| Juan Fernández Islands Archipiélago Juan Fernández |
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| — Special Territory and Commune — | |||
| The town of San Juan Bautista in Cumberland Bay, Robinson Crusoe Island | |||
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| Map of Insular Chile with Easter Island, Sala y Gómez, Desventuradas Islands and Juan Fernández Islands | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Chile | ||
| Region | Valparaíso | ||
| Province | Valparaíso | ||
| Discovered | 22 November 1574 | ||
| Colony status | 1895 | ||
| Commune created | 21 September 1979 | ||
| Special territory status | 30 July 2007 | ||
| Named for | Juan Fernández | ||
| Capital | San Juan Bautista | ||
| Government[1] | |||
| • Type | Municipality | ||
| • Body | Municipal council | ||
| • Alcalde | Leopoldo González Charpentier | ||
| Area[2] | |||
| • Total | 147.5 km2 (57 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2002 Census)[2] | |||
| • Total | 633 | ||
| • Density | 4.3/km2 (11.1/sq mi) | ||
| • Urban | 598 | ||
| • Rural | 35 | ||
| Sex[2] | |||
| • Men | 377 | ||
| • Women | 256 | ||
| Time zone | CLT[3] (UTC-4) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CLST[4] (UTC-3) | ||
| Area code(s) | 56 | ||
| Currency | Peso (CLP) | ||
| Website | Juan Fernández Islands | ||
The Juan Fernández Islands (Spanish: Archipiélago Juan Fernández) are a sparsely inhabited island group reliant on tourism and fishing in the South Pacific Ocean, situated about 600 km (324 nmi; 373 mi) off the coast of Chile, and is composed of three main volcanic islands; Robinson Crusoe Island, Alejandro Selkirk Island and Santa Clara Island, the first two being formerly called Más Adentro and Más Afuera respectively.
The islands are mainly known for having been the home to the sailor Alexander Selkirk for four years, which may have inspired the novel Robinson Crusoe. The islands have an area of 181 km2 (70 sq mi), of which 93 km2 (36 sq mi) are taken up by Robinson Crusoe (together with Santa Clara), and 33 km2 (13 sq mi) by Alexander Selkirk. The population is 633 (all on Robinson Crusoe); of those 598 reside in the capital, San Juan Bautista, on Cumberland Bay on the north coast of the island (2002 census).
The archipelago administratively belongs to Chile's Valparaíso Region (which also includes Easter Island), and more specifically forms one of the nine communes (comunas) of the Valparaíso Province named Juan Fernández.
On 27 February 2010, a tsunami caused by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake off Maule, struck the islands, causing at least 8 deaths. This was the first report of a tsunami relayed to the central government in Santiago.[5]
On 2 September 2011, a CASA C-212 Air Force aircraft of Chilean Air Force crashed while trying to land in rough weather at an airport in the Juan Fernandez Islands. 21 people were on board the aircraft of which all are presumed dead, including well-known TV reporters from TVN, the national TV network, and well-known businessman Felipe Cubillos among others.
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Robinson Crusoe is the largest of the islands, at 93 km2 (36 sq mi) and the highest peak, El Yunque, is 916 metres (3,005 ft). Alexander Selkirk is 50 km2 (19 sq mi); its highest peak is Los Innocentes at 1,319 metres (4,327 ft). Santa Clara is 2.2 km2 (1 sq mi), and reaches a height of 350 metres (1,148 ft).
The Juan Fernandez hills, 916 m (3,005 ft) (Robinsón Crusoe) resp. 1,329 m (4,360 ft) (Alejandro Selkirk), are high enough to cause the Kármán vortex street that can be seen from space.
The archipelago was discovered by chance on November 22, 1574, by the Spanish sailor Juan Fernández, who was sailing between Peru and Valparaíso and deviated from his planned course. He called the islands Más Afuera, Más a Tierra, and Islote de Santa Clara.
In the 17th and 18th century, the islands were used as a hideout for pirates, were the site of Alexander Selkirk's 4 year marooning, and provided a location for a penal colony. In the 1740s, they were visited by Commodore Anson's flotilla during his ill-fated venture to the South Seas.
