Visiting the Most Crowded Island on Earth (I can’t forget what I saw)

Santa Cruz del Islote has an area of just 1% of a square kilometer in size where 816 people squeeze their entire lives. The island is so full that a guy does his daily workout routine near a dog feces and chaotic life here creates new adaptations. Since we arrived on the island, we’ve been constantly encountering people no matter where we turn.

People come out from every corner. It’s impossible to be alone on these crowded streets. Each house here has dozens of people living together in tiny rooms.

- How many people live in this room? - About 10. This is an average room of an average house.

You will be shocked when you see how other people live. But these people have a much bigger problem than these houses which makes life so extremely terrible here. Welcome to the most densely populated island on Earth.

A two-hour boat ride away from the mainland of Colombia, the island is just a little bigger than a football field in size, and has a density of 68,000 people per square kilometer. Even in Hong Kong, known as one of the most densely populated cities in the world, this rate is 6,749. There are only four streets and the place is entirely constructed of concrete, they don't have cars or motorcycles here.

We feel the density as soon as we step on to the island. The sounds of people, roosters, waves, and music all mix together. The homes here tell the story of the island.

Let's get inside one now. - Can we see inside your house? - Yes, you may.

See, I don’t have anything. - Sorry, it’s a little dark inside. - We don’t have electricity here.

You can see that they have some laundry work in the hallway, and they leave them to dry in this open area. Let’s start with this room. Homeowner says 10 people share these 3 beds together.

- This is my room. - How many people sleep on that bed? - 3.

- What about this room? She is not allowing us to enter this room as it’s too unorganized. - Kids used to sleep here.

Since it is too hot, we take the mattresses out of the room because there is no electricity. 7 kids are living in this room alone. They’re making use of every bit of space, even the walls.

Because they don't own a wardrobe, their clothes, shoes are all over the place. The kitchen is far from being clean because of the water shortage. People use water only for drinking; all other reasons have to be disregarded.

Almost anytime on the streets we see laundry hung up or just left lying around, some barbers at work, chairs spilling out of homes, children constantly running up and down. 220 families live in houses illegally built. Here, permission is not obtained from any authority and no one is officially a landowner.

Everybody builds their houses wherever they want. When they can’t find any space, they build on top of existing buildings. The buildings are so intertwined that sometimes they have to walk through each other’s homes to get to the other side.

As we get to know islanders more and more, we will discover a very different reason why their future is going to get even worse. Population density defies all logic. We see dishes and leftovers everywhere.

And this dog is trying to eat the crumbs left on the spoon. Some people are fishing, others selling food on street corners, and some working on construction. A few are trying their luck with a lottery machine brought to the island, dreaming of becoming rich.

As this all happens, there's a birthday celebration, and the party sounds can be heard everywhere. People are striving for comfort in their little space. - Is this her own house or is she on a rent?

- My own house. - What is the average rent here? - There are some who pay rent.

- Because there are people who are not from here. - They pay 50 to 75 dollars. - Usually the only utility they pay for is electricity.

- There is a crowded family here. They gave the second floor to their married children, so that they can stay there. It seems they have a communal life here.

For you to have a better understanding how small this island really is, I came to the furthest side of it and I will walk to the other side. And while doing that I’ll start a timer. Let’s see how many minutes it will take.

We’re trying to find our way among the maze-like narrow streets. Privacy is impossible here because with every step, we pass through someone’s life. Kids dominate this island’s population.

Even a space of four or five steps turns into a vast playground in the imagination of these children. Island has one school, one church, one clinic, one hotel, one restaurant, and three markets. 200 years ago, none of these streets, this chaos, garbage, mosquitoes and the people were here.

According to a legend, some fishermen discovered this island and spent the night here when it was too late to return. Then they decided to settle here with their families after sleeping well without mosquitos. It was later artificially enlarged by compressing coral rocks, seashells, and waste year after year.

It took less than two minutes. We met a 94 year old lady who witnessed everything here. - Was she born on this island?

- She never left, not even a single day. - Fishermen first came from the Baru region. - They started to expand the islet and in 100 years the islet became like this.

