Fill in the Blanks The Panama Canal.Online version Facts and Figures for Adult Learners. by Patricia Silva 1 ? and the next part of this talk is on the Panama Canal . It's amazing how this one small section of a small country can be so important to the world . Let's learn a little bit about the canal itself , before we look at how it connects to everything else . The Panama Canal is an artificial waterway in the Central American country of Panama that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean . It is only kilometres long . If you go around South America by ship then you need to travel another . So the canal saves a lot of travel time . It takes around to hours to cross the canal . The French started building the canal in , but they couldn't finish it . The project was started again in by the United States and the canal was finally finished in . Many people died while they were building the canal , some say up to . For the rest of the century , the United States controlled the canal , but gave control back to Panama in . Every year , around ships come through the canal . These are mostly commercial ships . They transport goods for trade between Asia and America , or Europe . In the government of Panama made the canal bigger , so that now per cent of ships can pass through it . Let's now turn to the role of the Panama Canal in the global economy . . . . .
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