The Panama Canal is a man-made ship passageway through Panama that links the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. People thought of making a passageway as long ago as the 16th century, but it was not until 1880 that the French attempted to build the canal. In trying to do it, 21,900 people died, and the attempt to build the canal failed. After the French attempt failed, the United States took over the project and completed it in the early 1900s. The finished canal is 48 miles long. It opened for ships to pass through it in 1914. A total of 27,500 people died in the process of making the canal. In 2008, 14,702 ships went through the canal.
