Featured Image Credit: Ruhi Çenet/YouTube
Topics: Travel, World News, News
Niamh Shackleton
A man visited one of the most densely populated islands in the world and was shocked to see how its residents lived.
The island located off the coast of Colombia and sits on a tiny 2.4-acre patch, which is smaller than your average soccer field, which is 2.7 acres in size.
Called Santa Cruz del Islote, the manmade island was built by fishermen in the 19th century on a coral platform.
Fast forward to 2024 and it's believed that around 800 people now live on the extremely small island.
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Filmmaker and YouTuber Ruhi Çenet visited the infamous island earlier this year and in a video posted to his channel in March, he documented what he saw.
Ruhi described the atmosphere as 'chaotic' and that there were people every where you go.
"It's impossible to be alone on these crowded streets," he said.
As the population has increased over the years, almost every inch of Santa Cruz del Islote has something built on it, meaning there's no more room to erect additional housing.
With this in mind, Ruhi was shocked to find that as many as 10 people were sharing a tiny home.
Making it even more shocking, one homeowner shared that ten people share three beds between them.
Ruhi's video goes on to show a different part of the house with two double beds in it, where apparently seven children sleep.
According to Ruhi, 200 families live in illegally built homes on the tiny island.
"Everyone builds houses where ever they want," he says. "When they can't find any space, they build on top of existing buildings."
While it's evident that the island is already extremely overpopulated, apparently it's not stopping the island's residents from having children.
Speaking to locals, Ruhi learns that a lot of women have their first child by the age of 16 and will go on to have as many as five kids with different partners.
Despite it being so tiny, Santa Cruz del Islote has still made space for important amenities like a school, a church, a clinic, and a hotel.
It's even said to have a restaurant and a pub.
They might have a small pub, but the island doesn't have sewage and garbage disposal plants. Instead, all of their waste goes into the sea.
As you'd expect, there's limited space for crops so residents are said to reply on deliveries from the Colombian Navy every few weeks.