Sanibel is an island and city in Lee County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,382 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The island, also known as Sanibel Island, constitutes every one of city. It is a barrier island—a buildup of sand on the leeward side of the more strong coral-rock of Pine Island.

Most of the city proper is at the east stop of the island. After the Sanibel causeway was built to replace the ferry in May 1963, the city was incorporated in 1974 and the residents asserted control higher than development by establishing the Sanibel Comprehensive Land Use Plan, helping to maintain a credit between onslaught and preservation of the island’s ecology. In September 2022, the causeway was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ian.

Due to easy causeway access, Sanibel is a popular tourist destination known for its shell beaches and wildlife refuges. More than half of the island is made going on of wildlife refuges, the largest subconscious J. N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The Island hosts the Sanibel Historical Village and a variety of supplementary museums including the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum.

Sanibel and Captiva formed as one island virtually 6,000 years ago. The first known humans in the area were the Calusa, who arrived very nearly 2,500 years ago. The Calusa were a powerful Indian nation who came to dominate most of Southwest Florida through trade via their overdo system of canals and waterways. Sanibel remained an important Calusa concurrence until the collapse of their empire, soon after the beginning of the Europeans.