Agricultural Production
"Panama is a service country" is a common saying in the historical and social memory of Panamanians. But when you get to see the fields, learn about their agricultural production, and try the delicious local cuisine, you will fall in love with the products of this land.

The Panamanian rural areas do produce, a great deal. With just 9 % of its territory cultivated (imagine, out of 75,517 km², or 29,160 square miles), Panama can offer tonnes of sugar cane, bananas, plantains, rice, corn, coffee and tomatoes for local consumption and export.

If you visit the local markets, you will get a chance to taste a huge variety of tropical fruits: guava, pineapple, mango, guanabana, passion fruit, and many other less known but tasty varieties of fruit, such as hog plums, star apples, or nances. If you are here during the "summer" months (January, February, March), you must try the oranges of the season --they are the sweetest you will taste.

For further information, you can visit the Ministry of Agricultural Development, or do something more fun: take a walk around the local markets in Panama City and marvel at the colors and flavors of the national countryside. You can go to the Central Market, near Albrook (Curundu 640-E, telephone: 262-6478), and near the Old District, municipal markets San Felipe (telephones: 506-5743/44) and del Marisco (telephones: 506-5741/42), the latter specializes on seafood. You will find them on Balboa Avenue, between B Avenue and the embankment.

Immigration
Immigration procedures vary according to your country of origin and the type of visa you apply for. Please note that immigration procedures tend to change frequently, so we recommend that you watch out for any new information from the National Immigration and Naturalization Bureau in the Ministry of Government and Justice.

The first step we recommend is to check whether you need a visa to enter this country. This link will let you find your country of origin in a list and its immigration terms with Panama: http://www.migracion.gob.pa

If you do not need a visa, things will be easier for you: you just need your valid passport, a return ticket and a tourist card. It costs $5.00, it is valid for 30 days and you can ask for a 90-day extension. You can buy it from the airline or upon arriving at Tocumen airport, in the Immigration Department. It is granted to citizens from Argentina, Canada, Mexico, the United States, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan and Australia, among others.

Please note that if you would like to extend your stay beyond 30 days, you must go to the Immigration offices on Cuba Avenue very early in order to get a number -they tend to run out shortly after 7:30 am. Extension costs 15 dollars and you must take along two ID-card-size photographs, in addition to other requirements such as a letter of sponsorship from a Panamanian citizen or resident, and photocopies of your passport and of your sponsor's ID card.

Other nationalities require getting a Panamanian tourist visa from the consulate in their country of origin. Tha advantage of this kind of visa is that the foreign visitor can freely travel through Panama for 90 days. Some of these countries are Peru, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Philippines, Thailand and Egypt.

There are special kinds of visas, such as the stamped visa: it is authorized by the Panamanian consul in the visitor's country of origin, with no need for previous authorization from the Immigration Department. It is stamped on the passport and it is the Consul that decides how long it will be valid.

There are immigration procedures for every need: there are 9 categories of immigrant visas and 21 temporary visas, 6 of which are directly related to the City of Knowledge Foundation. The link below gives a detailed description of each type of visa. We recommend visiting it: http://www.migracion.gob.pa/esp/index.php