Panama City
Panama (Ligurian: Panamá) is a Genoese Overseas Territory located on the Isthmus of Panamá. It is alternatively called Çittæ do Panamá (Ligurian for City of Panama), or Panamá Paciffico (the nickname of the city). It was established in 1519 by the Spanish, and was the first permanent settlement on the Pacific Ocean.
History
Genoese Merchant Base
The settlement of Panamá was originally established by the Spanish in 1519 on the Pacific Coast. Although administered by the Spanish, Genoese merchants were able to dominate the trade in the city, due to generous concessions made by the Spaniards (who had the Genoese Republic as an ally and a banking base. Between 1586 and 1587, there were eleven Genoese in Panama. According to a census around 1587, Panama City had 548 inhabitants (some of them descendants of the first Genoese settlers), of whom 53 were foreigners and of these 18 were Genoese.
Panamá during and after the Anglo-Spanish War
During the Anglo-Spanish War, various Spanish cities in the Caribbean and in the Americas were raided by English privateers, most notoriously, Henry Morgan of Jamaica. In our timeline, although the war had ended officially in 1670, Henry Morgan was still able to launch a devastating raid on Panama in 1671, unaware of the Treaty of Madrid signed a year earlier. This event caused the destruction of Panama and effectively ended Genoese presence in Panama. However, in this timeline, the coronation of Queen Henrietta of England in 1660 caused a treaty to be signed earlier (in 1669), due to the English and Spanish monarch's mutual distrust in France (who had begun encroaching on the Low Countries back in Europe). This turn of events effectively spared Panama from this devastating privateer attack.
Genoese Colony (1757) and further Genoese investments
Continued favorable relations between Spain and Genoa allowed the Genoese to be multiple granted trade charters in the city throughout the 16th and 17th century. In 1757, the city was officially transferred to Genoa through the Treaty of Genova, as a Spanish gesture of goodwill for Genoa's banking support to Spain during the Great Silesian War. Although this treaty had confirmed the Genoese ownership of the city, Genoese merchants had already de facto controlled Panama trade and governance decades before. It was also during this year that Austria had granted Genoa the island of Sainte-Lucie (now Saint George Island). A portion of Saint George's economic success from its sugarcane plantations went to the development, expansion, and further fortification of the City of Panama.
