Vasco Núñez de Balboa explored Panama in search of gold and other riches, hoping to find a new route to the Pacific Ocean, and to establish a colony there.
When Balboa arrived on the Isthmus of Panama in 1513, he was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean. He is also credited with founding the first European settlement on the Pacific coast, which he named Santa María la Antigua del Darién.
