It feels like it's been there forever, but the Panama Canal has actually only operated for 100 years. At the turn of the 20th century, of course, ships still needed to sail all the way around the tip of South America to get from Atlantic to Pacific.

But the Canal's official opening on August 15, 1914, forever changed the face of global commerce. And since 1999's complete handover of the Canal's ownership to the nation of Panama, it has grown into a symbol of pride for the country's people.

And so it comes as no surprise that when the Fundación Olga Sinclair joined with the Panama Canal Authority to attempt a world record in celebration of the site's centennial, they had no problem smashing a Guinness World Records title.

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Their achievement? The most artists contributing to the same painting simultaneously. A total of 5,084 individuals contributed to the final artwork, which took hours not only to paint, but to then arrange for display on the hill outside of the Panama Canal Administration Building (immediately above).

As seen below, the painting was performed on individual strips, before combining them all into one larger artwork. The final piece covered nearly 2,000 square meters.

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Hosted by CNN Español's Ismael Cala, the event saw children aged 1-18 contribute, with some of the younger ones assisted in the painting by their parents. Dozens of different countries with embassies in Panama sent child delegates to take part, reflecting within the record attempt the same global spirit of cooperation represented by the Canal itself.

The painting's message read, in Spanish, "2014 A Century Uniting the World."