page_title: Vasco Núñez de Balboa
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Vasco Núñez de Balboa / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: The Spanish explorer of the Panama Canal region is represented by Vasco Nunez de Balboa in the Panama-Pacific Exposition issue. He called the western ocean 'Mar del Sur'.
context_page_description: Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World.
  He traveled to the New World in 1500 and, after some exploration, settled on the island of Hispaniola. He founded the settlement of Santa María la Antigua del Darién in present-day Colombia in 1510, which was the first permanent European settlement on the mainland of the Americas.
context_section_description: Although Balboa suffered a premature death, his actions and deeds are remembered by history as the first European to cross America. Several parks and avenues throughout Panama bear the name "Vasco Núñez de Balboa", and a number of monuments honour his discovery of the South Sea. The Panamanian currency is called the Balboa, and his likeness appears on the obverse of most Panamanian coins. His name is also attached to Panama City's main port, Balboa (the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal) and the Balboa District within Panamá Province to which the Pearl Islands that he discovered belong. In San Francisco, California, US, Balboa's name appears among a row of avenues which are named after Spanish conquistadors, in the Balboa Park neighborhood, and Balboa High School in the Excelsior District. There is also a large park (Balboa Park) adjacent to downtown San Diego, California which was named after Balboa in 1910. Balboa's name is also honoured in Madrid with a street and a metro station.
  One of the highest orders granted by the Panamanian government to distinguished and outstanding figures, foreign and domestic, is the Orden Vasco Núñez de Balboa, in various degrees, as established by Law 27 from 28 January 1933.
  The lunar crater Balboa was named after him.
  Balboa appears in the lyrics to "The Great Nations of Europe" by composer/singer Randy Newman.
  Vasco Nunez de Balboa was featured on the 1-cent denomination of the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1913. The 1-cent Balboa paid the one-cent card rate, and it was used in combination with other denominations to meet large weight and foreign destinations. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing issued over 330 million of these to the public.
  SENAN's Base Naval Vasco Nuñez de Balboa in Panama City is named for Balboa.
caption: Balboa 1-cent, 1913 issue
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