Darién, region, Panama

Darién (dâr'ēĕn`, Span. däryān`), eastern part of Panama between the Gulf of Darién on the east and the Gulf of San Miguel on the west. Darién province, heavily forested and sparsely populated, is in the western part of the region. Formerly the name was frequently used to mean the entire isthmus of Panama. In 1513, Vasco Núñez de Balboa led an expedition across Darién and became the first European to view the Pacific Ocean from the New World. Keats referred to this exploit in his poem "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" but confused Balboa with Hernán Cortés.

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.