Former name for the Panama isthmus as a
whole, and still the name of an eastern
province of Panama; area 16,803 sq km/6,490
sq mi; population (1980) 26,500. The Gulf of
Darien, part of the Caribbean sea, lies
between Panama and Colombia. The Darien Gap
is the complex of swamp, jungle, and ravines,
which long prevented the linking of the North
and South American sections of the
Pan-American Highway, stretching about 300
km/200 mi between Canitas, Panama, and
Chigorodo, Colombia. At the Colombian end is
the Great Atrato Swamp, 60 km/35 mi across
and over 300 m/1,000 ft deep. The Darien
Expedition was a Scottish attempt to colonize
the isthmus 1698-99, which failed
disastrously owing to the climate and Spanish
hostility. The British Trans-Americas
Expedition, led by John Blashford-Snell, made
the first motorized crossing in 1972.