Panama Genealogy

Central America Panama

Guide to Panama ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records

Country Information
Panama is politically divided into 9 provinces and 5 "comarcas," or indigenous territories. Until 1999, the United States controlled the Panama Canal Zone, an unincorporated 10-mile wide territory. Understanding political divisions is essential to doing family history, as these divisions determine where records are recorded and archived. To learn more about Panama's political division, Click here.

More Panama Research Strategies
Research strategies give guidance on how to research or what records to search for first. Below are additional research strategy Wiki articles for the United States.

More Panama Research Tools
Research tools can include resources that assist in locating correct records to search and determining the correct locality to search in. Below are links and Wiki articles to research tools in the United States.

FamilySearch Resources
Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in resourcing your family.
 * Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
 * Learning Center - Online genealogy courses
 * Historical Records
 * Family History Center locator map

Si usted entiende español
Le invitamos a buscar información en español en la página de Panamá en el wiki de FamilySearch español. También le invitamos a compartir información útil allí. Véase el enlace en la parte inferior de la página o presione aqu i. La informacion proporcionada en el wiki de ingles y en el wiki de español es casi igual pero no es identica.

Research Tools

 * See FamilySearch Tutorials on Latin American Research.


 * (helpful tools and resources, gazetteers)
 * (language dictionary, handwriting guide or tutorial, etc.)
 * Family History Library Research Outline, contains many out-of-date links
 * Listing of all records collections for Panama available on FamilySearch.org


 * The Isthmus of Panama is the narrowest strip of land in the American continent. It is bordered north-west by Costa Rica, south-east by Colombia, south by the Pacific Ocean, and north by the Caribbean Sea.
 * Some consider Panama a transcontinental nation, with the Panama Canal bisecting North and South America.
 * The first permanent European settlement in the mainland of the Americas, Santa Maria la Antigua del Darien, was founded in Panama by Vasco Nunez de Balboa in 1510.
 * The Pacific Ocean was discovered by Balboa off the coast of Panama on September 25, 1513.