The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal. Like many isthmuses, it is a location of great geopolitical and strategic importance.
An 1850 oil painting by Charles Christian Nahl: The Isthmus of Panama on the Height of the Chagres River
Francis Samuel Marryat, Crossing The Isthmus Of Panama, 1855
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles starting with Cuba, to the east by the Lesser Antilles, and to the south by the northern coast of South America. The Gulf of Mexico lies to the northwest.
Satellite image of the Caribbean Sea
Coral reef near Soufrière Quarter, Saint Lucia
Christopher Columbus landing on Hispaniola in 1492
Tulum, a Mayan city on the coast of the Caribbean in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico