Darién National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Darién) is a World Heritage Site in Panama. It is about 325 kilometers from Panama City, and is the most extensive of all national parks of Panama and is one of the most important world heritage sites in Central America. In 1972 an area of 700,000 hectares (7,000 km2) became part of the Alto Darién Protection Forest. In 1980 the area was declared a National Park. In 1983 an area of 859,333 ha (8,593.33 km2) became a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The park covers 5,790 km2 (579,000 ha).