What Continent is Panama in?

Is Panama part of South or North America?

Capital: Panamá
Population: 3.4 million (2010)
Official language: Spanish
Majority group: Spanish (77.7%)
Minority groups: less than a dozen Native American languages
Political system: unitary republic formed by nine provinces and particular autonomous territories (“comarcas”)
Constitutional Articles (language): art. 7, 10, 78, 84, 86, 96 and 104 of the Constitution of 1972 amended in 1983 and 1994

Panama (in esp.: Panamá) is a small country of countries of 75,517 km2 (seven times smaller than France and 132 times smaller than Canada, but 2.5 times larger than Belgium) located on the isthmus connecting South America to Central America.
The country is limited to the north by the Caribbean Sea, to the east by Colombia, to the south by the Pacific Ocean and to the west by Costa Rica; it is crossed by the Panama Canal. Some 51 km separate the Atlantic from the Pacific.

Why is Panama not part of Central America?
What continent is the Panama Canal in?
Is Panama Spanish or Caribbean?