Panama Canal Physical featurescanal, Central America Spanish Canal de Panamá

The Panama Canal lies at a latitude of 9° N, at a point where the North American Continental Divide dips to one of its lowest points. The canal does not, as is generally supposed, cross the isthmus from east to west. It runs due south from its entrance at Colón on the Atlantic side through the Gatún Locks to a point in the widest portion of Gatún Lake; it then turns sharply toward the east and follows a course generally to the southeast until it reaches the Bay of Panama, on the Pacific side. Its terminus near Balboa is some 40 km (25 miles) east of its terminus near Colón. Parallel to the canal are the Panama Canal Railway and the Boyd-Roosevelt Highway.

In passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific, vessels enter the approach channel in Limón Bay, which extends a distance of about 11 km to the Gatún Locks. At Gatún a series of three locks lift vessels 26 metres (85 feet) to Gatún Lake. The lake, formed by Gatún Dam on the Chagres River and supplemented by waters from Alajuela Lake (Lake Madden; formed by the Madden Dam), covers an area of 425 square km (164 square miles). The channel through the lake varies in depth from 14 to 26 metres (46 to 85 feet) and extends for about 37 km (23 miles) to Gamboa. At Gamboa, Gaillard (Culebra) Cut through the Continental Divide begins. The channel through the cut has an average depth of about 13 metres (43 feet) and extends some 13 km (8 miles) to the Pedro Miguel Locks. The locks lower vessels 9 metres (30 feet) to Miraflores Lake, at an elevation of 16 metres (52 feet) above sea level. Vessels then pass through a channel almost 2 km (1 mile) long to the two-stepped locks at Miraflores, where they are lowered to sea level. The final segment of the canal is a dredged approach passage 11 km (7 miles) long through which ships pass into the Pacific. Throughout its length the canal has a minimum bottom width of 150 metres (500 feet); in Gatún Lake the width of the channel varies between 150 and 300 metres (500 and 1,000 feet), and in Miraflores Lake the width is 225 metres (740 feet).