The Diego Ramírez Islands () are a small group of Chilean subantarctic islands located at the southernmost extreme of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

History

The islands were sighted on 12 February 1619 by the Spanish Garcia de Nodal expedition, and named after the cosmographer of the expedition, Diego Ramírez de Arellano. They were cited as the southernmost land mass plotted as of that time, and retained the distinction for 156 years, until the discovery of the

South Sandwich Islands The South Sandwich Islands () are a chain of uninhabited volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. They are administered as part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The chain lies in the sub-A ...

in 1775. In 1892, the Chilean government rented the islands to Pedro Pablo Benavides for fishing and on condition that a lighthouse, a port, and a school would be built. Later the rent was transferred to Koenigswerther and Pasinowich. The

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

established a

meteorological station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...

above Caleta Condell, a small cove on the northeastern side of Isla Gonzalo (Gonzalo Island), in 1957, and resupplies it several times each year. This is the southernmost inhabited outpost outside

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. The next most southerly inhabited outpost is the lighthouse of

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

Cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

s occasionally pass by on their way to and from Antarctica.

Geography

The islands lie about west-southwest of

and south-southeast of Ildefonso Islands, stretching north-south. They are divided into a smaller northern group with six islets, and a larger southern group, separated by a passage wide. The two largest islands, Isla Bartolomé and

Isla Gonzalo Isla Gonzalo is a subantarctic island, uninhabited except for a weather and research station operated by the Chilean Navy. With an area of , it is the second largest of the Chilean Diego Ramírez Archipelago after Isla Bartolomé. The ar ...

, both lie in the southern group. Águila Islet (''Islote Águila''), the southernmost land of the group, is at latitude and longitude coordinates 56°32'9"S. They lie about 350 km north of Sars Bank, a

seamount A seamount is a large submarine landform that rises from the ocean floor without reaching the water surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet, or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abruptly a ...

that once may have been an island. File:Diego Ramirez Islands.jpg, View of the Diego Ramirez Islands File:Diego Ramirez station.jpg, The Chilean station on Isla Gonzalo, with the beacon visible at highest point of the island

Islands

Area data are from the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

unless otherwise specified.

Climate

The islands have a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...

('' ET)'' with abundant precipitation. Temperatures remain chilly to cool throughout the entire year.

Environment

Important Bird Area

The islands have been designated as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

for their significant seabird breeding populations. These include colonies of macaroni and

southern rockhopper penguin The western rockhopper penguin (''Eudyptes chrysocome''), traditionally known as the southern rockhopper penguin, is a species of rockhopper penguin that is sometimes considered distinct from the northern rockhopper penguin. It occurs in subanta ...

s, grey-headed and black-browed albatrosses, and blue petrels. In 2022, Ricardo Rozzi et al. identified the subantarctic rayadito (''Aphrastura subantarctica'') as a new bird species endemic to the Diego Ramírez Islands. Subantarctic rayadito individuals had been formerly identified as belonging to the species ''Aphrastura spinicauda'' ( thorn-tailed rayadito).

References

External links

Chart of the islands made by ''Beagle'' expedition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diego Ramirez Islands Islands of Magallanes Region Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean Archipelagoes of Chile Lighthouses in Chile Important Bird Areas of Chile Important Bird Areas of subantarctic islands Seabird colonies Penguin colonies