The location of the archipelago was fixed by Alessandro Malaspina in 1790. Previous charts had differed on the location.[6]
During the Maritime Fur Trade era of the early 19th century the islands were a source of fur seal skins, and the Juan Fernández Fur Seal was nearly driven to extinction.
In his book, Two Years Before the Mast (Chapter VII), Richard Henry Dana, Jr. described the islands as he found them circa 1834. At this time the main island was being used as a penal colony. However, when Dr John Coulter visited the penal colony in the early 1840s, he reported it deserted after the convicts had risen up and killed the soldiers who had held them captive. The prisoners fled to mainland Chile, where they were later hunted and shot. The story appears in Coulter's book Adventures in the Pacific (1845).
In 1908 the islands were visited by the Swedish Magellanic Expedition and Carl Skottsberg is believed to have been the last to have seen the Santalum fernandezianum tree alive.
In late 1914 the islands were the rendezvous for Admiral Maximilian von Spee's East Asiatic Squadron as he gathered his ships together prior to defeating the British under Admiral Christopher Cradock at the Battle of Coronel.
Following the Royal Navy's revenge at the Battle of the Falkland Islands a month later, the only surviving German cruiser, SMS Dresden, was finally hunted down and cornered at Más a Tierra early in 1915, where she was scuttled after a brief battle with British cruisers.
In 1966 the Chilean government renamed Isla Más Afuera to Alejandro Selkirk and Isla Más a Tierra to Robinson Crusoe, in order to promote tourism. Incidentally, Selkirk never set foot on Más Afuera, only on Más a Tierra.
On July 30, 2007, a constitutional reform gave the Juan Fernández Islands and Easter Island the status of special territories of Chile. Pending the enactment of a special charter, the archipelago will continue to be governed as a commune of the Valparaíso Region.[7]
In the aftermath of the earthquake that occurred off the Chilean coast on 27 February 2010, there were reports of damage and loss of life from a tsunami that hit the island.[8] This led to the deaths of eight people,[5] with eleven people reported as missing.[9] Some early reports described the tsunami wave as being 40 meters (130 feet) high, but later reports claimed it was 3 m (10 ft).[8][10][11]
According to data from the 2002 Census of Population and Housing, the commune of Juan Fernández had 633 inhabitants; of these, 598 (94.5%) lived in urban areas and 35 (5.5%) in rural areas. At that time, there were 377 men and 256 women.[2] Most of the population is of European origin, mainly Spanish, British, German and other European nationalities.[12]
The islands are volcanic in origin, and are usually attributed to the passing by of the Nazca Plate over the Juan Fernández hotspot which would have produced the Juan Fernández Ridge that extends into the Peru-Chile Trench at the latitude of Valparaíso Region in mainland South America. The islands have according to most geologists been carried eastward off the hot spot forming the Juan Fernández Ridge as the Nazca Plate subducts under the South American continent. Radiometric dating indicates that Santa Clara is the oldest of the islands, 5.8 million years old, followed by Robinson Crusoe, 3.8–4.2 million years old, and Alexander Selkirk, 1.0–2.4 million years old.
The islands have a Mediterranean climate,[13] moderated by the cold Humboldt Current, which flows northward to the east of the islands, and the southeast trade winds.
Temperatures range from 3 to 34 °C, with an annual mean of 15.4 °C. Higher elevations are generally cooler, with occasional frosts on Robinson Crusoe.
Rainfall is higher in the winter months, and varies with elevation and exposure; elevations above 500 meters experience almost daily rainfall, while the western, leeward side of Robinson Crusoe and Santa Clara are quite dry. Average annual rainfall is 1081 mm, varying from 318 to 1698 mm year to year. Much of the variability in rainfall depends on the El Niño-Southern Oscillation.
The Juan Fernández islands are home to a high percentage of rare and endemic plants and animals, and are recognized as a distinct ecoregion. The volcanic origin and remote location of the islands meant that the islands' flora and fauna had to reach the archipelago from far across the sea; as a result, the island is home to relatively few plant species and very few animal species. The closest relatives of the archipelago's plants and animals are found in the Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregions of southern South America, including the Valdivian temperate rain forests, Magellanic subpolar forests, and Desventuradas Islands.
