Afro-Panamanian
In 1904 when the construction of the Panama Canal was taken over by the United States for the failure of the French company, will again resort to the West Indian worker. Although between 1904 and 1914 the vast majority of Afro-West Indians who arrived in Panama did a one-year contract with the idea of returning to their home islands once the offshore project, after construction of the canal many Afro-Antillean stayed in Panama. Afro-West Indians who remained in Panama many got jobs in the Canal Zone and became the largest immigrant group in Panama. On the subject of Afro-Antillean Panama, Leslie B. Rout said that when the canal was opened in 1914, some 20,000 African-West Indians remained in Panama.
Mineral industry of Panama
Production of aggregate mineral materials, cement, and other construction materials was expected to have increased in 2006 compared with that of 2005. This was mainly because of public approval on October 22, 2006, for expansion of the Panama Canal to start sometime during the second half of 2007. This construction project was expected to be large enough that mineral companies in the construction materials sector in Panama, other countries of Central America, and in nearby Colombia would be ramping up production and securing contracts with the Panama Canal Authority to supply mineral-based materials for the canal expansion.