Juan Fernández Islands
Encyclopedia
The Juan Fernández Islands (Spanish: Archipiélago Juan Fernández) are a sparsely inhabited island group reliant on tourism and fishing in the South Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

, situated about 600 km (324 nmi; 373 mi) off the coast of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, and is composed of three main volcanic islands; Robinson Crusoe Island, Alejandro Selkirk Island
Alejandro Selkirk Island
Alejandro Selkirk Island, previously known as Isla Más Afuera and renamed after Alexander Selkirk, is the second largest and most westernly island of the Juan Fernández Islands archipelago of the Valparaíso Region of Chile...

 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
Alexander Selkirk
Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish sailor who spent four years as a castaway when he was marooned on an uninhabited island. It is probable that his travels provided the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe....

 for four years, which may have inspired the novel Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...

. 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
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

 administratively belongs to Chile's Valparaíso Region
Valparaíso Region
The V Valparaíso Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's third highest population of 1,539,852 million in 2002 and third smallest area of , the region is Chile's second most densely populated after the Santiago Metropolitan Region...

 (which also includes Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...

), and more specifically forms one of the nine communes (comunas) of the Valparaíso Province
Valparaíso Province
Valparaíso Province is one of eight provinces of the central Chilean region of Valparaíso . Its capital is the coastal city of Valparaíso Valparaíso Province is one of eight provinces of the central Chilean region of Valparaíso (V). Its capital is the coastal city of Valparaíso Valparaíso...

 named Juan Fernández.

On 27 February 2010, a tsunami caused by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake
2010 Chile earthquake
The 2010 Chile earthquake occurred off the coast of central Chile on Saturday, 27 February 2010, at 03:34 local time , having a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale, with intense shaking lasting for about three minutes. It ranks as the sixth largest earthquake ever to be recorded by a...

 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.

On 2 September 2011, a CASA C-212 Air Force aircraft of Chilean Air Force crashed
2011 Chilean Air Force CASA 212 crash
The 2011 Chilean Air Force CASA 212 crash occurred on 2 September 2011 when a Casa C-212 Aviocar 300DF of the Chilean Air Force crashed into the sea off Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile.-Aircraft:...

 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.

The islands

  • Robinson Crusoe
    Robinson Crusoe Island
    Robinson Crusoe Island , formerly known as Más a Tierra , or Aguas Buenas, is the largest island of the Chilean Juan Fernández archipelago, situated 674 kilometres west of South America in the South Pacific Ocean...

    , (33°38′00"S 78°51′00"W) (also known as Isla Más a Tierra), located closest to the mainland
    Mainland
    Mainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...

     of continental South America
    South America
    South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

    , and its surrounding islets:
    • Juananga, (Islote Juananga)
    • Santa Clara
      Santa Clara (Juan Fernández Islands)
      Santa Clara is an uninhabited tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Robinson Crusoe Island in a group of islands known as the Juan Fernández Islands. The island is of volcanic origin and is approximately 1 kilometre long and 600 metres wide...

       (33°42′07"S 79°00′05"W) (Isla Santa Clara), an islet located 1 km (0.621372736649807 mi) southwest of Robinson Crusoe
      Robinson Crusoe Island
      Robinson Crusoe Island , formerly known as Más a Tierra , or Aguas Buenas, is the largest island of the Chilean Juan Fernández archipelago, situated 674 kilometres west of South America in the South Pacific Ocean...

  • Alejandro Selkirk Island
    Alejandro Selkirk Island
    Alejandro Selkirk Island, previously known as Isla Más Afuera and renamed after Alexander Selkirk, is the second largest and most westernly island of the Juan Fernández Islands archipelago of the Valparaíso Region of Chile...

     (33°46′00"S 80°47′00"W) (also known as Isla Más Afuera), 168 km (104 mi) further west.


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 1319 metres (4,327 ft). Santa Clara is 2.2 km² (0.849424748903577 sq mi), and reaches a height of 350 metres (1,148 ft).

The Juan Fernandez hills, 916 m (3,005.2 ft) (Robinsón Crusoe) resp. 1329 m (4,360.2 ft) (Alejandro Selkirk), are high enough to cause the Kármán vortex street that can be seen from space.