There are 209 native species of vascular plants in the Juan Fernandez Islands, approximately 150 of which are flowering plants, and 50 are ferns. There are 126 species (62%) that are endemic, with 12 endemic genera and one endemic family, Lactoridaceae. Many plants are characteristic of the Antarctic flora, and are related to plants found in southern South America, New Zealand and Australia.
Vegetation zones generally correspond to elevation, with grasslands and shrublands at lower elevations, tall and montane forests at middle elevations, and shrublands at the highest elevations. The two main islands have somewhat distinct plant communities.
Alexander Selkirk is mostly covered with grassland from 0 to 400 meters, interspersed with wooded ravines (quebradas), home to dry forests of Myrceugenia and Zanthoxylum fagara. From 400 to 600 meters are lower montane forests, with upper montane forest from 600 to 950 meters. The treeline is at approximately 950 meters, above which is alpine shrubland and grassland, dominated by temperate Magellanic vegetation such as Acaena, Dicksonia, Drimys, Empetrum, Gunnera, Myrteola, Pernettya, and Ugni.
On Robinson Crusoe, grasslands predominate from 0 to 100 meters; introduced shrubs from 100 to 300 meters; tall forests from 300 to 500 meters; montane forests from 500 to 700 meters, with dense tree cover of Cuminia fernandezia, Fagara, and Rhaphithamnus venustus; tree fern forests from 700 to 750 meters, and brushwood forests above 750 meters. Santa Clara is covered with grassland.
Three endemic species dominate the tall and lower montane forests of the archipelago, Drimys confertifolia on both main islands, Myrceugenia fernandeziana on Robinson Crusoe, and M. schulzei on Alexander Selkirk. Endemic tree fern species of southern hemisphere genus Dicksonia (D. berteriana on Robinson Crusoe and D. externa on Alexander Selkirk) and the endemic genus Thyrsopteris (T. elegans) are the predominant species in the tree-fern forests. An endemic species of sandalwood, Santalum fernandezianum, was overexploited for its fragrant wood, has not been seen since 1908, and is believed extinct. The Chonta Palm (Juania australis) is endangered.
The Juan Fernández Islands have a very limited fauna, with no native land mammals, reptiles, or amphibians. Seventeen land and sea-bird species breed on the islands. The island has three endemic bird species, and two endemic subspecies.
Robinson Crusoe Island is home to an endemic and endangered hummingbird, the Juan Fernández Firecrown (Sephanoides fernandensis).
This large hummingbird, about 11 cm (4 in) long, is thought to number only about 500 individuals. The other endemic bird species are the Juan Fernández Tit-tyrant (Anairetes fernandezianus) of Robinson Crusoe Island, and the Masafuera Rayadito (Aphrastura masafuerae) of Alejandro Selkirk Island.
Introduced fauna by humans include rats and goats, which castaway Alexander Selkirk survived on during his four year stay from 1705 to 1709; his travails provided the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe.
The Magellanic Penguin breeds at Robinson Crusoe Island within this archepelago.[14] The endemic Juan-Fernandez spiny lobster (without claws) lives in the marine waters (Jasus frontalis).
The Juan Fernandez Fur Seal (Arctocephalus philippii) lives on the islands. This species was nearly exterminated in the sixteenth to nineteenth century, but it was rediscovered in 1965. A census in 1970 indicated about 750 fur seals present in the Archipelago. Only two were sighted on the Desventuradas Islands. The actual population of the Desventuradas may be higher, because the species tends to hide in sea caves. There seems to be a yearly population increase of 16–17%.
As a commune, the Juan Fernández Islands are a third-level administrative division of Chile governed by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Leopoldo González Charpentier.[1]
Within the electoral divisions of Chile, the commune is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Joaquín Godoy (RN) and Aldo Cornejo (PDC) as part of the 13th electoral district, (together with Valparaíso and Isla de Pascua). The commune is represented in the Senate by Francisco Chahuán Chahuán (RN) and Ricardo Lagos Weber (PPD) as part of the 6th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Coast).
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