The New Republic of Panama
A NATURAL interest is being taken just now in all facts pertaining to the new republic of Panama. According to “The Statesman's Year Book,” for 1904, the extreme length of Panama is 480 miles, and its breadth varies between 37 and 110 miles. The total area is 31,570 square miles, and the population, according to an estimate of 1898, is about 340,000. The inhabitants are of a mixed race, comprising Spanish, Indian, and negro elements. The capital of the State, Panama, on the Pacific coast, had, in 1902, about 28,000 inhabitants; and Colon, or Aspinwall, on the Atlantic coast, 3,000. Another Atlantic port of some importance is Bocas del Toro. Although manufacturing or other industries scarcely exist in Panama, there is a certain amount of hope and encouragement in the statement that a small factory for soap is one of its struggling enterprises,—Northwestern Christian Advocate.