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 Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, they are composed of three main

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 ...

islands:

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. The group is part of Insular Chile. The islands are primarily known for having been the home to the marooned sailor

Alexander Selkirk Alexander Selkirk (167613 December 1721) was a Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a castaway (1704–1709) after being marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on an uninhabited island i ...

for more than four years from 1704, which may have inspired Daniel Defoe's ''

''. Most of the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

's present-day inhabitants reside on Robinson Crusoe Island, and mainly in the capital, San Juan Bautista, located at Cumberland Bay on the island's north coast.The islands' area and population data retrieved from the 2012 census. The group of islands is part of Chile's

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 , ...

(which also includes

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 ne ...

) and, along with 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 ...

, forms one of the nine

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

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- ...

. The islands are named after Juan Fernández, the explorer who discovered them in the 1570s.

Geography

Robinson Crusoe Island Robinson Crusoe Island ( es, Isla Róbinson Crusoe, ), formerly known as Más a Tierra (), is the second largest of the Juan Fernández Islands, situated 670 km (362 nmi; 416 mi) west of San Antonio, Chile, in the South Pacific Oc ...

(), also known as Isla Más a Tierra, is located closest to the

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

of continental South America, and is surrounded by a number of islets, including Juanango, Viñilla, Los Chamelos, Los Claveles and El Verdugo. ** Santa Clara (), lying southwest of Robinson Crusoe. * Alejandro Selkirk Island (), also known as Isla Más Afuera, is located further west. Alejandro Selkirk is the largest of the Juan Fernández Islands at , and its highest peak, Cerro de Los Inocentes, is also the highest point of the archipelago at . The island's population was 57 in 2012. Robinson Crusoe is the second largest island in the

at ; its highest peak, El Yunque, is . The population of Robinson Crusoe was 843 in 2012. Santa Clara is in area and reaches a height of . Santa Clara is uninhabited. The maximum elevations of Juan Fernández, for Robinson Crusoe and for Alejandro Selkirk, respectively, are high enough to cause the phenomenon known as

Kármán vortex street In fluid dynamics, a Kármán vortex street (or a von Kármán vortex street) is a repeating pattern of swirling vortices, caused by a process known as vortex shedding, which is responsible for the unsteady separation of flow of a fluid arou ...

, which can be seen from space. The islands are

in origin, produced by the movement of the Nazca Plate over the Juan Fernández hotspot. As the plate moved eastward over the hot spot, volcanic eruptions formed the Juan Fernández Ridge before being subducted under the South American continent at the Peru–Chile Trench. The islands occur where the peaks of the submarine ridge have protruded above sea level.

Radiometric dating Radiometric dating, radioactive dating or radioisotope dating is a technique which is used to date materials such as rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incorporated when they were formed. The method compares ...

indicates that Santa Clara is the oldest of the islands, at 5.8 million years old, followed by Robinson Crusoe, 3.8 – 4.2 million years old, and Alexander Selkirk, 1.0 – 2.4 million years old. The seafloor around Juan Fernández Islands is rich in Manganese–Iron nodules, which might be of potential economic interest. Some consider the islands to be one of the easternmost points of

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

, rather than an outlying region of

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 sout ...

. In their book ''Shore Fishes of Easter Island'', authors John E. Randall and Alfredo Cea Egana claim that the Juan Fernández Islands have "great similarity in ichthyofauna with Oceania more so than with the nearing South America."

Climate

The islands have a subtropical

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

,"Parque Nacional Archipiélago de Juan Fernández"
. Corporacion Nacional Forestal de Chile (2010). Retrieved 27 May 2010. moderated by the cold Humboldt Current, which flows northward to the east of the islands, and the southeast trade winds. Temperatures range from to , with an annual mean of . Higher elevations are generally cooler, with occasional frosts on Robinson Crusoe. Average annual precipitation is , varying from to year to year. Much of the variability in rainfall depends on the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Rainfall is higher in the winter months, and varies with elevation and exposure; elevations above experience almost daily rainfall, while the western, leeward side of Robinson Crusoe and Santa Clara are quite dry.

