"This fall 16 new survivors journey off the coast of Panama to a land steeped in a bloody history of piracy. A hidden chain of more than 100 tropical islands located in the blue green waters of Central America: these are the Pearl Islands. It is a place of ancient riches with a turbulent history of looting and plundering. The ruins of spanish forts and sunken ships are monuments to a violent and infamous past where the deeds of pirates like Drake and Morgan are legendary. In these Panamanian waters lurks of the most exotic and dangerous marine animals in all of the Pacific ocean. Schools of sharks, sting rays, dolphins, and sea turtles thrive in a spectacular world underneath the sea. And, for the first time each tribe will have their own island and the marooning will be unlike anything experienced by previous survivors. Who will outwit, outplay, and outlast all the others to become the sole survivor. Find out this Fall as the adventure continues in the Pearl Islands. "

Panama located at the geographical center of the American continent, joins North and South America. It borders the Caribbean sea to the North, the Pacific Ocean to the south, Colombia to the east and Costa Rica to the west.

Panama is the youngest landmass of the Americas, having emerged from the oceans approximately 3-10 million years ago. The of linking the landmasses of the two Americas in biological terms helps explain the incredible bio-diversity found in Panama More than 10,000 varieties of plants and more than 1,000 species of birds have been identified despite Panama's small (75,900 sq km) size. The only Rainforest located in the middle of a major city in Latin America is within minutes from downtown Panama City.

With US backing, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903 and promptly signed a treaty with the US allowing for the construction of a canal and US sovereignty over a strip of land on either side of the structure (the Panama Canal Zone). The Panama Canal was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. On 7 September 1977, an agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the Canal from the US to Panama by the end of 1999. Certain portions of the Zone and increasing responsibility over the Canal were turned over in the intervening years. With US help, dictator Manuel NORIEGA was deposed in 1989. The entire Panama Canal, the area supporting the Canal, and remaining US military bases were turned over to Panama by or on 31 December 1999.

Continue Reading: "Part II: Las Perlas Islands"