Islands of Chile

The islands of Chile encompass the various islands that the government of Chile 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 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) long and has at least 43,471 islands.^[1]

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 has begun to consider island a surface greater than 100,000 m² (1,100,000 sq ft).^[2]

Island territory edit

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,^[1] located between the 18° 15'S and 56° 32'S latitudes, with a total area of 105,561 square kilometres (40,757 sq mi), that is, 14% of Chile's territory (not including its Antarctica claims). The biggest eight islands and archipelagos (Tierra del Fuego, Chiloé, Wellington, Riesco, Hoste, Santa Inés, Navarino and Magdalena), each measuring over 2,000 km² (770 sq mi) in area, represent 56% of the island territory of Chile. The 381 biggest islands – all those over 10 km² (3+7⁄8 sq mi) in area – represent 97% of the island territory of Chile.

A map of Chile

Location of the Archipelagoes of Patagonia

Units by region edit

Units by region, according to last update of 2019:^[3]

Regions of Chile	Number of islands
Tarapacá Region	111
Antofagasta Region	241
Atacama Region	319
Coquimbo Region	335
Valparaíso Region	269
O'Higgins Region	1
Maule Region	1
Ñuble Region	1
Biobío Region	397
Los Ríos Region	23
Los Lagos Region	1,769
Aysén Region	10,050
Magallanes Region	29,954
Total	43,471

Ocean islands edit

River and lake islands edit

Phantom islands edit

Elizabeth Island, Bodesta, Pactolus Bank and some reefs have been mentioned in the past as lying near Chilean territories but they are phantom islands. Gable Island is listed by National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Country Files (GNS)^[4] as a Chilean Island, but it is actually part of Argentina.

Literature islands edit

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
The Golden Ocean by Patrick O'Brian
The Unknown Shore by Patrick O'Brian
Robinson Crusoe of Daniel Defoe
Two Years' Vacation by Jules Verne
The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin
Benito Cereno by Herman Melville
The Ice Limit by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, on Desolacion Island
Hawaii by James Michener, on Desolacion Island
The German poet Adelbert von Chamisso wrote a poem about Sala y Gomez Island based on his reflections upon visiting the island in 1816.^[5]
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 edit

^ ^a ^b "Bienes Nacionales estima que existen 43.471 islas en Chile: Más de 11 mil aún no tienen nombre". El Mercurio. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
^ Ana María Errázuriz K. and Reinaldo Rioseco H. in Las islas de Chile, retrieved on 25 February 2013
^ "Ministro Felipe Ward junto al IGM dan a conocer inédito catastro actualizado de islas en Chile". Ministerio de Bienes Nacionales. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
^ The data was retrieved on 19 January 2013
^ Adelbert von Chamisso (1981) Gesammelte Werke (Collected works), Band 2 (Vol. 2), Leipzig, p. 291

External links edit

[El_Mercurio,_2019-1] "Bienes Nacionales estima que existen 43.471 islas en Chile: Más de 11 mil aún no tienen nombre". El Mercurio. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2021.

[anarei-2] Ana María Errázuriz K. and Reinaldo Rioseco H. in Las islas de Chile, retrieved on 25 February 2013

[Bienes_Nacionales_de_Chile,_2019-3] "Ministro Felipe Ward junto al IGM dan a conocer inédito catastro actualizado de islas en Chile". Ministerio de Bienes Nacionales. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2021.

[nga-4] The data was retrieved on 19 January 2013

[5] Adelbert von Chamisso (1981) Gesammelte Werke (Collected works), Band 2 (Vol. 2), Leipzig, p. 291

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