal diversity. From cloud forests and coral reefs to mangroves and lowland rainforest, Panama hosts thousands of species of birds, mammals, reptiles and plants, many of which are found nowhere else.

Panama is one of the only places in the world where you can watch the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean and set over the Atlantic on the same day, thanks to the east–west curve of the isthmus rather than the usual north–south orientation.