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 Onmaked Nega, the saila sings the history, legends, and laws of the Guna, as well as administering the day-to-day political and social affairs.

The economy of Guna Yala is based on agriculture, fishing and the manufacture of clothing with a long tradition of international trade.

Plantains, coconuts, and fish form the core of the Guna diet, supplemented with imported foods, a few domestic animals, and wild game.

Coconuts, called ogob [okˑɔβ] in the Guna language, and lobsters skungit [skuŋkˑit] are the most important export products.

The Guna have a long deep rooted history of mercantilism and a longstanding tradition of selling goods through family owned venues.

Most imported goods originate from Colombian, Mexican or Chinese ships and are sold in small retail stores owned by Guna people.

This tradition of trade and self-determination has been credited by many as a chief reason the Guna have been able to successfully function independently compared to other indigenous groups.

Tourism is now an important part of the economy in the Carti region, and abandoned goods from the drug trade provide occasional windfalls[citation needed].

In far-eastern Guna Yala, the community of New Caledonia is near the site where Scottish explorers tried, unsuccessfully, to establish a colony in the "New World".

These migrations were caused partly by wars with the Catio people, but some sources contend that they were mostly due to bad treatment by the Spanish invaders.

This was bitterly resisted, culminating in a short-lived yet successful revolt in 1925 known as the Dule Revolution (or "people revolution") – led by Iguaibilikinya Nele Kantule of Ustupu and supported by American adventurer and part-time diplomat Richard Oglesby Marsh[8] – and a treaty in which the Panamanians agreed to give the Guna some degree of cultural autonomy.

[9] In early 2025, the Guna community of Gardi Sugdub was evacuated from the island to a purpose built new township on the mainland due to the rising sea-level.