| In 1878, France received a contract from Colombia to build a canal across the isthmus of Panama. However, by 1889 the project went bankrupt and in 1903 the United States took over the abandoned concessions. In return, the United States agreed to back Panama in its attempt to gain independence from Colombia. The Panama Canal opened in 1914, but the United States did not agree to relinquish control over the Canal Zone entirely to Panama until the negotiation of the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties. These two treaties guaranteed that Panama would gain control of the Panama Canal on December 31, 1999.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "History of Panama," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Panama#The_Panama_Canal, accessed 3 October 2019.</ref> | | In 1878, France received a contract from Colombia to build a canal across the isthmus of Panama. However, by 1889 the project went bankrupt and in 1903 the United States took over the abandoned concessions. In return, the United States agreed to back Panama in its attempt to gain independence from Colombia. The Panama Canal opened in 1914, but the United States did not agree to relinquish control over the Canal Zone entirely to Panama until the negotiation of the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties. These two treaties guaranteed that Panama would gain control of the Panama Canal on December 31, 1999.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "History of Panama," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Panama#The_Panama_Canal, accessed 3 October 2019.</ref> |