San Juan Bautista is the main

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in 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 ...

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 ...

. Some sources say it was founded in 1877, while others give an earlier date of 1750. It is located on Cumberland Bay on the center of the northeast coast of

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 ...

. Although the community maintains a rustic serenity dependent on the spiny lobster trade, residents employ a few vehicles, a satellite internet connection, and many television sets. As of the 2012 census, the town had a population of 800 in an area of . There is a soccer pitch at the northern end of the village. The nearby school is called the Dresden School, after the German light cruiser SMS ''Dresden'' which was sunk there during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, as is the street it is situated on. The names of other generally unpaved streets in the village include Larraín Alcalde, Ignacio Carrera Pinto, El Sándalo, Vicente González, Teniente Cortés, and La Pólvora. Overlooking San Juan Bautista are ''Las Cuevas de los Patriotas'' (Patriots' Caves), where 42 Chilean creole independence activists lived during their exile by the Spanish authorities after the

Battle of Rancagua The Battle of Rancagua, also known in Chile as the Disaster of Rancagua, occurred on October 1, 1814, to October 2, 1814, when the Spanish Army under the command of Mariano Osorio defeated the rebel Chilean forces led by Bernardo O’Higgins. ...

in October 1814. The exiles included prominent figures such as Juan Egaña and Manuel de Salas. San Juan Bautista

Transportation

As of early 2010, a pair of ships operated by the

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Origins and the War ...

arrive each month from mainland Chile. The number of passengers is limited, so arrangements must be made as much as a month in advance. The navy gives preference to locals. One-way trip time is 24 – 36 hours or more depending on sea conditions. There is a short, airstrip at Robinson Crusoe Airfield in the southwestern end of the Robinson Crusoe Island, the only reasonably flat part of the island. Operations are mostly in twin-engine, seven-seat light planes, with very limited baggage capabilities. The flight time from the mainland of Chile is about 2 hours 30 minutes, plus a 1-hour 30 minute boat ferry to the village at the opposite side of the island.

Climate

San Juan Bautista has a very mild

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 ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Csb''), with rainfall intermediate between that 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 ...

and Concepción. Temperature is influenced by the cold Humboldt Current, which flows northward to the east of Robinson Crusoe Island, and the southeast

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisp ...

2010 tsunami

On February 27, 2010, at least eight people lost their lives when a tsunami caused by the Chilean 8.8 earthquake hit the island and inundated the town. Most of the buildings in the community were destroyed. The disaster could have been worse if not for a timely warning from a 12-year-old girl named Martina Maturana which saved many of her neighbors from harm.

References

External links

A map in this article shows the streets of the town.

Attribution

*''The original version of this article included text from the Wikipedia article

.'' {{Coord, 33, 38, S, 78, 50, W, display=title, type:city Juan Fernández Islands Port settlements in Chile Populated places in Valparaíso Province Robinson Crusoe Island