What are the demographics of Panama?

Question

I ask this because every Panamanian I've met, over forty, have been Black, but my sister swears Panama is very diverse as far as race(she's visited), whereas I've spoken with Panamanians who say that it is a majority Black country (like Dominican Republic), what's the real deal?

Answer 1

Yes, Ruben Blades, singer and actor, is black very much. I have never been there but I've been in some other latin american countries and my experience is that most of them are multi-cultural countries. It's not like being in Nigeria, citing randomly, where 90% of population seems to be black. But who cares? Have you ever thought that Norway is so boring 'cos it's hardly found any other colour than white?

Think about it.

Ruben Blades part I was sarcastic. My Apologies

Answer 2

This is from Wikipedia:

The culture, customs, and language of the Panamanians are predominantly Caribbean and Spanish. Ethnically, the majority of the population is mestizo or mixed Spanish, Chinese, Amerindian, and African descent. Spanish is the official and dominant language; English is a common second language spoken by the West Indians and by many in business and professional fields. More than half the population lives in the Panama City–Colón metropolitan corridor.

There are seven indigenous peoples in Panama:

•Emberá

•Wounaan

•Ngöbe

•Buglé

•Kuna

•Naso (Teribe)

•Bribri

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama

This is from me living in Panama:

Living in Panama City, I believe you are going to see a fairly even distribution of the different cultures.  The think the Kuna, due to the distinctive dress is the culture that stands out the most.  I don't necessarily believe they are more numerous, but due to their brightly colored clothing and beads they stand out more.

If you go to Colon the major race is the Caribbean blacks.  We have a fairly large neighborhood in Panama City that is composed of Caribbean, but you can’t say they are the predominant race in the city.  Panama is like New York City, in that you have certain neighborhoods that represent certain races, ie Punta Paitilla is mostly Jewish people.  Obarrio Chino and El Dorado are thought of as Chinese neighborhoods.

If you go to the interior, the major race will be one of the indigenous peoples.  

Here´s another link with percentages http://www.panamaexpertos.com/info.php?p...

So, it's really hard to say which race is leading in numbers without doing research in Spanish on the search engines.  Hope this helps.

For other information on Panama see http://www.panamaexpertos.com/index.php?...

Answer 3

Since I'm a descendant of  black Panamanians,I say the same thing most of the time.But the truth is,Panama has every type of culture imaginable.There is a large Chinese community, Asian Indian community,European, and Indigenous communities as well. And if Ruben Blades is black,I'm white.lol

Answer 4

Well Panama has a very diversed racial mix.  As other contributors have mentioned before me you can find Asians, Whites, African, Antilleans, Mullatos, etc.

It also depends on your definition of black.  I'm not white, and I'm not african, but in my country I'm still considered a white person, however I visited Argentina and they said I was black because I have dark hair and my complexion is not clear white, so go figure.

To be blunt on the subject probably it's just luck that you only met Panamanian immigrants that are black.