Darién Province
Encyclopedia
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. It is also the largest province in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. It is hot, humid, heavily forested, and sparsely populated, having 48,378 habitants (2010.)
European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
s first discovered the region in 1501, and Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
sighted it on his fourth voyage in 1503.
The Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
established the first European colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Santa María la Antigua del Darién
Santa María la Antigua del Darién
Santa María la Antigua del Darién was a Spanish colonial town founded in 1510 by Vasco Núñez de Balboa, located in present-day Colombia approximately 40 miles south of Acandí...
, in Darién in 1510. The settlement did not prosper, however, and was soon abandoned. Some of the refugees from Santa María went on to found Panama City
Panama City
Panama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
in 1519.
From upon a peak near Santa Maria in present-day Darién during 1513, Panama, Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World.He traveled to the New World in...
became the first European known to have seen the Pacific Ocean from the New World.
Bay of San Miguel
The Bay of San Miguel is located on the Pacific coast of Darién, a district of eastern Panama. Bay is located at . It is fed by the Tuira River. At its southern end is Cape Garachiné , and at its northern end is Punta San Lorenzo ....
, because they arrived on September 29, 1513, the feast day of the archangel Michael. He named the new sea, Mar del Sur, since they had traveled south to reach it.
In 1698, the Scots
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
launched another attempt to colonize Darién: the Darién scheme
Darién scheme
The Darién scheme was an unsuccessful attempt by the Kingdom of Scotland to become a world trading nation by establishing a colony called "New Caledonia" on the Isthmus of Panama in the late 1690s...
. The disastrous financial impact of the venture's failure on the Scottish national economy led to the Acts of Union 1707
Acts of Union 1707
The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...
, which united the Kingdom of England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
and the Kingdom of Scotland
Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
(previously separate state
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
s) in a single Kingdom of Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
.
The province was formed in 1922 from Panamá
Panamá Province
Panamá is a major province of the country of Panama, containing the capital city, Panama City. The governor of the province is Mayin Correa, a former mayor of Panama City and elected by President Martinelli after being sworn in on July 1, 2009.-Districts:...
province. Today, the chief town in Darién is La Palma
La Palma, Panama
La Palma is located at the mouth of the Río Tuira, where the wide river meets the Golfo de San Miguel. The Chucunaque joins the Tuira farther south. La Palma is the provincial capital of Darién Province and the most populous town in the region. However, despite its lofty position as capital of the...
, located where the Tuira River
Tuira River
The Tuira River is located in the Darién Province of eastern Panama. It flows into the Bay of San Miguel at the province capital of La Palma.It is the largest river in Panama, and one of its tributaries, the Chucunaque River, is the longeset river in Panama....
empties into the Bay of San Miguel.
The Darién Gap
Darién Gap
The Darién Gap is a large swath of undeveloped swampland and forest separating Panama's Darién Province in Central America from Colombia in South America. It measures just over long and about wide. Roadbuilding through this area is expensive, and the environmental toll is steep. Political...
is the only gap in the Pan-American Highway
Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway is a network of roads measuring about in total length. Except for an rainforest break, called the Darién Gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's...
along the entire length of North, Central, and South America.
Districts
Initially, Darién Province was divided into two districtDistrict
Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
s:
- Chepigana DistrictChepigana DistrictChepigana District is a district of Darién Province in Panama. The population according to the 2000 census was 27,461.The district covers a total area of 7,309 km²...
, which contains the easternmost pointExtreme points of Central AmericaThis is a list of the extreme points of central America, the points that are farther north, south, east, or west than any other location on the region.- Extreme points :*Northernmost point – Mexico–Belize border with Juan Sarabia...
of Central AmericaCentral AmericaCentral America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
- Corregimientos of Chepigana include La Palma (capital), Camoganti, Chepigana, GarachinéGarachinéGarachiné is a town in the Darién province of Panama.- Sources :* – World-Gazetteer.com...
, JaquéJaquéJaqué is a town in the Darién province of Panama.- Sources :* – World-Gazetteer.com...
, Puerto PiñaPuerto PiñaPuerto Piña is a town in Darién Province, Panama with a population of about 700. This small coastal community is located near the border with Columbia. It is the home for a tourism consortium named "Tropi" by the locals, which forms the only business of the village. The remainder of the economy...
