Person

Vasco Núñez de Balboa

c. 1475–1519 · 16th century

Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish conquistador who in 1510 founded Santa María la Antigua del Darién, the first lasting Spanish settlement on the American mainland. In September 1513 he crossed the Isthmus of Panama and became the first European to see the Pacific from the Americas, claiming it for Castile. Rivalry with Pedrarias Dávila, governor of Castilla de Oro, ended with his execution for treason in 1519.

Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Image: Anonymous (Spain)Unknown author after a 18th-century engraving · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Castilla de Oro

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Vasco Núñez de Balboa. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vasco-nunez-de-balboa
MLA
“Vasco Núñez de Balboa.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vasco-nunez-de-balboa. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Vasco Núñez de Balboa.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vasco-nunez-de-balboa.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Vasco Núñez de Balboa’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vasco-nunez-de-balboa (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