Ben Anderson (Holidays in the Axis of Evil, The Violent Coast) takes a timely trip to six countries that the United States either invaded or intervened in during the Cold War and sees what life is like a decade or so after the Americans left.
View America was here - El Salvador - Panama. Video hosted on Youtube. From the Vietnam War to the invasion of Panama, America’s actions abroad have had a major impact across the globe. For many the U.S. has become a figure of hate – but why? Ben Anderson takes a journey in the footprints of American soldiers and politicians to find answers and perhaps a curtain-raiser to the challenges faced today.
El Salvador
El Salvador (República de El Salvador) is a country in Central America, Originally called by The Pipilt (Mayan People) "Cuzhcatl", in Spanish “Cuzcatlan” which in Nahualt means “The Land Of Precious Things”. After the Spanish conquest the land was baptized by Spaniards conquistadors as “Provincia De Nuestro Señor Jesucristo El Salvador Del Mundo”, (“Province of our lord JesusChrist, The Savior of the world”) Now just abbreviated “Republica de El Salvador”. The country borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. With a population of approximately mote than 6 million people, the small nation is undergoing rapid industrialization.
El Salvador is located in Central America. It has a total area of 8,123 square miles (21,040 km²), making it almost the same size as the state of New Jersey. It is the smallest country in continental America, and is affectionately called the "Tom Thumb of the Americas" ("Pulgarcito de America"). It has 123.6 square miles (320 km²) of water within its borders. Several small rivers flow through El Salvador into the Pacific Ocean, including the Goascorán, Jiboa, Torola, Paz and the Río Grande de San Miguel. Only the largest river, the Lempa River, flowing from Honduras across El Salvador to the ocean, is navigable for commercial traffic. Volcanic craters enclose lakes, the most important of which are Lake Ilopango (70 km² / 27 sq mi) and Lake Coatepeque (26 km² / 10 sq mi). Lake Güija is El Salvador's largest natural lake (44 km² / 17 sq mi). Several artificial lakes were created by the damming of the Lempa, the largest of which is Embalse Cerrón Grande (350 km² / 135 sq mi).
El Salvador shares borders with Guatemala (126 mi / 203 km) and Honduras (212.5 mi / 342 km). It is the only Central American country that does not have a Caribbean coastline. The highest point in the country is Cerro El Pital at 8,957 feet (2,730 meters), which shares a border with Honduras.
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama (Spanish: República de Panamá; [re'puβlika ðe pana'ma]), is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on an isthmus, some categorize it as a transcontinental nation connecting the north and south part of America. It borders Costa Rica to the north-west, Colombia to the south-east, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. It is an international business center and is also a transit country. In Central America, it is the most industrialized country. Although Panama is also the 3rd largest economy in Central America, after Guatemala and Costa Rica, it has by far the most developed economy and has the largest expenditure on resource consumption, making the country the largest consumer in Central America.
Panama is located in Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, between Colombia and Costa Rica. Its location on the Isthmus of Panama is strategic. By 1999, Panama controlled the Panama Canal that links the North Atlantic Ocean via the Caribbean Sea with the North Pacific Ocean.
The dominant feature of the country's landform is the central spine of mountains and hills that forms the continental divide. The divide does not form part of the great mountain chains of North America, and only near the Colombian border are there highlands related to the Andean system of South America. The spine that forms the divide is the highly eroded arch of an uplift from the sea bottom, in which peaks were formed by volcanic intrusions.
The mountain range of the divide is called the Cordillera de Talamanca near the Costa Rican border. Farther east it becomes the Serranía de Tabasará, and the portion of it closer to the lower saddle of the isthmus, where the canal is located, is often called the Sierra de Veraguas. As a whole, the range between Costa Rica and the canal is generally referred to by Panamanian geographers as the Cordillera Central.
The highest point in the country is the Volcán Barú (formerly known as the Volcán de Chiriquí), which rises to 3475 meters (11401 ft.). A nearly impenetrable jungle forms the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia. It creates a break in the Pan-American Highway, which otherwise forms a complete road from Alaska to Patagonia.
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