History

The archipelago was discovered by chance on November 22, 1574, by the Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

 sailor Juan Fernández, who was sailing between Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

 and Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

 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
Alexander Selkirk
Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish sailor who spent four years as a castaway when he was marooned on an uninhabited island. It is probable that his travels provided the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe....

's 4 year marooning, and provided a location for a penal colony. In the 1740s, they were visited by Commodore Anson's
George Anson, 1st Baron Anson
Admiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson PC, FRS, RN was a British admiral and a wealthy aristocrat, noted for his circumnavigation of the globe and his role overseeing the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War...

 flotilla during his ill-fated venture to the South Seas.

The location of the archipelago was fixed by Alessandro Malaspina
Alessandro Malaspina
Alessandro Malaspina was an Italian nobleman who spent most of his life as a Spanish naval officer and explorer...

 in 1790. Previous charts had differed on the location.

During the Maritime Fur Trade
Maritime Fur Trade
The Maritime Fur Trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese...

 era of the early 19th century the islands were a source of fur seal skins, and the Juan Fernández Fur Seal
Juan Fernandez Fur Seal
The Juan Fernández Fur Seal is a fur seal that breeds on the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of Chile. It is the second smallest of the otariid seal . Discovered by navigator Juan Fernández in the sixteenth century, the seals became a target for sealers in the Maritime Fur Trade era...

 was nearly driven to extinction.

In his book, Two Years Before the Mast
Two Years Before the Mast
Two Years Before the Mast is a book by the American author Richard Henry Dana, Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the same name was released in 1946.- Background :...

 (Chapter VII), Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
Richard Henry Dana Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of an eminent colonial family who gained renown as the author of the American classic, the memoir Two Years Before the Mast...

 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
Swedish Magellanic Expedition
The Swedish Magellanic expedition, 1907–09 was an scientific expedition undertaken by Carl Skottsberg, Percy Quensel and Thore Halle to study the geography, geology and flora of Patagonia. Other areas studied include Tierra del Fuego, Falkland Islands, Juan Fernández Islands, Chiloé...

 and Carl Skottsberg
Carl Skottsberg
Carl Johan Fredrik Skottsberg was a Swedish botanist and explorer of Antarctica.Skottsberg was born in Karlshamn, began his academic studies at Uppsala University in 1898 and received his doctorate and a docentship there in 1907...

 is believed to have been the last to have seen the Santalum fernandezianum
Santalum fernandezianum
Santalum fernandezianum was a species of plant in the Santalaceae family. It was endemic to Chile. Last seen in 1908 by Carl Skottsberg, the species was cut to extinction for its aromatic wood.-Source:...

 tree alive.

In late 1914 the islands were the rendezvous for Admiral Maximilian von Spee
Maximilian von Spee
Vice Admiral Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee was a German admiral. Although he was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the counts von Spee belonged to the prominent families of the Rhenish nobility. He joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1878. In 1887–88 he commanded the Kamerun ports, in German West...

's East Asiatic Squadron as he gathered his ships together prior to defeating the British under Admiral Christopher Cradock
Christopher Cradock
Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher "Kit" George Francis Maurice Cradock KCVO CB was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He was born at Hartforth, Richmond, North Yorkshire...

 at the Battle of Coronel
Battle of Coronel
The First World War naval Battle of Coronel took place on 1 November 1914 off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel. German Kaiserliche Marine forces led by Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee met and defeated a Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher...

.

Following the Royal Navy's revenge at the Battle of the Falkland Islands
Battle of the Falkland Islands
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a British naval victory over the Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 during the First World War in the South Atlantic...

 a month later, the only surviving German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 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
Alejandro Selkirk Island
Alejandro Selkirk Island, previously known as Isla Más Afuera and renamed after Alexander Selkirk, is the second largest and most westernly island of the Juan Fernández Islands archipelago of the Valparaíso Region of Chile...

 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
Valparaíso Region
The V Valparaíso Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's third highest population of 1,539,852 million in 2002 and third smallest area of , the region is Chile's second most densely populated after the Santiago Metropolitan Region...

.

In the aftermath of the earthquake that occurred off the Chilean coast
2010 Chile earthquake
The 2010 Chile earthquake occurred off the coast of central Chile on Saturday, 27 February 2010, at 03:34 local time , having a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale, with intense shaking lasting for about three minutes. It ranks as the sixth largest earthquake ever to be recorded by a...

 on 27 February 2010, there were reports of damage and loss of life from a tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...

 that hit the island. This led to the deaths of eight people, with eleven people reported as missing. Some early reports described the tsunami wave as being 40 meters (130 feet) high, but later reports claimed it was 3 m (10 ft).

