Gardi Sugdub Island

June 29, 2024

Earlier in June, around 300 families were relocated off the island of Gardi Sugdub in Panama’s Guna Yala province due to concerns over rising sea levels.

About Gardi Sugdub Island:

  • It is a tiny island in the Caribbean Sea and a part of the San Blas archipelago, which comprises 365 islands, mostly uninhabited.
  • It is home to 1,200 indigenous Guna people, who will soon be displaced to the mainland because of the sea level rise induced by climate change.
  • The further movement of  inhabitants from the surrounding islands is foreseen to be necessary by 2050.
  • The Latin American nation is set to become the first to evacuate an entire island community due to climate change.
  • Panama is situated in the Caribbean, where sea level rise currently averages around 3 to 4 millimetres per year

Key facts about the Caribbean Sea

  • It is the Atlantic Ocean’s 2nd largest marginal sea that is geographically positioned between the continents of North and South America in the Western Hemisphere.
  • It is bordered by the countries of Colombia, Panama, and Venezuela in the south; by Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in the west; by the Greater Antilles islands in the north; and by the Lesser Antilles islands in the east.
  • The Caribbean Sea is connected with the Gulf of Mexico in the north via the Yucatan Channel.