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Panama City, capital of Panama: facts and figures
Panama City is the capital of Panama. It has about 1,900,000 residents, which makes it the 78th most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 13 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is San José, 511 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Panama |
| Continent | North America |
| City population | 1,900,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 78th of 172 |
| Elevation | 13 m |
| Founded | 1519 |
| Time zone | America/Panama |
| Coordinates | 8.98° N, 79.52° W |
| Country population | 4,571,189 residents |
| Country GDP | 90.5 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $19,790 |
| Life expectancy | 79.8 years |
| Internet users | 72.8 % |
| Big Mac price | not reported |
Climate through the year
Panama City averages 26.6 °C from December to February and 26.3 °C from June to August. November is the coldest month of the year and April the warmest, and the city receives 2,459 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 26.6 °C |
| February | 27.0 °C |
| March | 27.3 °C |
| April | 27.4 °C |
| May | 26.8 °C |
| June | 26.4 °C |
| July | 26.2 °C |
| August | 26.3 °C |
| September | 26.2 °C |
| October | 26.0 °C |
| November | 25.7 °C |
| December | 26.3 °C |
What makes it stand out
- Elevation: 3rd lowest-lying capital in North America (13 m).
- Winter: mildest capital in North America (26.6 °C).
- Rainfall: 2nd wettest capital in North America (2,459 mm).
- Age: 3rd oldest capital in North America (1519).
- Latitude: southernmost capital in North America (8.98°).
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. San José is the closest capital to Panama City.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| San José | Costa Rica | 511 km |
| Bogotá | Colombia | 766 km |
| Managua | Nicaragua | 813 km |
| Tegucigalpa | Honduras | 1,009 km |
| Quito | Ecuador | 1,025 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Panama City to a place and a number you already know: it is 511 km from San José, and it is the 78th largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Panama compares with every other country on figures like these, the richest countries by GDP per capita ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Panama City is the capital of Panama, in North America, with about 1,900,000 residents, averaging 26.6 °C from December to February and 26.3 °C from June to August.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Panama?
Panama City is the capital of Panama. It has about 1,900,000 residents and lies in North America.
How many people live in Panama City?
About 1,900,000, which ranks Panama City 78th of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Panama City?
Panama City averages 26.6 °C from December to February and 26.3 °C from June to August, with 2,459 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Panama City?
GDP per capita in the country is $19,790, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- San José, capital of Costa Rica: facts and figures
San José is the capital of Costa Rica: 1,400,000 residents, 1,161 m above sea level, 19.8 °C from December to February and 20.1 °C from June to August.
- Bogotá, capital of Colombia: facts and figures
Bogotá is the capital of Colombia: 11,000,000 residents, 2,558 m above sea level, 13.7 °C from December to February and 13.3 °C from June to August.
- Managua, capital of Nicaragua: facts and figures
Managua is the capital of Nicaragua: 1,050,000 residents, 174 m above sea level, 26.5 °C from December to February and 26.6 °C from June to August.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.