Biota and ecology

The Juan Fernández islands are home to a high percentage of rare and

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

plants and animals, and are recognized as a distinct

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

. The volcanic origin and remote location of the islands meant that the islands' flora and fauna had to reach the

from far across the sea; as a result, the island is home to relatively few plant species and very few animal species. The closest relatives of the

's plants and animals are found in the

Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These f ...

ecoregions of southern South America, including the Valdivian temperate rain forests,

Magellanic subpolar forests The Magellanic subpolar forests () are a terrestrial ecoregion of southernmost South America, covering parts of southern Chile and Argentina, and are part of the Neotropical realm. It is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion, and ...

, and

Flora

There are 209 native species of

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

s in the Juan Fernandez Islands, approximately 150 of which are

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s, and 50 are ferns. There are 126 species (62 percent) that are endemic, with 12 endemic genera and two endemic families, Lactoridaceae and Thyrsopteridaceae. Many plants are characteristic of the Antarctic flora, and are related to plants found in southern South America, New Zealand and Australia. Vegetation zones generally correspond to elevation, with grasslands and shrublands at lower elevations, tall and montane forests at middle elevations, and shrublands at the highest elevations. The two main islands have somewhat distinct plant communities. Alejandro Selkirk is mostly covered with grassland from 0 to , interspersed with wooded ravines ''(quebradas)'', home to dry forests of ''

Myrceugenia ''Myrceugenia'' is a genus of evergreen woody flowering trees and shrubs belonging to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, first described as a genus in 1855.

'' and '' Zanthoxylum fagara''. From to are lower montane forests, with upper montane forest from to . The treeline is at approximately , above which is alpine shrubland and grassland, dominated by temperate Magellanic vegetation such as ''

Acaena ''Acaena'' is a genus of about 60 species of mainly evergreen, creeping herbaceous perennial plants and subshrubs in the family Rosaceae, native mainly to the Southern Hemisphere, notably New Zealand, Australia and South America, but with a fe ...

, Dicksonia, Drimys, Empetrum,

Gunnera ''Gunnera'' is the sole genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Gunneraceae, which contains 63 species. Some species in this genus, namely those in the subgenus ''Panke'', have extremely large leaves. Species in the genus are various ...

, Myrteola, Pernettya'', and '' Ugni''. On Robinson Crusoe, grasslands predominate from 0 to ; introduced shrubs from to ; tall forests from to ; montane forests from to , with dense tree cover of '' Cuminia fernandezia, Fagara'', and '' Rhaphithamnus venustus'';

tree fern The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ...

forests from to , and brushwood forests above . Santa Clara is covered with grassland. Three endemic species dominate the tall and lower montane forests of the

, '' Drimys confertifolia'' on both main islands, '' Myrceugenia fernandeziana'' on Robinson Crusoe, and '' M. schulzei'' on Alexander Selkirk. Endemic tree fern species of southern hemisphere genus '' Dicksonia'' (''D. berteroana'' on Robinson Crusoe and ''D. externa'' on Alexander Selkirk) and the endemic genus ''

Thyrsopteris ''Thyrsopteris'' is a genus of tree fern. It contains a single living species, ''Thyrsopteris elegans'', endemic to the Juan Fernandez Archipelago off the coast of Chile. ''Thyrsopteris'' is the only genus in the family Thyrsopteridaceae in the ...

'' ''(T. elegans)'' are the predominant species in the tree-fern forests. An endemic species of sandalwood, '' Santalum fernandezianum'', was overexploited for its fragrant wood, has not been seen since 1908, and is believed extinct. The Chonta palm (''Juania australis''), which is endemic to the Juan Fernández Islands, is endangered. File:Rob-cru.png, Map of Robinson Crusoe Island (including Santa Clara Island) File:Isla mas Afuera Juan Fernandez (Chili).jpg, Map of Alejandro Selkirk Island File:Juan fernandez 1927.jpg, Map of both islands File:Robinson Crusoe.JPG, Satellite images of Juan Fernández Islands (Alejandro Selkirk Island, inset left) File:CL Pacific islands.PNG, overview map

Fauna

The Juan Fernández Islands have a very limited fauna, with no native land mammals, reptiles, or amphibians. Seventeen land and sea-bird species breed on the islands. The island has three endemic bird species, and three endemic subspecies. Introduced fauna by humans include rats and

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

is home to an endemic and endangered hummingbird, the

Juan Fernández firecrown The Juan Fernández firecrown (''Sephanoides fernandensis'') is a Critically Endangered hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is endemic to Isla Róbinson Crusoe, one of the three-island Juan Fernández arch ...

