Where is the Darien Gap located?

The Darién Gap is a break across the South American and North American continents, consisting of heavily-forested areas, high mountains and a large watershed (a drainage basin that feeds into a watercourse) in the northern portion of Colombia's Chocó Department and Panama's Darién Province.

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 sharp 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).

There is also a gap in the Pan-American Highway that begins in Turbo, Colombia and ends in Yaviza, Panama, and is 106 km (66 miles) long. It should be remembered that roadbuilding through this area is expensive and the environmental cost is high, therefore political consensus in favour of road construction has not yet emerged.