The islands of Chile encompass the various islands that the government 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 ...

has sovereignty over. By far the majority of these are the islands in the south of the country. Chile has one of the world's longest coastlines, and one of the most dangerous for boats; it is more than long and has at least 43,471 islands. Classifications vary for ''isla'' ("island"), ''islote'' ("islet"), ''roquerío'' ("rocks"), ''farallón'' ("cliff") and ''archipiélago'' or ''grupo'' ("archipelago"). The

Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy SHOA or Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Armada de Chile (Spanish for Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy) is an agency of the Chilean Navy managing situations dealing with hydrography and oceanography, includin ...

has begun to consider ''island'' a surface greater than .Ana María Errázuriz K. and Reinaldo Rioseco H. i
Las islas de Chile
retrieved on 25 February 2013

Island territory

The Chilean Ministry of National Assets and the Chilean Military Geographical Institute has counted 43,471 units of land, according to last update at 2019, located between the 18° 15'S and 56° 32'S latitudes, with a total area of , that is, 14% of Chile's territory (not including its Antarctica claims). The biggest eight islands and archipelagos (

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...

, Chiloé,

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, Riesco, Hoste, Santa Inés,

Navarino Navarino or Navarin may refer to: Battle * Battle of Navarino, 1827 naval battle off Navarino, Greece, now known as Pylos Geography * Navarino, Wisconsin, a town, United States * Navarino (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community, Unit ...

and Magdalena), each measuring over in area, represent 56% of the island territory of Chile. The 381 biggest islands – all those over in area – represent 97% of the island territory of Chile. Ci-map-CIA

Units by region

Units by region, according to last update of 2019:

Ocean islands

River and lake islands

* Isla del Rey *

Isla Teja Teja island (Spanish ''isla Teja'') is an island in the city of Valdivia, Chile, surrounded by three rivers: Cau-Cau River, Cau-Cau river to the north, Cruces River, Cruces river to the west and Valdivia River, Valdivia river to the southeast. Pri ...

* Malvinas

Phantom islands

Elizabeth Island, Bodesta, Pactolus Bank and some

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...

s have been mentioned in the past as lying near Chilean territories but they are phantom islands.

Gable Island Gable Island ( es, Isla Gable) is an Argentine island part of Tierra del Fuego Province. The island is located on the northern side of east–west Beagle Channel less than from Tierra del Fuego Island and about from Chilean Navarino Island. T ...

is listed by

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of natio ...

Country Files (GNS)
ref name="nga">The data was retrieved on 19 January 2013 as a Chilean Island, but it is actually part of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Literature islands

Several reports, novels and tales have the islands of Chile as geographic background: * ''The Narrative of the Honourable John Byron'' by John Byron * '' The Survivors of the "Jonathan"'' by Jules Verne * '' El último grumete de la Baquedano'' by

Francisco Coloane Francisco Coloane Cárdenas (; July 19, 1910 – August 5, 2002) was a Chilean novelist and short fiction writer whose works have been translated into many languages. Some of his books were adapted to theatre and film. Biography He was born i ...

* '' The Golden Ocean'' by

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and cent ...

* '' The Unknown Shore'' by Patrick O'Brian * ''

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 ...

'' of Daniel Defoe * '' Two Years' Vacation'' by Jules Verne * ''

The Voyage of the Beagle ''The Voyage of the Beagle'' is the title most commonly given to the book written by Charles Darwin and published in 1839 as his ''Journal and Remarks'', bringing him considerable fame and respect. This was the third volume of ''The Narrative ...

'' by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

* ''

Benito Cereno ''Benito Cereno'' is a novella by Herman Melville, a fictionalized account about the revolt on a Spanish slave ship captained by Don Benito Cereno, first published in three installments in '' Putnam's Monthly'' in 1855. The tale, slightly revis ...

'' by

Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...

* ''

The Ice Limit ''The Ice Limit'' is a techno-thriller novel by American authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The book was published on July 18, 2000 by Grand Central Publishing. Plot summary Meteorite hunter Nestor Masangkay arrives on Isla Desolación, ...

'' by Douglas Preston and

Lincoln Child Lincoln Child (13 October 1957) is an American author of techno-thriller and horror novels. Though he is most well known for his collaborations with Douglas Preston (including the Agent Pendergast series and the Gideon Crew series, among other ...

, on Desolacion Island * ''

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

'' by

James Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and ...

, on Desolacion Island * The

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

poet

Adelbert von Chamisso Adelbert von Chamisso (; 30 January 178121 August 1838) was a German poet and botanist, author of ''Peter Schlemihl'', a famous story about a man who sold his shadow. He was commonly known in French as Adelbert de Chamisso (or Chamissot) de Bonc ...

wrote a poem about Sala y Gomez Island based on his reflections upon visiting the island in 1816.Adelbert von Chamisso (1981
Gesammelte Werke (Collected works), Band 2 (Vol. 2)
Leipzig, p. 291 * Ishmael, in Herman Melville's classic novel, ''Moby Dick'', recalls a marble tablet at a whalemen's chapel in New Bedford which pays homage to a whaleman named John Talbot who lost his life whaling "near the Isle of Desolation, off Patagonia". This recollection occurs in Chapter 7, "The Chapel".

References

External links

Islands of Chile @ United Nations Environment Programme
*
World island information @ WorldIslandInfo.com
{{Authority control

Islands An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

es:Anexo:Islas de Chile it:Lista di isole del Cile ka:ჩილეს კუნძულების სია xmf:ჩილეშ კოკეფიშ ერკებული

Island territory

Units by region

Ocean islands

River and lake islands

Phantom islands

Literature islands

See also

References

External links