City history
Founded on an indigenous fishing site in 1519, Panama City standardized to UTC-5 in 1908 to synchronize railway and canal transit without ever observing daylight saving time.
Chapter one
Indigenous name
"Abundance of fish"
The name Panamá derives from an indigenous coastal fishing village at the site. The official national definition expands its meaning to an abundance of fish, trees, and butterflies.
Abundance of fish, butterflies, or trees
Original indigenous settlement along the Pacific coast prior to European colonization.
Our Lady of the Assumption of Panama
Founded by Pedro Arias Dávila on August 15, 1519, as the first Spanish European city on the Pacific coast of the Americas.
New Panama
Refounded 8 kilometers southwest on a heavily fortified peninsula in 1673 following Henry Morgan's destruction of the original city.
Chapter two
Panama officially adopted Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5) nationwide on April 22, 1908, replacing local mean time to synchronize expanding railway and canal construction operations.
The opening of the Panama Canal introduced telegraphic time signals from Washington, D.C., and synchronized master clocks across port offices to coordinate international ship transits.
Due to its equatorial location where day lengths remain nearly constant throughout the year, Panama has never adopted daylight saving time and maintains UTC-5 year-round.
Chapter three
Spanish conquistador Pedro Arias Dávila founded Panama City on August 15, 1519, establishing a vital administrative and trade transit hub for the Spanish Empire.
Welsh privateer Henry Morgan raided and looted Panama City, resulting in a disastrous fire that left the original settlement in ruins.
The city was refounded on a defended peninsula 8 kilometers southwest, creating the historic grid and public plazas of modern Casco Viejo.
The Panama Railroad and its magnetic telegraph line opened in 1855, establishing the first synchronized transcontinental travel and communication link across the isthmus.
The inauguration of the Panama Canal on August 15, 1914, established Panama City as a central maritime hub relying on precise interoceanic transit scheduling.
The archaeological site of Panamá Viejo and the historic Casco Viejo district were jointly designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.