(''Sephanoides fernandensis''). This large hummingbird, about long, is thought to number only about 500 individuals. The other endemic bird species are the Juan Fernández tit-tyrant ('' Anairetes fernandezianus'') of Robinson Crusoe Island, and the Masafuera rayadito (''Aphrastura masafuerae'') of Alejandro Selkirk Island. The islands support the entire known breeding populations of two petrel species
Stejneger's Petrel
''Pterodroma longirostris''
IUCN
status VU) and th
Juan Fernandez Petrel
''Pterodroma externa''
IUCN
status VU). In addition, the Juan Fernandez Islands may still support a third breeding petrel species
De Filippi's Petrel
''Pterodroma defilippiana''
IUCN
status VU), whose only other known breeding grounds are on the

. The

Magellanic penguin The Magellanic penguin (''Spheniscus magellanicus'') is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Patagonia, including Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil and Uruguay, where they are occasionally seen a ...

breeds on Robinson Crusoe Island within the

. All three islands of the Juan Fernandez archipelago have been recognised as Important Bird Areas (IBAs) by BirdLife International. The endemic Juan-Fernandez spiny lobster (without claws) lives in the marine waters (''Jasus frontalis''). The

Juan Fernández fur seal The Juan Fernández fur seal (''Arctocephalus philippii'') is the second smallest of the fur seals, second only to the Galápagos fur seal. They are found only on the Pacific Coast of South America, more specifically on the Juan Fernández Island ...

(''Arctophoca philippii'') also lives on the islands. This species was nearly exterminated in the sixteenth to nineteenth century, but it was rediscovered in 1965. A census in 1970 found about 750

fur seal Fur seals are any of nine species of pinnipeds belonging to the subfamily Arctocephalinae in the family '' Otariidae''. They are much more closely related to sea lions than true seals, and share with them external ears (pinnae), relatively l ...

s living there. Only two were sighted on the

, located some to the north. The actual population of the Desventuradas may be higher, because the species tends to hide in sea caves. There seems to be a yearly population increase of 16–17 percent.

History

Prehistory

A 2008 report by archaeologists from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

states that, "a combination of palaeoecology and archaeology in the Juan Fernández Islands showed it was unlikely there had been human activity in the islands before Europeans arrived." Ichthyologists Ingo Hahn and Uwe Römer wrote in 2002, "the geographically isolated Juan Fernández Islands were probably untouched by man until their discovery by European sailors in 1574. Polynesians did not reach further east than

and native Americans perhaps not west of the South American continent."

Discovery

The

was discovered on 22 November 1574, by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

sailor Juan Fernández, who was sailing south between Callao and

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 ...

along a route which he also discovered, hundreds of miles west of the coast of

, which avoided the northerly Humboldt current. He called the islands Más Afuera, Más a Tierra, and Santa Clara. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the islands were used as a hideout for

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s and became the location of a

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

. It was during this period that

became marooned on the islands. In the 1740s, they were visited by Commodore Anson's flotilla during his ill-fated venture to the South Seas. The location of the

was fixed by

Alessandro Malaspina Alejandro Malaspina (November 5, 1754 – April 9, 1810) was a Tuscan explorer who spent most of his life as a Spanish naval officer. Under a Spanish royal commission, he undertook a voyage around the world from 1786 to 1788, then, from 1789 t ...

in 1790; previous charts had differed on the location. British and American

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

vessels were regular visitors to the islands, starting with the ''London'' (Captain Joshua Coffin) in 1795. During the maritime fur trade era of the early 19th century the islands were a source of

skins, and the

was nearly driven to extinction. In his book ''

Two Years Before the Mast ''Two Years Before the Mast'' is a memoir by the American author Richard Henry Dana Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage from Boston to California on a merchant ship starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the ...

