9°17′46″N 78°20′39″W / 9.29611°N 78.34417°W
Guna Yala, also known as Kuna Yala or by its former name San Blas, is a comarca indígena (indigenous province) in northeast Panama. Guna Yala is home to the indigenous people known as the Gunas. Its capital is Gaigirgordub. It is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea, on the south by the Darién Province and Emberá-Wounaan, on the east by Colombia, and on the west by the province of Colón.
Gardi Sugdub, also spelled Cartí Sugtupu, is an island in the San Blas Archipelago in the Panamanian comarca indígena of Guna Yala, 400m long and 150m wide. It is the southernmost and largest of four populated Carti Islands (the others are Cartí Tupile in the north, Carti Yandup in the west, and Carti Muladub in the east), and lies 1200 meters off the northern coast of mainland Panama. The island houses a small harbour and a museum, as well as a now-disused schoolhouse. Its indigenous inhabitants are Guna.
Discussions of relocation to a site on the mainland thanks to overpopulation on the island were first raised by Guna elders in 2008. The Panamanian government constructed the new village of Isber Yala between 2015 and 2024, construction being delayed due to funding issues, and following its completion in June 2024, 300 families moved from Gardi Sugdub into the new village.
The San Blas Islands of Panama is an archipelago comprising approximately 365 islands and cays, of which 49 are inhabited. They lie off the north coast of the Isthmus of Panama, east of the Panama Canal. A part of the comarca (district) Guna Yala along the Caribbean coast of Panama, it is home to the Kuna people.
San Blas and its surrounding area is a haven for ecotourism because of its pristine environs. The area is also popular for sailing, as it is known for its beauty and lack of hurricanes. Notable locations in the Archipelago are the main capital Gaigirgordub, the densely crowded island village of Carti Sugtupu, and the two keys, Cayos Limones, and Cayos Holandeses, both renowned for their clear waters.
The Guna (also spelled Kuna or Cuna) are an Indigenous people of Panama and Colombia. Guna people live in three politically autonomous comarcas or autonomous reservations in Panama, and in a few small villages in Colombia. There are also communities of Guna people in Panama City, Colón, and other cities. Most Guna live on small islands off the coast of the comarca of Guna Yala known as the San Blas Islands. The other two Guna comarcas in Panama are Guna de Madugandí and Guna de Wargandí. They are Guna-speaking people who once occupied the central region of what is now Panama and the neighboring San Blas Islands and still survive in marginal areas.
In the Guna language, they call themselves Dule or Tule, meaning "people", and the name of the language is Dulegaya, literally "people-mouth". The term was in the language itself spelled Kuna prior to a 2010 orthographic reform, but the Congreso General de la Nación Gunadule since 2010 has promoted the spelling Guna.
Gaigirgordub, called El Porvenir (Spanish pronunciation: [el poɾ.βeˈniɾ]) until July 1, 2016, is the capital of the Panamanian comarca indígena (indigenous territory) of Guna Yala. The settlement is located on a small island and contains a landing strip, a museum (the Museo de la Nación Guna, or Museum of the Guna Nation), a hotel, government offices, and an artisans' cooperative. There is also a small beach.
The Cayos Limones or Lemon Keys are a group of Caribbean islands in the San Blas Archipelago in Guna Yala province of Panama. As part of the autonomous Guna Yala indigenous territory it is mainly populated by the Guna indigenous People. The islands in Cayos Limones are sparsely populated. The most notable of the islands are Isla de Perro and Chichimen, both are situated near substantial reefs making them ideal for snorkeling, as they contain several sunken ships. The economy is mainly based on tourism, fishing and coconut harvesting. The Keys are connected to the other islands of the archipelago and to the mainland by taxi-boat, normally through the other islands of El Porvenir or Carti Sugtupu.
The Indigenous peoples of Panama, also known as Native Panamanians, are the original inhabitants of Panama, are the Native peoples whose history in the territory of today's Panama predates Spanish colonization. As of the 2023 census, Indigenous peoples constitute 17.2% of Panama’s population of 4.5 million, totaling just over 698,000 individuals. There are 7 indigenous peoples. The Ngäbe and Bokota comprise half of the Indigenous peoples of Panama.
Many of the Indigenous Peoples live on comarca indígenas, which are administrative regions for areas with substantial Indigenous populations. Three comarcas (Comarca Emberá-Wounaan, Guna Yala, Ngäbe-Buglé) exist as equivalent to a province, with two smaller comarcas (Guna de Madugandí and Guna de Wargandí) subordinate to a province and considered equivalent to a corregimiento (municipality).
Darién (UK: /ˈdɛəriən, ˈdær-/, US: /ˌdɛəriˈɛn, ˌdɑːr-, dɑːrˈjɛn/; Spanish: [daˈɾjen]) is a province in Panama whose capital city is La Palma. With an area of 11,896.5 km (4,593.3 sq mi), it is located at the eastern end of the country and bordered to the north by the province of Panamá and the region of Kuna Yala. To the south, it is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and Colombia. To the east, it borders Colombia; to the west, it borders the Pacific Ocean and the province of Panama.
The area surrounding the border with Colombia is known as the Darién Gap, a large swath of undeveloped swampland and forest. With no roads, it is the missing link of the Pan-American Highway.
Isber Yala, or Nuevo Cartí, is a town in the Panamanian comarca indígena (indigenous territory) of Guna Yala, close to the coast and Cartí Airport.
It was built with funding from the Panamanian government and Inter-American Development Bank to house the population of the island of Gardi Sugdub, which had been increasingly suffering from overpopulation; most of the population of Gardi Sugdub moved to Isberyala in 2024.