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GEOGRAPHY in Panomé
XIX century
The political leaders of the new State had studied Geography in Panama, Colombia, Europe or North
America.

It was nominally assigned to the Santa Fe Court.

1815-1821 Q
1751-1810 In 1815 the idea of opening the latter was welcomed,
of Bogotá and, after becoming independent from Spain on
among other personalities of the time, by Johan Goethe
November 28, 1821, it voluntarily joined, successively,
and Francisco Miranda. However, Simón Bolivar
two neighboring South American States.
integrated it into his geopolitical conceptions, assigning
1799 this science was cultivated by Spain in Panama for
specific functions to the country in the Charter of Jamaica
320 years. At the end of the period of Hispanic
of 1815 and in the call to the Anfliction Congress of
domination, between 1799 and 1804, Humboldt traveled
Panama sent from Lima in 1824.
through the lands of the colonial districts that today are
1821 On November 28, 1821, it voluntarily joined,
Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico and Cuba.
successively, two neighboring South American States.

1838 °
Following an unquestionable German pedagogical
influence, the Provincial Chamber of Panama proposed the
beginning of Geography studies in primary schools.

187
9
Many European explorers and scientists,
but also North Americans, worked hard to
develop projects for interoceanic canals
188
through Panama until, finally, the
Geographical Society, at an international
congress held in Paris in 1879, promoted
0 This transcendent step was followed
in the isthmus
administrative,
for efforts
financial a
the adoption of a route for the maritime technical, They gave rise n
canal. beginning of work on the Panama Canald
by French private capital from 1880 tot
o
1887 and from 1894 to 1898. th
e

1841
This action was continued in 1841 by the
University of the Istmo, an institution that
included Geography courses in its study plans
during the independent period in which
Panama constituted the State of the Isthmus.
1853
The basis for Codazzi's map, Manuel María
Valdés, Max Karl Lemm and 21 other
professionals prepared the physical-political
map of Panama.

1872
Panama being a Sovereign Federal State, the
Normal School for Men was founded in 1872.
1892
The writer Jeremías Jaén, from Los
Santos, published the primary education
text titled Compendium of Geography of
the Isthmus of Panama and the jurist
Ramón Maximiliano Valdés, from
Penonomé, did so in 1898 with the work
Geography of the Isthmus of Panama.
1894 he
The engineer Abel Martiano of C. Bravo, on the
other hand, made maps and studies of the
Colombia-Costa Rica border region in 1894 and
was part of the Colombian delegation that
defended the state thesis on limits before the
European arbitration bodies.
AAI I II IOLI ~IMIV A%I4% \. As a result of the
advances of a realistic Germanic education
obtained in universities in Colombia or in schools
and in the Normal School for Men in Panama,
many Isthmus intellectuals cultivated Geography.
óigio xx
•The first social measure of the first Panamanian
government was the establishment of a public,
democratic, secular and modern educational system.
•Governments established secondary schools and
restarted forms of higher education.
1903 ‘
By Decree No 906 of 1903, the central
government designated him a founding
member of the Geographic Society of
Colombia, a position he retained even after the
separation on November 3, 1903.
1904
1903 It had a legal basis in article 133 of the Political Constitution.
Law No. 11 of March 23, 1904, Organic Law of Public Instruction, a new social
service was quickly extended throughout the isthmus.
On November 3, independence gave
rise to the break with a conservative
regime with a centralist tendency and
to a new creation of the Panamanian
State.
At the time of Colombia's independence, the incipient
development of Panamanian Geography faced
problems. Several factors influenced this situation, but
among them stood out the total paralysis of French
canal work and, especially, the administrative disorder
and the destruction of the education system derived
from the bloody and devastating War of a Thousand
Days of 1899. 1902, failed attempt to democratize all
of Colombia, which was extremely bloody and long in
Panama.
1903 '
During the time in which it was part of these
States, the country tried various independence
and autonomous forms of government, but
when a centralist and authoritarian regime was
established and consolidated in Colombia, it
opted for definitive independence on November
3, 1903.
At the time of the
Independence of Colombia
The incipient development of Panamanian
Geography faced problems. Several factors
influenced this situation, but among them stood out
the total paralysis of French canal work and,
especially, the administrative disorder and the
destruction of the education system derived from the
bloody and devastating War of a Thousand Days of
1899. 1902, failed attempt to democratize all of
Colombia, which was extremely bloody and long in
Panama.
The Ministry of Public
Instruction and Justice adopted
the work Geography of
 Panama by Ramón Maximiliano Valdés.