'' (Chapter VII), Richard Henry Dana, Jr. described the islands as he found them circa 1834. At this time the main island was being used as a

. However, when Dr John Coulter visited the

in the early 1840s, he reported it deserted after the convicts had risen up and killed the soldiers who had held them captive. The prisoners fled to mainland

, where they were later hunted down and shot. The story appears in Coulter's book ''Adventures in the Pacific'' (1845). In 1908, the islands were visited by the Swedish Magellanic Expedition and

Carl Skottsberg Carl Johan Fredrik Skottsberg (1 December 1880 – 14 June 1963) was a Swedish botanist and explorer of Antarctica. Life Skottsberg was born in Karlshamn on 1 December 1880 the son of Carl Adolf Skottsberg a schoolmaster and his wife, Maria L ...

is believed to have been the last to have seen the '' Santalum fernandezianum'' tree alive. SMS Dresden before scuttling

Late in 1914 the islands were the rendezvous for Admiral Maximilian von Spee's East Asiatic Squadron as he gathered his ships together before defeating the British under Admiral

Christopher Cradock Rear Admiral (Royal Navy), Rear Admiral Sir Christopher "Kit" George Francis Maurice Cradock (2 July 1862 – 1 November 1914) was an English senior officer of the Royal Navy. He earned a reputation for great gallantry. Appointed to the royal ...

at the

Battle of Coronel The Battle of Coronel was a First World War Imperial German Navy victory over the Royal Navy on 1 November 1914, off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel. The East Asia Squadron (''Ostasiengeschwader'' or ''Kreuzergeschwader'') ...

. Following the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

's win at the

Battle of the Falkland Islands The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a First World War naval action between the British Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. The British, after their defeat at the Battle of Coronel on 1 November, s ...

a month later, the only surviving German cruiser, , was hunted down and cornered illegally at Más a Tierra early in 1915, although she was in Chilean territorial waters, where it was scuttled after a brief battle with British cruisers. In 1966 the Chilean government renamed Más Afuera as Alejandro Selkirk Island and Más a Tierra as Robinson Crusoe Island, in order to promote tourism. Incidentally, Selkirk never set foot on Más Afuera, only on Más a Tierra. On 30 July 2007, a constitutional reform gave the Juan Fernández Islands and Easter Island the status of "special territories" of Chile. Pending the enactment of a charter the

will continue to be governed as a commune of the

. On 27 February 2010, a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

following the 8.8 magnitude earthquake off

Maule, Chile Maule is a town and commune in Talca Province in central Chile's Maule Region. It takes its name from the Mapudungun words for "valley" (''mau'') and "rainy" (''len''). Geography The town of Maule lies near the Maule River. The Maule commune spa ...

struck the islands causing at least 8 deaths.Harrell, Eben (2 March 2010)
"Chile's President: Why Did Tsunami Warnings Fail?"
''Time Magazine''. Retrieved 4 March 2010. Eleven people were reported as missing. Some early reports described the tsunami as being high, but later reports measured it at . Most of the town of San Juan Bautista on Robinson Crusoe Island was destroyed.
. Times Online (1 March 2010). Retrieved 1 March 2010."Forty-Meter Tsunami Wave Hits Juan Fernández Island"
Newsolio (27 February 2010). Retrieved 27 February 2010

Government

As a

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 ...

, the Juan Fernández Islands are a third-level administrative division of Chile governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, headed by a mayor ( es, alcalde) who is directly elected every four years. The current mayor for the term 2021–2024 is

Pablo Andrés Manríquez Angulo Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul. People *Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer *Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer *Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer * Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist *Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer * Pablo Brene ...

. Within the electoral divisions of Chile, the commune was represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Joaquín Godoy ( RN) and Aldo Cornejo ( PDC) as part of the 13th electoral district, together with

and

. It was represented in the Senate by Francisco Chahuán Chahuán (RN) and Ricardo Lagos Weber ( PPD) as part of the 6th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Coast).

Travel

The islands are served by Robinson Crusoe Airfield, located on Robinson Crusoe Island.

References

External links

Commune Juan Fernández
official government website (in Spanish)

by W. Schipper in Travel Images
"Map of Chili"
by S. Augustus Mitchell (1860) from the

World Digital Library The World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress. The WDL has stated that its mission is to promote international and intercultural understanding, expand the volume ...

"Menaces et perspectives pour la préservation de la biodiversité de l'Archipel Juan Fernández (Chili)"
by J. Vanhulst (2009) on preserving the islands' biodiversity (in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Juan Fernandez Islands Archipelagoes of Chile Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean Communes of Chile Ecoregions of Chile Populated places in Valparaíso Province Islands of Valparaíso Region 1895 establishments in Chile Important Bird Areas of the Juan Fernández Islands Seabird colonies Island restoration Temperate South America