The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá

is an 82-kilometer (51-mile) man-made waterway that connects the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Built across the narrowest section of the Isthmus of Panama, it is one of the most important trade routes on the planet. At each end, a system of locks lifts ships up to Gatun Lake, the freshwater reservoir sitting 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level. After crossing the lake, ships are lowered back down to sea level on the opposite side.

Every transit uses roughly 200 million liters (52 million gallons) of freshwater, making the canal heavily dependent on seasonal rainfall. During drought years, low water levels can directly affect canal operations.

The canal provides a drastically shorter and safer route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, eliminating the need for vessels to sail the dangerous southern tip of South America. Its construction, completed in 1914, remains one of the most challenging engineering projects in history. The waterway has transformed global trade by cutting travel time, reducing shipping costs, and enabling efficient movement of goods between continents.

Control of the canal shifted hands multiple times—first attempted by France in the 1880s, then completed by the United States in 1914, and eventually transferred to full Panamanian administration in 1999. Today the canal is operated by the Panama Canal Authority, a Panamanian government entity.

The original lock chambers, 33.5 meters (110 ft) wide, were designed for “Panamax” vessels. A major expansion completed in 2016 added a third, wider set of locks for “Neopanamax” ships, allowing much larger cargo vessels to pass through.

Traffic has grown from about 1,000 ships in 1914 to thousands of vessels annually. By 2012, more than 815,000 ships had crossed the canal, with top users including the United States, China, Chile, Japan, and South Korea. The American Society of Civil Engineers lists the Panama Canal as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.