![The three areas of Chile](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/The_three_areas_of_Chile.png)
Insular Chile, also called ''Las islas Esporádicas'', or "the Sporadic Islands", is a scattered group of
oceanic islands
Oceanic may refer to:
*Of or relating to the ocean
*Of or relating to Oceania
** Oceanic climate
** Oceanic languages
**Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)"
Places
* Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island ...
of
volcanic
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...
origin located in the
South Pacific, at some distance from
mainland Chile, and which are under the sovereignty of Chile. The islands lie on the
Nazca Plate, which is separate to the
South American continental plate.
Confusingly, the
Juan Fernández Islands
The Juan Fernández Islands ( es, Archipiélago Juan Fernández) are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic i ...
and the
Desventuradas Islands
The Desventuradas Islands ( es, Islas Desventuradas, , "Unfortunate Islands" or ''Islas de los Desventurados'', "Islands of the Unfortunate Ones") is a group of four small oceanic islands located off the coast of Chile, northwest of Santiago in ...
are considered "Continental Insular Chile" (despite not being
continental islands);
Salas y Gómez Island and
Easter Island
Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...
both geographically situated in
Polynesia
Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...
form the zone known as "Oceanic Insular Chile". All of insular Chile is administrated as part of the
Valparaíso Region
The Valparaíso Region ( es, Región de Valparaíso, links=no, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , ...
.
History
Easter Island was first inhabited by a Polynesian culture known as the
Rapa Nui
Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearly ...
, and the Rapa Nui knew about Salas y Gómez Island during prehistoric times. As such, academics often group them in with
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
rather than
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
.
Descendants of the ancient Rapa Nui make up the majority of Easter Island's current population, and they still consider themselves Polynesians, not associating their island with the culture of South America.
The Juan Fernández Islands and Desventuradas Islands are geographically closer to South America, and there is no evidence to suggest a link to Polynesians. However, they were also never inhabited by any
Indigenous American group, unlike with the
Caribbean Islands
Almost all of the Caribbean islands are in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest island is Cuba. Other sizable islands include Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. Some of the smaller islands are re ...
in the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. The Juan Fernández Islands and Desventuradas Islands have been included in wider definitions of Oceania, that extend it beyond the ethnocultural regions of
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
,
Melanesia
Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.
The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...
,
Micronesia
Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...
and Polynesia.
This is not only because of their status as remote Pacific islands with no geologicial connections to the Americas, but also because of their marine fauna, which shares many similarities to the rest of Oceania.
Geography and environment
The Sporadic Islands are not the only Chilean insular territories; rather, these islands represent just , around 0.3%, of the total, the rest being 3,739 islands and 2,180 islets, the combined land area of which totals , nearly 14% of which is effectively under Chilean control, part of what officially distinguishes "insular Chile" from "continental Chile".
Insular Chile consists of:
# The
Juan Fernández Islands
The Juan Fernández Islands ( es, Archipiélago Juan Fernández) are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic i ...
, composed of
Robinson Crusoe
''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...
,
Alejandro Selkirk and
Santa Clara islands, located west of
Valparaíso
Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
# The
Desventuradas Islands
The Desventuradas Islands ( es, Islas Desventuradas, , "Unfortunate Islands" or ''Islas de los Desventurados'', "Islands of the Unfortunate Ones") is a group of four small oceanic islands located off the coast of Chile, northwest of Santiago in ...
, composed of San Ambrosio and San Félix Islands, located more than west of continental Chile, opposite the
Atacama Region
#
Easter Island
Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...
, or ''Rapa Nui'', west of
Caldera
A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...
, with an area of the main island of the Sporadic Islands
#
Salas y Gómez Island, located west of
Chañaral
Chañaral is a small coastal city and commune in the Atacama Region, Chile and capital of the Chañaral Province. It is largely unknown by tourists, who generally head straight for towns such as San Pedro de Atacama. The town has no high rise ...
and northeast of Easter Island.
Of these islands, only Easter Island and Robinson Crusoe are inhabited. Of the two, Easter Island is the farthest from the South American continent. The Juan Fernández archipelago has become culturally South American, due to the lack of human inhabitation prior to European discovery.
The Sporadic islands are part of the
Valparaíso Region
The Valparaíso Region ( es, Región de Valparaíso, links=no, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , ...
. Easter Island and Salas y Gómez form the
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
of
Isla de Pascua
Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearly ...
, the only commune of
Isla de Pascua Province. The Desventuradas islands and Juan Fernández belong to
Valparaíso Province
Valparaíso Province ( es, Provincia de Valparaíso) is one of eight provinces of the central Chilean region of Valparaíso (V). Its capital is the coastal city of Valparaíso (pop. 275,982).
Administration
As a province, Valparaíso is a second- ...
, and are part of the commune of
Juan Fernández.
Scientific journal ''
PLOS One'' wrote about the islands in 2016, claiming "Chile's offshore islands are among the few oceanic archipelagos along the west coast of South America. These islands have cultural and ecological connections to the broader insular Pacific, yet our scientific understanding of them is extremely limited."
They also said, "The Juan Fernández and Desventuradas islands are distinct ecoregions within the
Temperate South America
Temperate South America is a biogeography, biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the temperate and subtropical waters of South America, including both the Pacific Ocean, Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coasts of the continent a ...
n realm. They possess a unique mix of tropical, subtropical and temperate marine species, and although close to continental South America, elements of the biota have greater affinities with the central and south Pacific, owing to the
Humboldt Current
The Humboldt Current, also called the Peru Current, is a cold, low- salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America.Montecino, Vivian, and Carina B. Lange. "The Humboldt Current System: Ecosystem components and pr ...
, which creates a strong biogeographic barrier between these islands and the continent."
See also
*
Chilean Sea
The Chilean Sea is the portion of the Pacific Ocean lying west of the Chilean mainland. The official Chilean usage for Chilean Sea was defined on 30 May 1974 when the ''Diario oficial de la Republica de Chile'' published Supreme Decree #346, ...
*
Islands of Chile
*
Tricontinental Chile
Tricontinental Chile ( es, Chile tricontinental) is a geopolitical concept denoting Chile's unique position with its mainland in South America, Easter Island in Oceania (Polynesia) and the Chilean Antarctic Territory in Antarctica.
Continental ...
References
External links
Oceanographic letter of the Service of Chilean Hydrography
{{coord missing, Chile
Pacific islands of Chile
Regions of Oceania