It's really cool! Basically, most of it is too narrow and shallow for a ship to go through, so it's got chambers all along it that end up making a sort of staircase. As the ship goes along, water will fill up the chamber it's in until it is high enough to enter the next chamber. This process takes a while (8-10 hours to get across 50 miles), but it's still pretty awesome.
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It's too narrow for the largest ships now, but the first statement is otherwise wrong. The chambers you describe have a proper name: "locks", and although as you say a 'sort of staircase', they do not work quite as you've described them. They are filled from rivers, and enable the canal to climb over the ridge forming the bulk of the isthmus. (The original attempt to keep the canal at sea-level failed as the ridge is too high.)
you would cross the Panama Canal by boat because it's water. Not land. There are tours you can book crossing the Panama Canal.
You need to cross the Panama canal. er - the canal is used by ships to cross Panama (proper noun). You don't cross "the" panana or corss the panama canal. You'd cross Panama to shortcut between the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean saving 8 days sailing around Cape Horn.
The country is Panama and the canal is the Panama Canal.
the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal crosses the country of Panama.
The Panama Canal is in the country called Panama.The Panama Canal is in the country called Panama.The Panama Canal is in the country called Panama.The Panama Canal is in the country called Panama.The Panama Canal is in the country called Panama.The Panama Canal is in the country called Panama.The Panama Canal is in the country called Panama.The Panama Canal is in the country called Panama.The Panama Canal is in the country called Panama.The Panama Canal is in the country called Panama.The Panama Canal is in the country called Panama.
A typical passage through the Panama Canal by a cargo ship takes approximately 8-10 hours.
The Panama Canal does not affect panama.
Panama is known for the Panama Canal.
The Panama Canal is named as such because it is a canal and is in the country of Panama.
The Panama Canal
Panama. The canal is the Panama Canal, built by the US between 1904 and 1914.
The Panama Canal is the name of the canal connecting to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans!The Panama Canal joins them.