1906-1908 Era
Professor Melchor Lasso de la Vega, Secretary of Instruction, taught Geography in several
secondary schools.

The physical-political map of Panama

was printed at the Rand Me Nally
house in Chicago.
 From 1912 to 1924
Dr. Belisario Porras, liberal leader of the Thousand
Day War, belonged to foreign geographical
societies, was a professor of Geography in
Nicaragua and wrote the text Geografía de
1925
Nicaragua.
From 1916 to 1918 Ramón Maximiliano Valdés Under the direction of Sabas A.
was president of the Republic of Panama. Villegas, the political map of Panama
In 1917 the Law School was created.
was made at a scale of 1:500,000.

192
■José Daniel Crespo published the work Geography of

8
Panama, in London.
■Publication of the book Descriptive Geography of Panama
by Manuel María Alba and participation of Panama in the
creation of the Pan American Institute of Geography and
1931 - -
History, PAIGH, held in Havana, Cuba, during the Sixth January 2, 1931, the violent phase of
International American Conference.
The Pan American Institute of Geography and History was
the so-called Communal Action
created -and the Pan American Institute of Geography and Revolution occurred in Panama.
History.

DIB
1931-1933 1935
Ángel Rubio Muñoz Bocanegra, from
Córdoba, was a Deputy to the Cortes for Decree No. 29 of May 29, 1935 made a great
the province of Cáceres during the initial effort to organize higher education.
period of the Spanish Republic.
The program was applied based on
nationalist, social and democratic
principles.

Yo

1936
Great problems of the Spanish
War. 1937 Ángel Rubio Muñoz
Bocanegra, from Córdoba, Spain, had arrived
in the country as a naturalized Panamanian;
this educator lived in his adopted homeland
until his death in 1962 on November 30.
1937-1939
From 1937 to 1939, Ángel Rubio Muñoz
Bocanegra was appointed professor of Geography
at the National Institute, where he taught and
produced texts of great scientific value.
In 1938, the political map of Panama was
published at a scale of 1:500,000, produced by
the Panamanian engineer Ernesto Jaén Guardia.

Decree N 61 of May 9, the government of Dr.

Juan Demóstenes Arosemena ordered the
training of teachers at the University of
Panama in all the specialties that were
necessary.
In 1939, Professor Rubio was responsible for organizing the
university career for Geography teachers. The Department of
Geography of the University of Panama was established. (
The schools that administer geographic careers, at the
bachelor's level, Geography and History, were created in
1939.

1940-1941
Professor Rubio provided advice to the
national censuses with the preparation of
maps and the writing of comments for
their different statistical volumes.
1941 Organic Law of Education
1942-1945 ve
•The book Geographic Initiation in Cartography.
•1944 Professor Raquel María De León Pinillo
obtained the title of Professor of Geography and
History.
•Professor Rubio was Director of the Information,
Statistics and Archives Section of the Urbanization
and Rehabilitation Bank.
•1945 José Guardia Vega university professor.
-L•-rO —
•The Political Constitution of March 2, 1946 and two of its
legal developments, laws No. 46 and No. 47 of September
24, 1946, reinforced the teaching of 23 Geography as an
autonomous discipline.
•Law No. 46 of 1946 developed university autonomy and
freed Geography from the effects of government trends
favorable to the replacement of its teaching with that of
Social Studies.
•Law No. 47 of 1946, Organic Education, prepared and
sanctioned by the Minister of Education, Professor José
Daniel Crespo.
.Social Studies were implemented in secondary schools

O to
•The book Elementary Geographic Atlas of Panama
in Physical Geography, Regions.
First bachelor's thesis in geography presented by
----------aíñik
Nydia Cardoce, 1950-1954
1948 The Pan American Institute of Geography and
History was transformed this year into a specialized
agency of the Organization of American States. •1950 Book The Natural Country.
•1949 the career of Social Studies Teacher was
closed when its application in secondary school •1950 Book on Human Geography,
failed. Panamanian rural housing.
1949 the book morphological compartments of the
•1952 and 1954 Alfonso Freile university
isthmus of Panama
professor.

