People

The culture, customs, and language of the Panamanians are predominantly Caribbean Spanish. Ethnically, the majority of the population is mestizo (mixed Spanish and Indian) or mixed Spanish, Indian, Chinese, and West Indian. Spanish is the official and dominant language; English is a common second language spoken by the West Indians and by many businessmen and professionals. More than half the population lives in the Panama City-Colon metropolitan corridor.

Panama is rich in folklore and popular traditions. Brightly colored national dress is worn during local festivals and the pre-Lenten carnival season, especially for traditional folk dances like the tanborito. Lively salsa, a mixture of Latin American popular music, rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock, is a Panamanian specialty. Indian influences dominate handicrafts such as the famous Kuna textile molas. Artist Roberto Lewis' Presidential Palace murals, his restoration work, and the ceiling in the National Theater are well known and admired.

Over 65,000 Panamanian students attend the University of Panama, the Technological University, and the University of Santa Maria La Antigua, a private Catholic institution. Including smaller colleges, there are 14 institutions of higher education in Panama. The first six years of primary education are compulsory, and there are 357,000 students currently enrolled in grades one through six. The total enrollment in the six secondary grades is 207,000. Nearly 90 percent of Panamanians are literate.

Panama's mortality rate was 5.14 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to a 1999 estimate. The life expectancy at birth of the total population was estimated in 1999 to be 74.66; 71.91 years for males and 77.51 years for females. The literacy rate of Panama's total population over the age of 15 was estimated in 1995 to be 90.8 percent. 91.4 percent of males and 90.2 percent of females can read and write.