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

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

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

Regions of Chile Number of islands
Tarapacá Region111
Antofagasta Region241
Atacama Region319
Coquimbo Region335
Valparaíso Region269
O'Higgins Region1
Maule Region1
Ñuble Region1
Biobío Region397
Los Ríos Region23
Los Lagos Region1,769
Aysén Region10,050
Magallanes Region29,954
Total43,471

Ocean islands
Main article: List of islands of Chile

River and lake islands

Phantom islands

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

Several reports, novels and tales have the islands of Chile as geographic background:

See also

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