Demography

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 area
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

s and 35 (5.5%) in rural areas. At that time, there were 377 men and 256 women. Most of the population is of European origin
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, mainly Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

, British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

, German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 and other European nationalities
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

Geology

The islands are volcanic
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

 in origin, and are usually attributed to the passing by of the Nazca Plate
Nazca Plate
]The Nazca Plate, named after the Nazca region of southern Peru, is an oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin off the west coast of South America. The ongoing subduction along the Peru-Chile Trench of the Nazca Plate under the South American Plate is largely responsible for the...

 over the Juan Fernández hotspot
Juan Fernández hotspot
The Juan Fernández hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. The hotspot created the Juan Fernández Ridge which includes the Juan Fernández Archipelago and a long seamount chain that is being subducted in the Peru-Chile Trench at the site of Papudo giving origin to...

 which would have produced the Juan Fernández Ridge
Juan Fernández Ridge
The Juan Fernández Ridge is a volcanic island and seamount chain on the Nazca Plate. It runs in a west-east direction from the Juan Fernández hotspot to the Peru-Chile Trench at a latitude of 33° S near Valparaíso. The Juan Fernández Islands are the only seamounts that reach the surface....

 that extends into the Peru-Chile Trench
Peru-Chile Trench
The Peru-Chile Trench, also known as the Atacama Trench, is an oceanic trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 160 kilometres off the coast of Peru and Chile...

 at the latitude of Valparaíso Region
Valparaíso Region
The V Valparaíso Region is one of Chile's 15 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's third highest population of 1,539,852 million in 2002 and third smallest area of , the region is Chile's second most densely populated after the Santiago Metropolitan Region...

 in mainland South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. The islands have according to most geologists been carried eastward off the hot spot forming the Juan Fernández Ridge
Juan Fernández Ridge
The Juan Fernández Ridge is a volcanic island and seamount chain on the Nazca Plate. It runs in a west-east direction from the Juan Fernández hotspot to the Peru-Chile Trench at a latitude of 33° S near Valparaíso. The Juan Fernández Islands are the only seamounts that reach the surface....

 as the Nazca Plate subducts under the South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

n continent. Radiometric dating
Radiometric dating
Radiometric dating is a technique used to date materials such as rocks, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates...

 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.

Climate

The islands have a Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...

, moderated by the cold Humboldt Current
Humboldt Current
The Humboldt Current , also known as the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north-westward along the west coast of South America from the southern tip of Chile to northern Peru. It is an eastern boundary current flowing in the direction of the equator, and can extend...

, 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.

Ecology

The Juan Fernández islands are home to a high percentage of rare and endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 plants and animals, and are recognized as a distinct ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

. 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
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Mixed forests are a temperate and humid biome. The typical structure of these forests includes four layers. The uppermost layer is the canopy composed of tall mature trees ranging from 33 to 66 m high. Below the canopy is the three-layered, shade-tolerant understory that is roughly 9 to...

 ecoregions of southern South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, including the Valdivian temperate rain forests
Valdivian temperate rain forests
The Valdivian temperate rain forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed-forest ecoregion located on the west coast of southern South America, lying mostly in Chile and extending into a small part of Argentina. It is part of the Neotropic ecozone. The forests are named after the city of Valdivia...

, Magellanic subpolar forests
Magellanic subpolar forests
The Magellanic subpolar forests are a terrestrial ecoregion of southernmost South America, covering parts of southern Chile and Argentina, and is part of the Neotropic ecozone...

, and Desventuradas Islands
Desventuradas Islands
thumb|Map of Desventuradas Islands The Desventuradas Islands, also known as Islas de los Desventurados, is a group of four small islands located off the coast of Chile, northwest of Santiago in the Pacific Ocean...

.

