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.