F-

1956
Book The Panamanian Rivers in •1958 Professor Rubio was a delegate from
Political Geography of the Seas. Panama to the United Nations Conference on
In 1956, Professor De León was the first the Sea that met in Geneva, Switzerland.
among Panamanians to achieve a 1959 Book The continental shelves and
postgraduate degree in Geography which platforms.
consisted of a master's degree at Clark
University, Worcester, Massachusetts.

1961
•Professor Rubio was decorated by the governments of

1961-1969
Argentina and Paraguay, as well as by the PAIGH
•1961 Decree No. 96 of March 29 established the study
plan for the first cycles.
•1961 Decree No. 95 of March 29 in high schools
strengthened the teaching of Geography, which specialized
in Physical Geography. •1961 Curricular transformations secondary education
closed possibilities for restarting the career of Professor of
•1961 and 1969 changes stimulated the training
Social Studies at the University of Panama
of Secondary Education Teachers with
•Decrees No. 114,115,116 and 117 of April 23,
specialization in Geography and History
Social Studies were removed from the rest of

From 1962 to 1983, Professor de León was

President of the National Section of Panama of the
Pan American Institute of Geography and History,
an organization where she also held the positions of
President of the Pan American Committee for the
Teaching of Geography and Texts and President of
1962
the Committee for the Teaching of Geography. in
Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico.
1962 Dr. Aura de Russo (author of the text
Geography of America, official of the Ministry of
Education), obtained a doctorate in Geography at
the University of Rome, Italy.
Dr. Aura de Russo
(the author of the text
Geography of America,
official of the Ministry of
Education) obtained a
PhD in Geography
the University of Rome,
Italy
 1965
•1965 Professor De León who directed the
— edition of the first official atlas of Panama. 8OO
The establishment of Geographic Weeks at the University of Panama by Professor De León.
Executive Decree No. 639 of November 27, 1967.

1966
Tierra y Hombre Magazine, founded this
year by Dr. Aura L. by Russo. (This
magazine is an official organ of the
1967
Department of Geography of the The weeks geographical
University of Panama, which publishes secondary of Panama - I they
various geographical research articles) extensive know all the made
university schools
of the country through

1969
Professor Nydia María Cardoze, Director of the it
Department of Geography from 1969 to 1981, Vice Dean of was
the Humanities Faculty and Director of the Geosciences
Institute. At the Pan American Institute
Geography and History she held, among other positions, of
of
of
1969
those of Vice President of the Pan American Committee for of The “Tommy Guardia” National Geographic
the Teaching of Geography and Texts, Vice President and
President of the National Section of Panama.
Institute was created by Cabinet Decree
No. 8 of January 16, 1969.

The teacher from León campaigned Judge Rita Daría Carrillo published the text
against the curricular modality of Social
Studies and developed an extensive

In the 70s Human and

Economic Geography
program of methodological talks for teachers

1972

1973
Professor de León encourages the entry of Panamanians to
postgraduate programs in universities in Europe and
1973 America

The PAIGH awarded

Professor De León with the
Pan-American Medal
 1975
the National Republic Atlas
of 1975 production of 1976
Panama
directed by Dr. Julio César France awarded Professor De León the
Molo Academic Palms.
Bachelor's degree in Professor Nydia Cardoze held the position
of Second Vice President of the
Geography and History
organization at the University of Panama in

1976
It begins 1977
the Department of Geography from 1977 to 2001.

1977
Atlas of the Panama Canal
Treaty was very useful in the return of
land, water and goods to Panama by
the United States
1978
The race is established
of Professional Geographer

1979
1979 when the Reformation
Educational achieved it
finally for the area of
Social Sciences, it was returned to
1985
close them.
Geography Book of Panama.
Introductory Study and Anthology of Onar
Jaén Suarez, first from the Panamanian
culture library.

