About Darien Panama and it's Location

The Province of Darien is located in the eastern extreme of Panama bordering with Colombia on the East, Kuna Yala (San Blas) in the North, the Pacific Ocean on the South and the Province of Panama in the Northwest. It is the least developed Province.

This province is, at 16,671 square kilometers, by far the largest in Panama. Parque Naconal Darien alone is enormous, covering 579,000 hectares of wilderness that sprawls across the isthmus near the Colombian border. It contains the most extensive lowland tropical forest left along Central America’s Pacific coast.

The Population

It is sparsely inhabited, with approximately 40,000 people living in the entire province. The largest rivers in this area are the Tuira and the Chucunaque rivers. The capital, Darien La Palma, is located where the Tuira River empties into the Bay of San Miguel. . The Darien National Park makes up most of the southern end of the province, and covers almost 1.5 million acres.

The population is made up of mostly black groups, descendants of back fugitive slaves brought to the Isthmus during colonial times. They settled mainly in the towns of Yaviza, LaPalma, El Real, Chepigana, Jaqu and Puerto Obaldia.

The Darien Has a Great Ecosystem

The Darien Province has a great variety of ecosystems and is the last safe home for many endangered species. It is considered one of the most complete, pristine tropical ecosystems that can still be found in the Americas. The wild life is spectacular including exotic species such as, jaguars, oncillas, white-lipped peccaries, bush dogs, tree sloths, tapirs, capybaras and the list goes on and on. Its biodiversity is so incredible it has been named both a World Biosphere Reserve and a Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Darien Supplies Adventurous Tourism

If you are looking for adventurous tourism, then this is the Province for you. It has an extension of 16,000 km., in which there are copious rivers thick tropical jungles, paradisiacal beaches, the highest peaks, the most diverse flora and fauna and the most heterogeneous human groups. The Harpy Eagle, the most powerful bird of prey in the world, resides in the Darien National Park, together with the jaguar, the ocelot howling monkeys, caimans and the American crocodile, Also, the Tropic Star Lodge is home to the Black Marline and the Pacific Sailfish.

Not only will you find the Harpy Eagle nesting in the province, but more than 533 species of birds are found in this Province, including the great curassow and four species of macaws: blue and yellow, great green, chestnut-fronted, and the red and green. The forests are also home to the saffron headed parrot and the rare viridian dacnis, as well as such endemic species as the rufous-cheeked hummingbird, varied solitaire and Pierre warbler. This is a bird lover’s paradise! If you are looking for adventure- tourism, then this Province is for you.