Central America
Video Chat with People from Panama
Panama is the narrow land bridge between Central and South America, and the people you meet there might be among Panama City's high-rises or in the colonial plazas of its Casco Viejo, in Colón on the Caribbean side, in cool, coffee-growing Boquete, or on the islands of Bocas del Toro. Spanish is the main language, with its own lively slang, and English is fairly common in Panama City business circles and in parts of the Caribbean coast. Indigenous languages such as Ngäbere and Guna are spoken too.
Panama keeps Eastern Standard Time all year, so it matches New York in winter and runs one hour behind it during US daylight saving time. Start with the canal and the huge ships easing through the Miraflores Locks, then move on to sancocho chicken soup, patacones and fresh ceviche, Boquete coffee, the islands of Guna Yala (San Blas), and music from salsa to the Spanish-language reggae that helped shape reggaeton. Pair a few lines from our Spanish page with a question about the canal and you're ready.
Panama at a glance
| Flag | 🇵🇦 |
|---|---|
| Official name | Republic of Panama |
| Capital | Panama City |
| Region | Americas · Central America |
| Official language | Spanish |
| Currencies | Panamanian balboa (B/., PAB) and United States dollar ($, USD) |
| Calling code | +507 |
| Time zone | Eastern Standard Time (America/Panama) |
How to say hello
A few words of Spanish make a great first impression, even if you switch to English right after.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish (Panama) | ¿Qué xopá? | keh soh-PAH | What's up? |
| Spanish | ¡Buenas noches! ¿Cómo estás? | BWEH-nahs NOH-chehs, KOH-moh ehs-TAHS | Good evening! How are you? |
Tips for chatting with people from Panama
- "¿Qué xopá?" is "¿qué pasó?" with the syllables flipped; trying it out usually earns a grin.
- Ask whether they're from the capital, the interior or the islands; life in Panama City is very different from small towns on the Azuero Peninsula or in the Chiriquí highlands.
- Listen for local words like "fren" (friend) and "chuleta", an all-purpose exclamation of surprise.
- English may be an option with people from Panama City or Bocas del Toro, but opening in Spanish shows effort and sets a friendly tone.
Only meet people from Panama
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from Panama, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for Panama and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from Panama, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from Panama are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Neighboring countries
Panama borders 2 countries. Curious about the people next door? Meet them too: