# Insular Chile
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Insular_Chile
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Insular_Chile.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insular_Chile
> Source revision: 1336095393
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Short description|Islands owned by Chile}}
{{Refimprove|date=March 2016}}
[[File:The three areas of Chile.svg|thumb|right|Map of the three areas dividing Chilean territory:
'''In blue:''' [Continental Chile](/source/Continental_Chile)
'''In red:''' Insular Chile
'''In green:''' [Antarctic Chile](/source/Chilean_Antarctic_Territory)]]
thumb|Map of what is considered insular Chile.
'''Insular Chile''', also called ''Las islas Esporádicas'', or 'the Sporadic Islands', is a scattered group of [oceanic islands](/source/Island) of [volcanic](/source/volcanism) origin located in the [South Pacific](/source/Pacific_Ocean), and which are under the sovereignty of Chile. The islands lie on the [Nazca Plate](/source/Nazca_Plate), separate from the [South American continental plate](/source/South_American_Plate).
Despite not being [continental islands](/source/Island), the [Juan Fernández Islands](/source/Juan_Fern%C3%A1ndez_Islands) and the [Desventuradas Islands](/source/Desventuradas_Islands) are considered "Continental Insular Chile"{{cn|date=October 2017}}; [Salas y Gómez Island](/source/Isla_Salas_y_G%C3%B3mez) and [Easter Island](/source/Easter_Island) (both geographically situated in [Polynesia](/source/Polynesia)) form the zone known as "Oceanic Insular Chile". All of insular Chile is administrated as part of the [Valparaíso Region](/source/Valpara%C3%ADso_Region).
==History==
Easter Island was first inhabited by a Polynesian culture known as the [Rapa Nui](/source/Rapa_Nui_people), and the Rapa Nui knew about Salas y Gómez Island during prehistoric times. As such, academics often group them in with [Oceania](/source/Oceania) rather than [South America](/source/South_America).[{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5D_iUA_pCE |title=Saving the Rapanui |author=[SBS](/source/Special_Broadcasting_Service) Australia |date=November 2004 |website=[YouTube](/source/YouTube) |publisher= |access-date=16 February 2022 |quote=}}]
The Juan Fernández Islands and Desventuradas Islands are geographically closer to South America, and there is no evidence to suggest a link to Polynesians. However, they were also never inhabited by any [Indigenous American](/source/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas) group, unlike with the [Caribbean Islands](/source/Caribbean_Islands) in the [Atlantic Ocean](/source/Atlantic_Ocean). The Juan Fernández Islands and Desventuradas Islands have been included in wider definitions of Oceania, that extend it beyond the ethnocultural regions of [Australasia](/source/Australasia), [Melanesia](/source/Melanesia), [Micronesia](/source/Micronesia) and Polynesia.[{{Cite book |url=https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/30152/RevOceania.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |title=Review of the Protected Areas System in Oceania |date=1986 |publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |quote=Easter Island on the east has been included on the basis of its Polynesian and biogeographic affinities even though it is politically apart. The other islands of the eastern Pacific (Galapagos, Juan Fernandez, etc.) have sometimes been included in Oceania. |access-date=17 January 2022}}] This is not only because of their status as remote Pacific islands with no geologicial connections to the Americas, but also because of their marine fauna, which shares many similarities to the rest of Oceania.[{{cite journal|title=Marine Biodiversity in Juan Fernández and Desventuradas Islands, Chile: Global Endemism Hotspots |publisher=Journals.plos.org |date=2016-01-06 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0145059 |doi-access=free |last1=Friedlander |first1=Alan M. |last2=Ballesteros |first2=Enric |last3=Caselle |first3=Jennifer E. |last4=Gaymer |first4=Carlos F. |last5=Palma |first5=Alvaro T. |last6=Petit |first6=Ignacio |last7=Varas |first7=Eduardo |last8=Muñoz Wilson |first8=Alex |last9=Sala |first9=Enric |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=11 |issue=1 |article-number=e0145059 |pmid=26734732 |pmc=4703205 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1145059F }}][{{cite journal |last1=Pequeño |first1=Germán |title=Shore Fishes of Easter Island, John E. Randall & Alfredo Cea Egaña |journal=Gayana |date=2011 |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=201–202 |id={{ProQuest|920291064}} |doi=10.4067/S0717-65382011000200011 |doi-access=free }}]
The San Félix and San Ambrosio Islands of the Desventuradas Archipelago, as well as Easter Island, are mentioned by the abbot [Giovanni Ignazio Molina](/source/Giovanni_Ignazio_Molina) as part of Chilean territory in his work ''Compendio de la historia geográfica, natural y civil del reyno de Chile'' (1788),[{{cite book |last1=Molina |first1=Giovanni Ignazio |title=Compendio de la historia geográfica, natural y civil del reyno de Chile |date=1788 |page=7 |url=https://www.google.es/books/edition/Compendio_de_la_historia_geogr%C3%A1fica_nat/u9PjzilCmTMC?hl=es-419&gbpv=1&dq=estatuas&pg=PA7&printsec=frontcover |access-date=1 September 2025 |language=es}}] and therefore are considered part of the territory inherited by Chile under the principle of ''[uti possidetis iuris](/source/uti_possidetis_iuris)''.
==Geography and environment==
[[File:Easter Island or Rapa Nui and Salas y Gómez Island, Chile, its territorial waters and the surrounding continental shelf.png|350px|thumb|[Easter Island or Rapa Nui](/source/Easter_Island) and [Salas y Gómez Island](/source/Isla_Salas_y_G%C3%B3mez), Chile, its [territorial waters](/source/territorial_waters) and its [extended continental shelf](/source/Continental_Shelf_of_Chile).[{{cite web |title=La plataforma continental extendida en isla de Pascua y Salas y Gómez |url=https://revistamarina.cl/es/articulo/la-plataforma-continental-extendida-en-isla-de-pascua-y-salas-y-gomez |publisher=Revista Marina |access-date=26 January 2024 |date=October 27, 2020}}]
{{legend|#BD9FFF|[Exclusive Economic Zone](/source/Exclusive_Economic_Zone) and [Continental Shelf](/source/Continental_Shelf)}} {{legend|#E6DBFF|[Extended Continental Shelf](/source/Extended_Continental_Shelf)}}]]
The Sporadic Islands are not the only Chilean insular territories; rather, these islands represent just {{convert|328|km2|sqmi|abbr=off}}, around 0.3%, of the total, the rest being 3,739 islands and 2,180 islets, the combined land area of which totals {{convert|105,561|km2|sqmi|abbr=off}}, nearly 14% of which is effectively under Chilean control, part of what officially distinguishes "insular Chile" from "continental Chile".[{{Cite book|author=Instituto Geográfico Militar|title=Atlas Geográfico para la Educación|year=1998|edition=5.ª|editor=Instituto Geográfico de Chile|location=Santiago|isbn=956-202-053-3}}]
Insular Chile consists of:
# The [Juan Fernández Islands](/source/Juan_Fern%C3%A1ndez_Islands), composed of [Robinson Crusoe](/source/Robinson_Crusoe_Island), [Alejandro Selkirk](/source/Alejandro_Selkirk_Island) and [Santa Clara](/source/Santa_Clara_Island) islands, located {{convert|670|km|mi|abbr=off}} west of [Valparaíso](/source/Valpara%C3%ADso)
# The [Desventuradas Islands](/source/Desventuradas_Islands), composed of San Ambrosio and San Félix Islands, located more than {{convert|800|km|mi|abbr=off}} west of continental Chile, opposite the [Atacama Region](/source/Atacama_Region)
#[Easter Island](/source/Easter_Island), or ''Rapa Nui'', {{convert|3,600|km|mi|abbr=off}} west of [Caldera](/source/Caldera%2C_Chile), with an area of {{convert|163.6|km2|sqmi|1|lk=in|abbr=off}}{{snds}}the main island of the Sporadic Islands
# [Salas y Gómez Island](/source/Isla_Salas_y_G%C3%B3mez), located {{convert|3,220|km|mi|abbr=off}} west of [Chañaral](/source/Cha%C3%B1aral) and {{convert|415|km|mi|abbr=off}} northeast of Easter Island.
Of these islands, only Easter Island and Robinson Crusoe are inhabited. Of the two, Easter Island is the farthest from the South American continent. The Juan Fernández archipelago has become culturally South American, due to the lack of human inhabitation prior to European discovery.
The Sporadic islands are part of the [Valparaíso Region](/source/Valpara%C3%ADso_Region). Easter Island and Salas y Gómez form the [commune](/source/Communes_of_Chile) of [Isla de Pascua](/source/Isla_de_Pascua_(commune)), the only commune of [Isla de Pascua Province](/source/Isla_de_Pascua_Province). The Desventuradas islands and Juan Fernández belong to [Valparaíso Province](/source/Valpara%C3%ADso_Province), and are part of the commune of [Juan Fernández](/source/Juan_Fern%C3%A1ndez_(commune)).
Scientific journal ''[PLOS One](/source/PLOS_One)'' wrote about the islands in 2016, claiming "Chile's offshore islands are among the few oceanic archipelagos along the west coast of South America. These islands have cultural and ecological connections to the broader insular Pacific, yet our scientific understanding of them is extremely limited."[{{Cite journal|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/aqc.3464|doi = 10.1002/aqc.3464|title = Progress, opportunities and challenges for marine conservation in the Pacific Islands|year = 2021|last1 = Friedlander|first1 = Alan M.|last2 = Gaymer|first2 = Carlos F.|journal = Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems|volume = 31|issue = 2|pages = 221–231|s2cid = 224844351|url-access = subscription}}] They also said, "The Juan Fernández and Desventuradas islands are distinct ecoregions within the [Temperate South America](/source/Temperate_South_America)n realm. They possess a unique mix of tropical, subtropical and temperate marine species, and although close to continental South America, elements of the biota have greater affinities with the central and south Pacific, owing to the [Humboldt Current](/source/Humboldt_Current), which creates a strong biogeographic barrier between these islands and the continent."