The culture, customs, and language of
Panama are predominantly
Caribbean Spanish. In 2010 the population was 65%
Mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian), 12.3% Native Panamanians, 9.2% black, 6.8% mulattoes, and 6.7% white. According to the 2023 census 17.2% of the population were native Panamanians, 31.7% was of (part) African descent, while the remainder (51%) were
mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian) and whites.
Indigenous Panamanians European Panamanians European Panamanians or Caucasian ethnic groups in Panama include
Spanish,
British and
Irish,
Dutch,
French,
Germans,
Italians,
Portuguese,
Poles,
Russians or
Ukrainians (a large number are
Jews),
Greeks, and
Americans.
Asian Panamanians Panama has a considerable population of
Asian origin; in particular those of Chinese and West Asian (
Lebanese,
Palestinian, and
Syrian) origin. The first
Chinese immigrated to Panama from southern China in the 19th century to help build the Panama Railroad. There followed several waves of immigrants, especially after the 1970s, when the ensuing decades saw up to 80,000 immigrants from all over China. At least 50,000 Panamanians are ethnically Chinese, though some estimates count as many as 135,000. Most of the Chinese population reside in the province of Chiriquí. Some studies suggest that almost 1 million Panamanians have at least one Chinese ancestor.
African Panamanians Afro-Panamanians first arrived during the colonial era. They are intermixed in the general population or live in small Afro-Panamanian communities along the Atlantic Coast and in villages within the Darién jungle. Most of the people in Darien are fishermen or small-scale farmers growing crops such as bananas, rice and coffee as well as raising livestock. Other Afro-Panamanians descend from later migrants from the Caribbean who came to work on railroad-construction projects, commercial agricultural enterprises, and (especially) the canal. Important Afro-Caribbean community areas include towns and cities such as
Colón, Cristobal and Balboa, in the former Canal Zone, as well as the Río Abajo area of Panama City. Another region with a large Afro-Caribbean population is the province of Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast just south of Costa Rica. Most of the Panamanian population of West Indian descent owe their presence in the country to the monumental efforts to build the Panama Canal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Three-quarters of the 50,000 workers who built the canal were Afro-Caribbean migrants from the British West Indies. Thousands of Afro-Caribbean workers were recruited from Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad. ==Languages==