索巴尼亚国家公园上方耸立的百年桥, 巴拿马 Centennial Bridge towering above Soberanía National Park, Panama (© David Tipling/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

索巴尼亚国家公园上方耸立的百年桥, 巴拿马 Centennial Bridge towering above Soberanía National Park, Panama (© David Tipling/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Centennial Bridge

What do you get when you cross historic feats of engineering with unmatched natural beauty? This photo of a suspension bridge in a rainforest. Or more specifically: Panama, where the photo was taken.

Panama celebrates its Independence Day today—although on this strategic, ocean-straddling strip of land, independence is complicated. When Panama broke loose from Spain on this day in 1821, it became part of Colombia until, backed by the US, it seceded in November 1903 just before the Panama Canal was built. (The Centennial Bridge over the canal, shown here, was finished in 2003 to commemorate 100 years since that event.) The US spearheaded building the international waterway, and controlled it until December 31, 1999, when Panamanians finally assumed full command of the canal, one of Panama's chief sources of revenue.

百年桥

当你将历史性的工程壮举与无与伦比的自然美景相结合时，你会得到什么？这张照片是雨林中的一座吊桥。或者更具体地说：照片拍摄地巴拿马。

巴拿马今天庆祝其独立日，尽管在这片战略上横跨海洋的狭长土地上，独立是复杂的。1821年的今天，巴拿马脱离西班牙，成为哥伦比亚的一部分，直到1903年11月，在美国的支持下，巴拿马运河建成之前脱离了哥伦比亚。（图中所示的运河百年纪念桥于2003年完工，以纪念该事件发生100周年。）美国率先修建了国际水道，并控制了该水道，直到1999年12月31日，巴拿马人最终全面控制了运河，这是巴拿马的主要收入来源之一。