The Gulf of Darién (UK: /ˈdɛəriən, ˈdær-/, US: /ˌdɛəriˈɛn, ˌdɑːr-, dɑːrˈjɛn/, Spanish: [daˈɾjen]) is the southernmost region of the Caribbean Sea, located north and east of the border between Panama and Colombia. Within the gulf is the Gulf of Urabá, a small lip of sea extending southward, between Caribana Point and Cape Tiburón, Colombia, on the southern shores of which is the port city of Turbo, Colombia. The Atrato River delta extends into the Gulf of Darién.
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👉 Gulf of Darién in the context of Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba to Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles to the east from the Virgin Islands to Trinidad and Tobago, South America to the south from the Venezuelan coastline to the Colombian coastline, and Central America and the Yucatán Peninsula to the west from Panama to Mexico. The geopolitical region around the Caribbean Sea, including the numerous islands of the West Indies and adjacent coastal areas in the mainland of the Americas, is known as the Caribbean.
The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas on Earth and has an area of about 2,754,000 km (1,063,000 sq mi). The sea's deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at 7,686 m (25,217 ft) below sea level. The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays: the Gulf of Gonâve, the Gulf of Venezuela, the Gulf of Darién, Golfo de los Mosquitos, the Gulf of Paria and the Gulf of Honduras.
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Gulf of Darién in the context of Darien scheme
The Darien scheme was an unsuccessful attempt, backed largely by investors of the Kingdom of Scotland, to gain wealth and influence by establishing New Caledonia or Britain-in-Panama, a colony in the Darién Gap on the territory of present-day Panama, in the late 1690s. The plan was for the colony, located on the Gulf of Darién, to establish and manage an overland route to connect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The backers knew that the first sighting of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Núñez de Balboa was after crossing the isthmus through Darién. The expedition also claimed sovereignty over "Crab Isle" (modern day Vieques, Puerto Rico) in 1698, yet sovereignty was short-lived. The settlement attempt failed; more than 80 percent of participants died within a year, and the settlement was abandoned twice.
There are many potential explanations for the disaster, including poor planning and provisioning; divided leadership; a lack of trade with local indigenous tribes or neighbouring Dutch and English colonies; epidemics of tropical disease; widespread opposition to the scheme from commercial interests in England; and a failure to anticipate a military response from the Spanish Empire. The settlement was abandoned in March 1700 after a siege by Spanish forces that also blockaded the harbour.
Gulf of Darién in the context of Atrato River
The Atrato River (Spanish: Río Atrato) is a river of northwestern Colombia. It rises in the slopes of the Western Cordillera and flows almost due north to the Gulf of Urabá (or Gulf of Darién), where it forms a large, swampy delta. Its course crosses the Chocó Department, forming that department's border with neighboring Antioquia in two places. Its total length is about 650 km (400 mi), and it is navigable as far as Quibdó (400 km / 250 mi), the capital of the department.
In 2016, the Constitutional Court of Colombia granted the river legal rights of personhood after years of degradation of the river basin from large-scale mining and illegal logging practices, which severely impacted the traditional ways of life for Afro-Colombians and Indigenous people.