<P> The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82 km (51 mi) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean . The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade . Canal locks are at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, 26 m (85 ft) above sea level, and then lower the ships at the other end . The original locks are 34 m (110 ft) wide . A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016 . The expanded canal began commercial operation on June 26, 2016 . The new locks allow transit of larger, post-Panamax ships, capable of handling more cargo . </P> <P> France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate . The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914 . One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan . </P> <P> Colombia, France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction . The US continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the 1977 Torrijos--Carter Treaties provided for handover to Panama . After a period of joint American--Panamanian control, in 1999, the canal was taken over by the Panamanian government and is now managed and operated by the government - owned Panama Canal Authority . </P> <P> Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million Panama Canal / Universal Measurement System (PC / UMS) tons . By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal . It takes 11.38 hours to pass through the Panama Canal . The American Society of Civil Engineers has called the Panama Canal one of the seven wonders of the modern world . </P>

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