Darién Gap facts for kids
The Darién Gap ( Spanish: Tapón del Darién lit. Darién plug) is a geographic region in the Isthmus of Darién or Isthmus of Panama connecting the American continents within Central America, consisting of a large watershed, forest, and mountains in Panama's Darién Province and the northern portion of Colombia's Chocó Department.
The "Gap" interrupts the Pan-American Highway. Some 106 km (66 mi) of this between Yaviza, Panama, and Turbo, Colombia, has never been built. Road-building in this area is both expensive and detrimental to the environment. Political consensus in favor of road construction collapsed after an initial attempt failed in the early 1970s, with a proposal in the early 1990s halted by environmental concerns. As of 2023, there was no active plan to build a road through the Gap, although there has been discussion of reestablishing a ferry service.
The geography of the Darién Gap on the Colombian side is dominated primarily by the river delta of the Atrato River, which creates a flat marshland at least 80 km (50 mi) wide. The Serranía del Baudó range extends along Colombia's Pacific coast and into Panama. The Panamanian side, in stark contrast, is a mountainous rainforest, with terrain reaching from 60 m (197 ft) in the valley floors to 1,845 m (6,053 ft) at the tallest peak (Cerro Tacarcuna, in the Serranía del Darién).
The Darién Gap is home to the Embera-Wounaan and Guna people and was also home to the Cueva people who became extinct by 1535, following the Spanish invasion of Panama. Travel is often conducted with pirogues. On the Panamanian side, La Palma, the area's cultural center, is the capital of the province. Other population centers include Yaviza and El Real. The Darién Gap had a reported population of 8,000 in 1995 among five tribes. Maize, cassava, plantains, and bananas are staple crops on local farms.
There is no road, not even a primitive one, across the Darién. One can bypass it by boat, and for some years there was an underused ferry service. The remaining option is to hike from Colombia to Panama by trail, which is possible but very strenuous and dangerous. Heavy rain and flash floods are frequent, law enforcement and medical support are non-existent, and a broken leg can be fatal, as there is no way to reach assistance. However, this route has been taken by hundreds of thousands of migrants since the 2010s, primarily Haitians and Venezuelans, to reach the Mexico–United States border. By 2021, the number was more than 130,000. In 2022, there were 250,000, and by mid-September, 2023, 360,000 had crossed the Gap.
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Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway is a system of roads measuring about 30,000 km (19,000 mi) in length that runs north–south through the entirety of North, Central and South America, with the sole exception of a 106 km (66 mi) stretch of marshland and mountains between Panama and Colombia known as the Darién Gap. On the South American side, the Highway terminates at Turbo, Colombia, near 8°6′N 76°40′W / 8.100°N 76.667°W. On the Panamanian side, the road terminus, for many years in Chepo, Panama Province, is since 2010 in the town of Yaviza at 8°9′N 77°41′W / 8.150°N 77.683°W.
Many people, including local indigenous populations, groups and governments are opposed to completing the Darién portion of the highway. Reasons for opposition include protecting the rainforest, containing the spread of tropical diseases, protecting the livelihood of indigenous peoples in the area, and preventing foot-and-mouth disease from entering North America. The extension of the highway as far as Yaviza resulted in severe deforestation alongside the highway route within a decade.
Efforts were made for decades to fill this sole gap in the Pan-American Highway. Planning began in 1971 with the help of American funding, but was halted in 1974 after concerns were raised by environmentalists. US support was further blocked by the US Department of Agriculture in 1978, from its desire to stop the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. Another effort to build the road began in 1992, but by 1994 a United Nations agency reported that the road, and the subsequent development, would cause extensive environmental damage. Cited reasons include evidence that the Darién Gap has prevented the spread of diseased cattle into Central and North America, which have not seen foot-and-mouth disease since 1954, and since at least the 1970s this has been a substantial factor in preventing a road link through the Darién Gap. The Embera-Wounaan and Guna are among five tribes, comprising 8,000 people, who have expressed concern that the road would bring about the potential erosion of their cultures by destroying their food sources.
An alternative to the Darién Gap highway would be a river ferry service between Turbo or Necoclí, Colombia and one of several sites along Panama's Caribbean coast. Ferry services such as Crucero Express and Ferry Xpress operated to link the gap, but closed because the service was not profitable. As of 2023[update], nothing has come of this idea.
Another idea is to use a combination of bridges and tunnels to avoid the environmentally sensitive regions.
History
Pre-Columbian history
Archaeological knowledge of this area has received relatively little attention compared to its neighbors to the north and south, although in the early 20th century, scholars such as Max Uhle, William Henry Holmes, C. V. Hartman and George Grant MacCurdy undertook studies of archaeological sites and collections that were augmented by further research by Samuel Kirkland Lothrop, John Alden Mason, Doris Zemurray Stone, William Duncan Strong, Gordon Willey and others. There are a large number of sites with impressive platform mounds, plazas, paved roads, stone sculpture and artifacts made from jade, gold and ceramic materials.
The Guna people lived in what is now Northern Colombia and the Darién Province of Panama at the time of the Spanish conquest and subsequently began to move westward due to a conflict with the Spanish and other indigenous groups. Centuries before the conquest, the Gunas arrived in South America as part of a Chibchan migration moving east from Central America. At the time of the Spanish invasion, they were living in the region of Uraba near the borders of what are now Antioquia and Caldas. The Guna themselves attribute their several migrations to conflicts with other chiefdoms, and their migration to nearby islands in particular to escape malarial mosquito populations on the mainland.
