By Betty Huang –
Located roughly 48 kilometers (30 miles) off Panama’s Pacific coast, the Pearl Islands (Archipiélago de las Perlas) are one of the most geographically and historically rich island groups in Central America. Spread across the Gulf of Panama, the archipelago includes around 39 main islands and over 100 smaller islets.
The islands earned their name during the Spanish colonial period in the early 16th century, when natural pearls were discovered in the surrounding waters. The Coclé and Cueva Indigenous peoples were among the earliest inhabitants of the Islands. In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa arrived and enslaved or killed most of the local population. By 1516, Spanish colonists, including Gaspar de Morales forced remaining Indigenous people to dive for pearls, turning the islands into an early site of colonial exploitation. Spanish colonists would later import enslaved Africans to replace the declining Indigenous labor force. Today many residents of the Pearl Islands have African ancestry because of the colonial-era forced migration.
By the 17th and 18th centuries, pirates and other criminals used the Pearl Islands as hiding places from colonial patrol ships and as strategic points to ambush passing vessels. With hundreds of scattered islands, coves, and inlets, it was easy for ships to slip out of sight and avoid detection.
Geographically, the archipelago began forming around 20 million years ago as part of a volcanic arc during the Oligocene to early Miocene period. Today, many of the islands are surrounded by coral reefs, mangrove channels, and shallow bays. Seasonal ocean currents carry in nutrient-rich waters that attract whale sharks, humpback whales, dolphins, and large schools of fish, giving the surrounding seas an abundance of marine life. This rich biodiversity includes endangered species such as sea turtles, which are now protected in part by the 2024 Saboga National Wildlife Refuge. Sea turtle conservation remains an ongoing priority in the Pearl Islands, as the ecosystem continues to face threats from illegal and unsustainable fishing practices, fisheries bycatch of turtles and sharks, discarded ghost nets, and the illegal harvest of turtle meat and eggs, and parts.
The map of the Pearl Islands by Luis Méndez visually captures this blend of land and sea, combining island topography with seafloor bathymetry. Color gradients distinguish higher land elevations in green from deeper ocean waters in blue.
Source: Mission Blue, Pearl Islands, GCI, Wings Women of Discovery