1989
A new National Atlas of the Republic
of Panama is produced in 1989 with
the collaboration of the Geographical
Institute of Japan.
1991
The Institute of National Studies produced
the book Natural Disasters and Risk Zones
in Panama: Conditions and Prevention
Options, by Ligia Herrera.
 1993
It begins at the University of
Panama, under the direction of Dr.
Ana Hernández de Pittí, another
1993
teaching level for Panamanian Postgraduate programs have been in operation since
1993, geographers is the postgraduate which have developed master's degrees in
level. Geography, Territorial Planning, Environmental
Geography and a diploma in Physical Geography.
National Atlas of Health and
Environment, of a medical nature,
1998
coordinated by the Lie. Ligia Most important geographical contribution of Onar
Castro de Doens, advised by Dr.
Ligia Herrera and Professor José
Baharona.
-
1994
It was established he
Department of Geography 1998
The teacher Comfort
the
L0•0 •t Tempone publishes the text for the
Autonomous University of first cycle The Old World and its
Parks Deluxe Book
Chiriqui. Regions, winner of competitions in the
Panama nationals Ministry of Education.
Juan Carlos Navarro Q. < .............................................................................................>

11998
Jaén Suarez, The population of the Isthmus of Panama: Geohistory studies.

1998
The first master's thesis in geography by Celsio Morales is presented

1999
1999 1
The Institute of the Panama Canal
and International Studies provided
the administrative political map of
Panama
The Master's Degree in Geography with an

emphasis on Geographic Information Systems

begins at the National Autonomous University of
Chiriquí, under the direction of professors Roger
Sánchez and Gloria de Martínez
 1999
A sad event happened for

cn
Panamanian geography, Decree No.
4 of January 13, 1999, of a transitory
nature, and No. 102 of May 18, 2001
were issued. Both reinforced the so-
called Social Sciences
Late 90s
At the end of the 20th century
The teaching of Geography was consolidated at the primary The teaching of Geography in Panama
and secondary levels of the regular educational system and
basic teaching materials were available to teach it. once again confronted the curricular
problem of its integration with other
disciplines at the primary and

2000
The Geographic and Ecological
Tourism career is founded
2000
secondary levels.

The Faculty of Humanities awarded the

"Teacher for Excellence" award to
Professor Consuelo Tempone.

2001
The compact disc The Panama
Canal: Atlas Multimedia is 2001
produced, made by Panama under •From October 29 to November 1, Professor
the direction of Rubio was commemorated by the University
of Panama and by the XVII General
researchers Peruvians,
Assembly of the PAIGH, meeting in Bogotá,
contains text, photos, videos, Colombia
narrations. The XVII General Assembly of the PAIGH
that met in Bogotá had issued a resolution
favorable to the teaching of Geography as
an autonomous discipline
Professor Acela Pujol managed Geography and Economic Geography
to strengthen the teaching of this that the Ministry of Education
discipline at the average, authorizes for high school degrees in
intermediate and university
levels, through the issuance of a
law. Sciences, Letters and
Professor Acela Pujol Gómez, unique
contributions, the texts General 2002
Commerce.

Professor Judith de Velásquez

published the text Geography of
Panama for seventh grade at the pre-
medium level or first year of high
school.
2002
The First National Seminar on the
Teaching of History and Geography of
Panama was held from January 28 to
February 1 , 2002.
 Goeography of the Central
American Region by Alberto Arturo
The new provision was promulgated in the Mckay
Official Gazette on August 8, 2002 "On the
teaching of the History of Panama, the
Geography of Panama and Civics" although its
application has been slow and, until the end of
2003, only the Ministry of Education and the
2002
National Autonomous University of Chiriquí

Noris Correa de Sanjur published the

School Geographic Atlas of the
Republic of Panama, which has 50

2002
Law No. is promulgated. 42 of August 5,
2002, which decrees the teaching of
History of Panama, Geography of
Panama and Civics in basic general,
secondary and higher education at the
official and private level.
2003
maps, as well as texts, photos and
drawings on Panamanian themes that
include national symbols.
Professional school library

Institute of Studies published

2003
Socioeconomic Regions
containing statistical National
tables, maps and graphs. developme
2003
nt Panama, of Geographer
belie th
ve
specialized e
Antonio Touriño