European settlement
Vasco Núñez de Balboa and Alonso de Ojeda explored the coast of Colombia in 1500 and 1501. They spent the most time in the Gulf of Urabá, where they made contact with the Gunas. The regional border was initially created in 1508 after royal decree to separate the colonial governorships of Castilla de Oro and Nueva Andalucía, using the River Atrato as the boundary between the two governorships.
Balboa heard of the "South Sea" from locals while sailing along the Caribbean coast. On 25 September 1513, he saw the Pacific.
In 1519, the town of Panamá was founded near a small indigenous settlement on the Pacific coast. After the Spaniards entered what is now Peru, it developed into an important transshipment port as well as an administrative center.
In 1671, the Welsh pirate Henry Morgan crossed the Isthmus of Panamá from the Caribbean side and destroyed the city; the town was subsequently relocated a few kilometers to the west on a small peninsula. The ruins of the old town, Panamá Viejo, are preserved and were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
Silver and gold from the viceroyalty of Peru was taken across the isthmus by Spanish Silver Train to Porto Bello, where Spanish treasure fleets shipped them to Seville and Cádiz from 1707. Lionel Wafer spent four years between 1680 and 1684 among the Gunas.
In 1698 the Kingdom of Scotland tried to establish a settlement in a project known as the Darién scheme, intending to tame, occupy and administer the untraversable land of the Darién Gap, and use it as a gateway to trade between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as was later achieved successfully by the Panama Railroad and then the Panama Canal. The first expedition of five ships (Saint Andrew, Caledonia, Unicorn, Dolphin and Endeavour) set sail from Leith on 14 July 1698, with around 1,200 people on board. Their orders were "to proceed to the Bay of Darién, and make the Isle called the Golden Island ... some few leagues to the leeward of the mouth of the great River of Darién ... and there make a settlement on the mainland". After calling at Madeira and the West Indies, the fleet made landfall off the coast of Darién on 2 November. The settlers christened their new home "New Caledonia".
The aim was for the colony to have an overland route that connected the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Since its inception, it has been said that the undertaking was beset by poor planning and provisioning, divided leadership, a poor choice of trade goods, devastating epidemics of disease, reported attempts by the East India Company to frustrate it, and a failure to anticipate the Spanish Empire's military response. It was finally abandoned in March 1700 after a siege and harbor blockade by Spanish forces.
As the Company of Scotland was backed by approximately 20% of all the money circulating in Scotland, its failure left the Scottish Lowlands in substantial financial ruin; in fact, English financial incentives are thought to have been a factor in persuading those in power to support the 1707 union with England. According to this argument, the Scottish establishment of landed aristocracy and mercantile elites considered that their best chance of being part of a major power would be to share the benefits of England's international trade and the growth of the English overseas possessions, so its future would have to lie in unity with England. Furthermore, Scotland's nobles were almost bankrupted by the Darién fiasco.
Panamanian independence
Most of Panama was part of Colombia until it declared its independence in 1903, with encouragement and support from the United States. The geography of Darién, through which no troops could pass, made its Departamento of Panamá harder to defend and control.
The current border is regulated by the Victoria-Velez Treaty, signed in Bogotá on 20 August 1924 by the Foreign Ministers of Panama, Nicolás Victoria, and Colombia, Jorge Vélez. This treaty is officially registered in the Register No. 814 of the Treaty League of Nations, on 17 August 1925; said border was based on the same Colombian law of 9 June 1855.
Natural resources
Two major national parks exist in the Darién Gap: Darién National Park in Panama and Los Katíos National Park in Colombia. The Darién Gap forests had extensive cedrela and mahogany cover until many of these trees were removed by loggers.
Darién National Park in Panama, the largest national park in Central America, covers roughly 5,790 km2 (2,240 sq mi) of land, and was established in 1980. The property includes a stretch of the Pacific Coast and almost the entire border with neighbouring Colombia.
The route in the 21st century
Several video teams have traveled with migrants and thus the conditions of the route have become better known. It is possible, although arduous, dangerous, and seriously rainy, to hike from Colombia to Panama.
By boat
At various times scheduled boats, including sailboats, have sailed between the Colombian ports of Cartagena, Turbo, Necoclî and Capurganá and the Panamanian ports of El Porvenir and Colón. Chartering a small boat is also an option. Sea conditions make it a sometimes hazardous trip, and schedules can change frequently. Any of these options are more expensive than flying.
By land
It is possible to cross the Gap on foot, but the conditions are very difficult and often underestimated. It is one of the rainiest and most dangerous places on the planet, a lawless, unpoliced region.
The hiking trail ascends abruptly over a mountain; the four-day hike is a challenge even for a person in good physical shape. Most migrants are in mediocre physical shape or worse, and without equipment for hiking and camping. Women who are carrying babies or pregnant make the attempt. Three migrant women bore babies in the Darién between 2013 and 2021, with no medical help or supplies available.
The Darién Gap is one of the rainiest places on the planet. The rainfall produces flash floods that can carry sleepers to their deaths. Several rivers with neither bridges nor boats must be crossed. No services of any kind are available; food, a tent and water purification materials sufficient for a hike of several days must be carried. There is no police presence and no cell phone signal.
Armed conflict
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The Darién Gap was subject to the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which led an insurgency against the Colombian government. FARC rebels were present on both the Colombian and Panamanian sides of the border.
See also
In Spanish: Región del Darién para niños
- Darién scheme
- Derienni
- Gulf of Darién
- Lionel Wafer
