Darién summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Darién.

Darién , Traditional region, eastern Panama. Extending into northwestern Colombia, it forms the link between Central America and South America. A hot, humid area of tropical rainforests, it has always been sparsely populated. The first European settlement in South America, Santa María de la Antigua del Darién, was attempted there in 1510. From this failing colony Vasco Núñez de Balboa made his famous march to the Pacific Ocean in 1513.

Map showing the countries of South America with national capitals and surrounding bodies of water, including the Atlantic and Pacific.

South America Summary

South America, fourth largest of the world’s continents. It is the southern portion of the landmass generally referred to as the New World, the Western Hemisphere, or simply the Americas. The continent is compact and roughly triangular in shape, being broad in the north and tapering to a point—Cape

Vasco Núñez de Balboa Summary

Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish conquistador and explorer, who was head of the first stable settlement on the South American continent (1511) and who was the first European to sight the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean (on September 25 [or 27], 1513, from “a peak in Darién”). Balboa came from