Zoneítas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Panama (Panamá, Colón), United States | |
| Languages | |
| English, Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Americans, Panamanians |
Zonians (Spanish: Zoneítas, singular: zoneíta, zoniano) are people associated with the Panama Canal Zone, a political entity which existed between 1903 and the absorption of the Canal Zone into the Republic of Panama between 1979 and 1999. Most were American expatriates loyal to the United States. They helped build and maintain the canal. Many Zonians are descendants of the civilian American workers who came to the area during the early 1900s to work and maintain the canal. Many of the Zonians were American citizens born in the Canal Zone or had spent their childhood there.[1] A significant presence of American canal workers remained in the Canal region until its turnover in 1999.