- There were no motors back then or anything like that, only small canoes with paddles. - If remember it correctly, when I was born there was only this house and a few more houses; the rest was nothing. - We are blessed to be located on the world’s second-largest coral reef with its amazing sea life.

- Waves that rise 20-30 meters in the open ocean are reduced to merely 25-30 centimeters when they reach our shores. - Look, all that you see around the island up to 5 or 6 miles off the coast is surrounded by pure coral. - We are safe here.

- How many people live here? - Two families live here. - Each family consists of 6 members.

- 12 people in total. - Where is the kitchen? - The kitchen?

- The stove goes here; that is not a problem. - We cook with propane gas. Dogs can't grow anymore once they hit a certain size because of not getting enough nutrition.

Life here is really limited for every creature. Here, we meet the nurse who has helped almost everyone come into the world healthy. - 40 years of delivering babies.

- How many babies? - Oh my goodness, I've lost count. - I don't even remember.

- Most of the youth in this town passed through these hands that you see. - I delivered almost everyone on this island and now I’m delivering even their children's children. - And I’ve never had a baby die.

- Little children with vomiting, a high fever, or diarrhea come to me. - I tell them what to do or which medicine to take. - I'm like a doctor.

- Everyone knows me here. The lack of modern healthcare services on the island poses a risk in emergency situations. But as you will understand by the end of the video, their real problem is so much more vital.

By the way, according to the locals the average life expectancy on the island is 85-90 years. - My sister died at the age of 103. People get to go beyond these limits only after they lose their lives because there is no cemetery on this island where people can bury their loved ones as there is no land to dig.

After the corpses are toured around the square with a ceremony, they are then taken to the mainland by a boat and buried there. - What is the average age for girls to get married or have a child? - Typically, girls are 16 years old when they have their first children.

- This also applies to their children when they get to that age. There is no family planning and the population keeps growing rapidly. - How many kids do people usually have?

- Here, from 2 to 5. Family life here is uniquely laid-back. Most of the couples are together without any official marriages.

Also, it’s not unusual for people to have kids with more than one partner but that’s part of life here. - Is she married? - I have a husband, but I’m not married.

- Oh really? - Which means its all free union, free. Also, people don't care about their personal space and joke around all the time.

One of the biggest problems of the island is trash. Some of these will be in the ocean. Some of these will be sent to the mainland.

But you can feel the smell and the amount of mosquitoes wherever you go. - Is it filming? Most of the waste is hidden in the ocean.

Without thinking twice, people just throw their loads of garbage into the water which they see as a dumping ground. Plastics, glass and metal pieces But what you’ll see next will make you feel more disgusted. Unbelievably even a toilet can be found at the ocean floor.

The crabs swimming in this pollution are some of the important food sources for the residents. And these broken cages were used to hunt these animals. There are some plastic bags in the ocean.

People are fishing and these women are washing their clothes. Life is chaotic here. Access to electricity and drinking water here varies depending on the weather conditions.

Solar panels are here. This is the way they produce electricity for the island. - We have 380 solar panels and 180 batteries, which give us energy for everything.

If the weather is sunny, electricity is provided between 12:00 a. m to 05:00 p. m.

- Is there something that she wants to change in this island? - Mainly the electricity. - Look, today we have been without electricity for four days.

- All the drinks are hot. You see tomatoes and peppers. Since there isn’t enough power these are not very fresh.

These power generators are working. Almost everything people need is provided in the three markets on this main street, including medicines. This is the trading center of the island.

There is another shop here. You can buy some t-shirts and shorts. We have a lot of wind here.

- The salt carried by winds damages our devices. The real struggle begins with the obtaining of drinking water as there is no tap water in here. As you see, they gather the rain water with these pipes.

Not even a single drop of water is wasted. - Drnking water? - We suffer a lot.

- There, below the health center, we have a community tank that we call the lung of the island. - When it rains, the joy is so immense here that we go partying that day. - Here, the drought scares us so much.

- It takes 7 to 8 months to get some rain here - We store that precious liquid, and then we distribute it to all the families equally without skipping anyone. - The Navy sees the problem we have here. They let the mayor’s office use their ships so that they could bring us some water.

This helps a lot. Now we have some water. All the tanks are full because it has rained.