, Río Congo, Río Iglesias, SambúSambúSambú is a town in Darién Province, Panama....
, Setegantí, Taimatí, Tucutí, Agua FríaAgua FriaAgua Fria, Agua Fría, or Água Fria may refer to:*Água Fria de Goiás, a small town in northern Goiás state*Agua Fría, Panama *Agua Fria, New Mexico, a suburb of Santa Fe...
, Cucunatí, Río Congo Arriba, and Santa FeSanta Fé, DariénSanta Fé is a town of 5,764 residents in Darién Province, Panama. It is approximately 200 km east of Panama City on the Inter-American Highway. The town contains a hospital. It is served by bus....
- Pinogana DistrictPinogana DistrictPinogana District is a district of Darién Province in Panama. The population according to the 2000 census was 12,823.The district covers a total area of 4,557 km²...
- Corregimientos of Pinogana include El Real de Santa MaríaEl Real de Santa MaríaEl Real de Santa María is a town in the Darién province of Panama.- Sources :* – World-Gazetteer.com...
(capital), Boca de Cupe, Paya, Pinogana, Púcuro, Yape, YavizaYavizaYaviza is a town in the Darién Province of Panama. The town marks the northwestern end of the Darién Gap of the Pan-American Highway. It has a population of 1,611 and is the main cultural center of the Panamanian side of the Darién Gap.- Sources :...
, MetetíMetetíMetetí is a town in the Darién province of Panama. It is the last major town on the Inter-American Highway before the highway ends at Yaviza. Most of the town's residents are originally from Chiriqui Province. The town has a bank with an ATM, a few restaurants and hotels, a police station, and a...
, and Wargandi
Later, an Indigenous Territory, the comarca indígena of Emberá
Emberá
Emberá is a comarca indígena in eastern Panama. It was created by Law Number 22 on November 8, 1983, within the territories of Chepigana and Pinogana districts, Darién Province. The capital is Union Choco. The 2010 census found 10,001 people within Emberá. The area of this comarca is 4,383.6 sq...
was established in the province on November 8, 1983. It consists of two additional districts:
- Cémaco District
- Sambú District
The comarca indígena of Kuna de Wargandí
Kuna de Wargandí
Kuna de Wargandí is a comarca indígena in Panamá. It was created in 2000 from the province of Darién, from the district of Pinogana. It has an area of 299 square miles . It is inhabited by the Kuna people....
also was established in 2000. It is not subdivided into districts.
Literary reference
Darién appears in the English poet John KeatsJohn Keats
John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
's poem On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer
On First Looking into Chapman's Homer
Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; Round many western islands have I been Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold. Oft of one wide expanse had I been told...
. Keats compares the impact of the moment when, standing on a peak in Darién, "stout Cortez" first views the Pacific Ocean with that of his own discovery of Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's 'pure serene' demesne through the translation of George Chapman
George Chapman
George Chapman was an English dramatist, translator, and poet. He was a classical scholar, and his work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been identified as the Rival Poet of Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Minto, and as an anticipator of the Metaphysical Poets...
(1559-1634). (Keats is thought to have confused Balboa's discovery of the Pacific with his fellow conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
's first sight of the Valley of Mexico).
See also
- Darién GapDarién GapThe Darién Gap is a large swath of undeveloped swampland and forest separating Panama's Darién Province in Central America from Colombia in South America. It measures just over long and about wide. Roadbuilding through this area is expensive, and the environmental toll is steep. Political...
- Darien schemeDarién schemeThe Darién scheme was an unsuccessful attempt by the Kingdom of Scotland to become a world trading nation by establishing a colony called "New Caledonia" on the Isthmus of Panama in the late 1690s...
- Mellander, Gustavo A. (1971). The United States in Panamanian Politics: The Intriguing Formative Years. Daville,Ill.:Interstate Publishers. OCLC 138568.
- Mellander, Gustavo A.; Nelly Maldonado Mellander (1999). Charles Edward Magoon: The Panama Years. Río Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor. ISBN 1-56328-155-4. OCLC 42970390.