Flora

There are 209 native species of vascular plant
Vascular plant
Vascular plants are those plants that have lignified tissues for conducting water, minerals, and photosynthetic products through the plant. Vascular plants include the clubmosses, Equisetum, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms...

s in the Juan Fernandez Islands, approximately 150 of which are flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s, and 50 are ferns. There are 126 species (62%) that are endemic, with 12 endemic genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 and one endemic family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

, Lactoridaceae. Many plants are characteristic of the Antarctic flora
Antarctic flora
The Antarctic flora is a distinct community of vascular plants which evolved millions of years ago on the supercontinent of Gondwana, and is now found on several separate areas of the Southern Hemisphere, including southern South America, southernmost Africa, New Zealand, Australia and New Caledonia...

, and are related to plants found in southern South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

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
Myrceugenia
Myrceugenia is a genus of evergreen woody flowering trees and shrubs belonging to the Myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The genus is native to South America from southeast Brazil south to southern Chile; it is closely related to the genus Luma; some botanists include Myrceugenia in that genus.Two species...

and Zanthoxylum fagara
Zanthoxylum fagara
Zanthoxylum fagara is a species of flowering plant in the citrus family, Rutaceae that is native to southern Florida and Texas in the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America as far south as Paraguay...

. 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
Magellanic subpolar forests
The Magellanic subpolar forests are a terrestrial ecoregion of southernmost South America, covering parts of southern Chile and Argentina, and is part of the Neotropic ecozone...

 vegetation such as Acaena
Acaena
Acaena is a genus of about one hundred species of perennial herbs and subshrubs in the Rosaceae, native mainly to the Southern Hemisphere, notably New Zealand, Australia and South America, but with a few species extending into the Northern Hemisphere, north to Hawaii and California Acaena is a...

, Dicksonia
Dicksonia
Dicksonia is a genus of tree ferns in the order Cyatheales. It is regarded as related to Cyathea, but is considered more primitive, dating back at least to the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record includes stems, pinnules, and spores....

, Drimys
Drimys
Drimys is a genus of about eight species of woody evergreen flowering plants, in the family Winteraceae. The species are native to the Neotropics, ranging from southern Mexico to the southern tip of South America...

, Empetrum, Gunnera
Gunnera
Gunnera is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants, some of them gigantic. The genus is the only member of the family Gunneraceae.The 40-50 species vary enormously in leaf size...

, Myrteola
Myrteola
Myrteola is a plant genus of South American origin. It is a small genus with about 12 species; of these species, the best known is the Paramo of Chingaza....

, Pernettya
, and Ugni
Ugni
Ugni is a genus of about 10 species of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to western South America and Central America from the Valdivian temperate rain forests of southern Chile and adjacent regions of southern Argentina, north to southern Mexico, and also the Juan Fernández Islands of...

.

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
Cuminia fernandezia
Cuminia fernandezia is a species of flowering plant in the Lamiaceae family. It is endemic to the Juan Fernández Islands archipielago — in the southeastern Pacific Ocean west of Chile — where it is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:...

, Fagara
, and Rhaphithamnus venustus
Rhaphithamnus venustus
Rhaphithamnus venustus is a species of plant in the Verbenaceae family. It is endemic to Juan Fernández Islands archipelago west of Chile. It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:* - World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. ...

; 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
Drimys
Drimys is a genus of about eight species of woody evergreen flowering plants, in the family Winteraceae. The species are native to the Neotropics, ranging from southern Mexico to the southern tip of South America...

 confertifolia
on both main islands, Myrceugenia
Myrceugenia
Myrceugenia is a genus of evergreen woody flowering trees and shrubs belonging to the Myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The genus is native to South America from southeast Brazil south to southern Chile; it is closely related to the genus Luma; some botanists include Myrceugenia in that genus.Two species...

 fernandeziana
on Robinson Crusoe, and M. schulzei on Alexander Selkirk. Endemic tree fern species of southern hemisphere genus Dicksonia
Dicksonia
Dicksonia is a genus of tree ferns in the order Cyatheales. It is regarded as related to Cyathea, but is considered more primitive, dating back at least to the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record includes stems, pinnules, and spores....

(D. berteriana on Robinson Crusoe and D. externa on Alexander Selkirk) and the endemic genus Thyrsopteris
Thyrsopteris
Thyrsopteris is a predominant plant genus in the Juan Fernandez Archipelago. It is a tree fern genus with a single species, Thyrsopteris elegans, in the family Thyrsopteridaceae....

(T. elegans) are the predominant species in the tree-fern forests. An endemic species of sandalwood, Santalum fernandezianum
Santalum fernandezianum
Santalum fernandezianum was a species of plant in the Santalaceae family. It was endemic to Chile. Last seen in 1908 by Carl Skottsberg, the species was cut to extinction for its aromatic wood.-Source:...