Also, the island doesn’t have any sewage system. Even though rain means good news in terms of water supply, rainfalls are bringing life into the edge of a chaos. Since the enlarged areas of the island are not solid; hurricanes or a heavy rain makes houses and streets unusable.

- What does he not like about this island? The only bad thing is the rainy season, when it rains the tide rises. All these streets are flooded with sea water.

More in September and October, during those months. If these houses did not have these raised floors, the rain water would enter the rooms. Keep in my that they are also without electricity during these seasons.

We are at the heart of Santa Cruz del Islote. This is the only monument on the island and it is called ‘’La Patrona’’. - Monument protects us from hurricanes.

We are inside the small church of this settlement, it seems like it needs some repairing. - Are you the priest? - I am the leader.

- There are many young kids on this island. What will their future be like? - After they finish primary school they don't go on to further studies.

Their parents don’t have the means to send them to the mainland. So, there are 240 students on this island and twelve teachers. Welcome to the only school on the island.

This is a classroom for the grade one. Since there is no school in the neighboring islands, students from there also come here and their school service is of course a boat. Every young boy here loves playing soccer, even the girls.

- What do you want to become when you grow up? - A soccer player. - Where do they wanna play?

- In Madrid. - The Paris team. - In Argentina.

Locals are earning their living by tourism. Qualified as a National Park, the island charges 2. 5 dollars from the tourist for the entrance.

With the arrival of these hundreds of tourists everyday, a much bigger chaos appears on the streets. - For us, tourists are a blessing from God. - They are a source of employment, directly or indirectly.

- I am a bartender. - What is the average salary or profit for a person here? - It depends very much on the season.

- There is a guy who goes diving; if he’s lucky, he can make 30 dollars per day. - If there are few tourists, he can only earn 15 dollars. - A bartender, depending on the tourism season, after expenses and paying workers, can make 50 dollars per day.

This is if they can attract foreigners. Here, there is an aquarium built for tourists, where locals keep fishes, sea turtles, and even sharks in a very limited space. Famous for allowing tourists to swim with these animals, this place significantly contributes to the local economy.

Fishing is very important as well, but the people don't really value what the environment provides for themselves. The islanders now have to import fish because of marine pollution and overfishing. - When you go out fishing, you no longer catch the same amount of fish.

- That is to say, right now, the fish in the restaurant is brought here from the mainland. Let's go inside. A peaceful atmosphere is created for the tourists here, it looks like a silent shelter in chaos.

Despite this crowd, there is not even a single police that provides security, nor a state of law on the island. Since everybody knows each other here, they don't need for it. - Look, we have 800 people here and we have no police.

- So you don’t see robberies, muggings, or stabbings. - We live peacefully here. - Our police here are older adults.

- We respect them so much here. - If there is an argument, a misunderstanding, or a fight, the older adults set in and grab us, find out who is right, and then give us advice. - Then, we shake hands, and keep on being the same brothers and sisters, with no hard feelings.

- Does he have plans to migrate to somewhere else? - I’ll spend my entire life on this island. - I was born and raised right here.

- I’m going to die right here. In the evening residents are more active and everywhere is more crowded, since the weather cools off. When the sun goes down, the island gets completely dark because there isn’t electricity at night.

People use candles or flashlights of their mobile phones, which are charged during certain hours to brighten the night. Everyone goes outside of their doorsteps because their houses are very tiny and dark. Besides, there is nothing to do inside of the houses.

The darkness never prevents the island’s vibrant spirit. There’s also a little pub where everyone gathers. Most of the locals drink a lot during the night.

We hear latin music all the time. People are singing and dancing together. Some of them play domino, a very popular game here.

And the birthday party is still going on. Some of the garbage from this event is already piled up here. Most of these people, living in isolation from the rest of the world, have never left these boundaries in their entire lives.

They have no desire to leave their small world, or to strive to improve their living standards with each passing day. The island community has a deep bond to their homeland and they focus on shared happiness and positive values. The biggest problems of Santa Cruz del Islote are the lack of clean water and insufficient cleaning garbage.

Island is not in a position to accommodate more people. Despite all the negativities, people are connected to each other like a big family and are happy. Thank you for watching this documentary.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel. See you in the next one. Ruhi Çenet was here.