Panama Genealogy

Guide to Panama ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records

Country Information
Panama is a country in Central America bordered by Costa Rica and Colombia. Panama is an isthmus that connects North and South America and is also considered a Caribbean nation. Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovered the Pacific ocean off the coast of Panama in 1513. Its strategic geographical location has made it a center of commerce and transportation since Spanish colonial times. After its independence from Spain in 1821, Panama became a department of Colombia until 1903 when the United States began building the Panama Canal and created the Panama Canal Zone, a major navigation hub. The official language is Spanish.

FamilySearch Resources
Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in resourcing your family.
 * Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
 * Historical Records
 * Family History Center locator map

Research Tutorials

 * Search page
 * Introduction to Hispanic Research
 * U.S. Hispanic Immigration
 * U.S. Hispanic Immigrants: Finding their Place of Origin
 * Improve your Search Results in FamilySearch Hispanic Records
 * Reading Spanish Handwritten Records:
 * Lesson 1: The Spanish Alphabet
 * Lesson 2: Words and Dates
 * Lesson 3: Reading Spanish Records
 * Hispanic Online Resources