The land use is forested 43.8%; meadows and pastures 19.8%; agricultural and under permanent cultivation 8.9%; other 27.5%. The area's main natural resources are copper, mahogany forests, and shrimp. The climate is tropical; hot, humid, cloudy. There is a long rainy season (May to January) and a short dry season (January to May). This creates harsh and sometimes dangerous labor conditions. The interior terrain is mostly steep, rugged mountains and dissected, upland plains, coastal areas largely plains, and rolling hills. This rugged terrain caused engineering problems. The French simply underestimated the work, money, and hardships that would be involved in engineering and building a canal of this magnitude in Panama .
Actual work on the canal began in 1882. The project was plagued with troubles. Immediate trouble was financial funds. Several times Lesseps would go to his countrymen to garner funds. The work force was also stricken with disease in the form of malaria and yellow fever. These diseases filled hospitals and put many men six feet under. Engineering problems also caused serious financial loss and frustration. The canal was to be a sea level canal at Lesseps' insistence although a lock canal would have been cheaper and more feasible. The rocky ground of the formerly volcanic area proved to be too much for the French steam shovels and land dredges. By 1885 due to financial pressure Lesseps made some changes to the canal design to speed up construction efforts but it was too late. In 1889 Lesseps' company was liquidated to pay back investors and banks involved with the endeavor. In 1894 a new company, the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama, was created in France to attempt to finish the canal. Many of the French now looked upon completion of the canal as a wasted effort and impossible task. They resented the millions of francs that had already been spent on the canal. France eventually concluded that they could not complete the canal.