, was overexploited for its fragrant wood, has not been seen since 1908, and is believed extinct. The Chonta Palm (Juania australis) is endangered.

Fauna

The Juan Fernández Islands have a very limited fauna, with no native land mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s, reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

s, 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
Robinson Crusoe Island
Robinson Crusoe Island , formerly known as Más a Tierra , or Aguas Buenas, is the largest island of the Chilean Juan Fernández archipelago, situated 674 kilometres west of South America in the South Pacific Ocean...

 is home to an endemic and endangered hummingbird
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...

, the Juan Fernández Firecrown
Juan Fernandez Firecrown
The Juan Fernández Firecrown is a hummingbird found solely on Isla Róbinson Crusoe, one of a three-island archipelago belonging to Chile. It is non-migratory and shares the island with the smaller Green-backed Firecrown, Sephanoides sephaniodes.The population of this species has been in a general...

 (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
Juan Fernández Tit-Tyrant
The Juan Fernández Tit-Tyrant is a species of bird in the Tyrannidae family. It is endemic to the Juan Fernández Islands....

 (Anairetes fernandezianus) of Robinson Crusoe Island, and the Masafuera Rayadito
Masafuera Rayadito
The Masafuera Rayadito, Aphrastura masafuerae, is a rare bird endemic to Alejandro Selkirk Island in the Juan Fernández Islands. The species is a member of the ovenbird family and only one of two species in the rayadito genus...

 (Aphrastura masafuerae) of Alejandro Selkirk Island.

Introduced fauna by humans include rats and goats, which castaway Alexander Selkirk
Alexander Selkirk
Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish sailor who spent four years as a castaway when he was marooned on an uninhabited island. It is probable that his travels provided the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe....

 survived on during his four year stay from 1705 to 1709; his travails provided the inspiration for Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...

's novel Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...

.

The Magellanic Penguin
Magellanic Penguin
The Magellanic Penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus, is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil where they are occasionally seen as far north as Rio de Janeiro. It is the most numerous of the Spheniscus penguins. Its nearest...

 breeds at Robinson Crusoe Island within this archepelago. The endemic Juan-Fernandez spiny lobster (without claws) lives in the marine waters (Jasus frontalis).

The Juan Fernandez Fur Seal
Juan Fernandez Fur Seal
The Juan Fernández Fur Seal is a fur seal that breeds on the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of Chile. It is the second smallest of the otariid seal . Discovered by navigator Juan Fernández in the sixteenth century, the seals became a target for sealers in the Maritime Fur Trade era...

 (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
Desventuradas Islands
thumb|Map of Desventuradas Islands The Desventuradas Islands, also known as Islas de los Desventurados, is a group of four small islands located off the coast of Chile, northwest of Santiago in the Pacific Ocean...

. 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%.

Government

As a commune, the Juan Fernández Islands are a third-level administrative division of Chile governed by a municipal council
Municipal council
A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...

, headed by an alcalde
Alcalde
Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...

 who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Leopoldo González Charpentier.

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, the commune is represented in the Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies of Chile
The Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Chile is the lower house of Chile's bicameral Congress. Its organisation and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of Chile's current constitution....

 by Joaquín Godoy (RN
National Renewal (Chile)
National Renewal , is a liberal conservative political party belonging to the Chilean right-wing political coalition Coalition for Change in conjunction with the Independent Democratic Union and the Chile First movement...

) and Aldo Cornejo (PDC
Christian Democratic Party
Christian democratic parties are those political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social teaching, and it continues to be influential in Europe and...

) as part of the 13th electoral district, (together with Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

 and Isla de Pascua
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...

). The commune is represented in the Senate
Senate of Chile
The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile.-Composition:...

 by Francisco Chahuán Chahuán (RN) and Ricardo Lagos Weber (PPD
Party for Democracy
The Party for Democracy is a political party in Chile; it is social democratic in its political orientation. It was founded in December 1987 by Ricardo Lagos, who aimed at forming a legal social democratic party . The party continued to function after the defeat of Pinochet...

) as part of the 6th senatorial constituency (Valparaíso-Coast).

See also

  • Index: Flora of the Juan Fernández Islands

External links

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