Darién Province

The Darién is a province of Panama near the border with Colombia. Its capital is La Palma.

Geography

Darién extends from the Gulf of Darién and Urabá the Caribbean Sea to the Gulf of San Miguel of the Pacific Ocean and is a heavily wooded, rain -rich hills, which nowhere exceeds the height of 800 m.

From the lower Atrato from introduces only 142 m high pass to the upper Tuira, a 270 -km long tributary of the Gulf of San Miguel, which is 170 km navigable.

The country is rich in gold.

In recent decades, the biodiversity of the forests of Darién (including Darién National Park ), whose only major transport route is the Panamericana to Yaviza, increasingly threatened by legally and illegally perching Neusiedl, the slash and burn fields and pastures for agriculture and livestock Creating. Especially the increasing illegal colonization of Darién National Park by refugees from Colombia and other illegal settlers threatened the ecosystem. Also not a national park belonging areas of the region, especially those along the Panamericana, are characterized by burning and unplanned spread of agriculture and pastoralism.

The Darién province is in turn into two districts ( distritos ) divided into:

• Chepigana (capital: La Palma)
• Pinogana (capital: El Real de Santa María )

Population

In the sparsely populated area, especially in direct border between Panama and Colombia, now living indigenous peoples, especially Kuna and Choco. They live largely in accordance with their traditions and live in relative isolation in the tropical forests.

History

The former Spanish offices have been mostly destroyed by pirates, so that the area in 1870 numbered only 9594 inhabitants. Today, the area with the exception of the North is still sparsely populated.

1698 ball to the Company of Scotland in the field to establish a colony, but this failed due to insufficient preparation, adverse circumstances, the lack of support from English colonies and the resistance of the Spaniards. The financial consequences of this miscarriage of the Scottish state are seen as a major reason for the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland and thus the foundation of the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Darien Gap

Main article: Darien Gap

The Darién is the last gap in the so-called Pan-American highway network between North and South America. Between the village Yaviza in Panama and the Colombian turbo there is no road, only unpaved dirt roads that are often barely passable due to flooding. This gap is called the Darien Gap (Spanish known for " Darien Pegs ", also under the English name Darien Gap ). The track is a classic among adventure tourists, as they can only be accomplished on foot or by bike offroadfähigem.

For some time it is planned to close this gap. There are, however, apart from the uncertain funding several obstacles in this project: on the one hand there are in the area increased guerrilla activity and a growing movement of conservationists who want to prevent the road to protect the remaining virgin rain forests of the region.