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From 1819, was part of the federation of Colombia but when Colombia rejected U.S. plans to build a canal across the Isthmus of , the U.S. supported a revolution that led to the independence of in 1903. The new nian government authorized French businessman Philippe Bunau-Varilla, to negotiate a treaty with the United States. The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty allowed the U.S. to build the Canal and provided for perpetual control of a zone five-miles wide on either side of the canal. Though the French had attempted contruction of a canal in the 1880s, the Canal was successfully built from 1904 to 1914. Once the canal was complete the U.S. held a swath of land running the 50 miles across the isthmus. The division of into two by U.S. territory caused tension throughout the twentieth century. Additionally, the self-contained Canal Zone contributed little to the nian economy.
Anger flared in the 1960s and led to anti-American riots. The U.S. and nian governments began to work together to solve the territorial issue. In 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty which agreed to return 60% of the Canal Zone to in 1979. The canal and remaining territory, known as the Canal Area, would be returned to at noon (local time) on December 31, 1999.
Additionally, from 1979 to 1999, a binational transitional Canal Commission would run the canal, with an American leader for the first decade and a nian administrator for the second. The transition at the end of this year should be quite smooth, for over 90% of the canal employees were nian back in 1996. The U.S. military is in the process of handing over the last few of the fourteen military bases that once filled the Canal Zone.
The 1977 treaty established the canal as a neutral waterway and even in times of war any vessel is guaranteed safe passage. Even after the 1999 hand-over, the U.S. and will jointly share duties in defending the canal.
The canal makes the trip from the east coast to the west coast of the U.S. much shorter than the route taken around the tip of South America prior to 1914. Though traffic continues to increase through the canal, many oil supertankers and military battleships and aircraft carriers can not fit through the canal. There's even a class of vessels known as "x," those built to the maximum capacity of the canal.
It takes approximately fifteen hours to traverse the canal through its three sets of locks (about half the time is spent waiting due to traffic). Ships passing through the canal from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean actually move from the northwest to the southeast, due to the east-west orientation of the Isthmus of .
The ships for which the canal was designed are now long gone. Modern shipping has increased the size of ships. The increase in the tonnage in which can be carried has thus caused problems for the canal. The canal can only accommodate ships carrying up to 65,000 tons of cargo, but recently ships which are able to carry 300,000 tons have been introduced. The problem of the ever-increasing size in ships has caused discussion into the construction of a new canal joining the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. There have been discussions on three alternative routes for a new canal, through; Columbia, Mexico and Nicaragua. The Columbian and Mexican routes would allow for the construction of a sea level canal, whereas the Nicaraguan route would require a lock system.
Future The 2007 Canal Expansion. The nian congress has formally approved a $5bn plan to widen the Canal, its biggest expansion since it opened in 1914. Some modern ships are now too wide to go through the canal, and those ships that can pass have to queue for hours. The project will now go to a binding referendum to be held later this year. The 80km (50-mile) Canal, which was controlled by the United States until 1999, handles nearly 5% of global trade. At present, it can only handle ships carrying up to 4,000 containers, known as x vessels. But with wider locks and deeper and wider access canals it could take ships carrying up to 10,000 containers. The current locks are 33 metres (108 feet) wide, but the new locks would be 50 metres (150 feet). A third lane of traffic would be able to handle the wider loads. says the cost of the upgrades would be met from increased tolls, supplemented by a $2.3bn loan. | 
Panama Canal History
