The Darién Gap Is One Of Planet Earth's Last Unconquered Frontiers

There’s a good reason why there’s no road between North America and South America: the Darién Gap, a geographical chokepoint brimming with danger, disease, and violence. In times gone by, many considered the gap to be impassable, but in the 21st century, the region has become one of the busiest – and most perilous – human migration routes on the planet. 

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The Darién Gap is a formidable patch of thick jungle found along a skinny portion of land over the borders of Panama and Colombia, occupying the narrow land bridge between South America and Central America.

In the 20th century, there was a big push to build a Pan-American Highway from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina. It was largely successful, except for a stubborn 97-kilometer (60-mile) break in the Darién Gap that proved impossible to conquer.

Riddled with dense rainforest, steep mountains, rivers, and swamps, it’s simply too difficult to build roads and other infrastructure here. The region is so tricky to navigate that it even acts as a natural barrier preventing livestock diseases from spreading between continents.

On top of its geographical perils, the area is buzzing with a wealth of wildlife, including many species of deadly animals like jaguars, highly venomous vipers, and disease-ridden mosquitoes. 

Historical attempts to conquer this land failed miserably. In the late 17th century, recognizing the area's strategic significance, the Kingdom of Scotland launched an ambitious scheme to establish a colony in the Darién Gap. Wealthy investors, and even ordinary Scots, poured their savings into the venture, lured by promises of enormous profit. 

But disease, starvation, and the harsh conditions doomed the expedition. The colony collapsed within months, contributing to a financial crisis so severe that it helped push Scotland into political union with England.

In recent years, a new danger has emerged in the Darién Gap. This lawless stretch of ungovernable jungle has become a hive of criminal gangs, bandits, drug cartels, and militia groups, many of whom prey on the growing flow of people attempting to migrate toward the United States.

A perfect storm of conditions – economic instability, political turmoil, escalating street violence, climate pressures, and crackdowns on immigration – drove an unprecedented 133,726 people to traverse the Darién Gap in 2021, according to Panama's government. Crossings surged to 248,284 in 2022 and then soared to 520,085 in 2023, a figure more than forty times higher than the average yearly total from 2010 to 2020.

Most migrants avoid the heart of the jungle, opting instead for a combination of sea, river, and overland routes. Many begin with boat journeys along the coast, then navigate a network of walking paths and river crossings, eventually connecting to major bus routes through Panama.

Countless numbers of people crossing the area are subjected to robbery, kidnapping, extortion, and sexual violence. The worsening situation along the Darién Gap has driven what the British Medical Journal has declared a “health crisis,” marked by severe physical injuries, profound psychological distress, cholera, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections.

The Darién Gap has always been a treacherous passage, but in today’s world, the greatest danger comes from other humans.