| Juan Fernández Islands | |
 | |
Location  | |
Flag  | |
| State | Chile |
|---|---|
| Capital | San Juan Bautista |
| Surface | 99.6 km² |
| Inhabitants | 900 (2012 census) |
| Institutional website | |
Juan Fernández Islands (Archipiélago Juan Fernández) is a small archipelago off the coast Chilean.
To know
They are named after their discoverer, Juan Fernández, navigator Spanish. The main activities are lobster fishing and to a small extent tourism.
Geographical notes
It is located 670 km west of the coast of Chile, near the port of San Antonio, near Valparaiso. Its main peak is the Cerro de los Inocentes (1650m).
When to go
The archipelago, of volcanic origin, has a rainy subtropical climate.
Background
The archipelago was discovered by the Spanish sailor Juan Fernández, probably between 1563 and 1574. Officially the date of discovery is 22 November 1574. After the battle of Rancagua (1814) it served as a prison until 1931. In the 17th and 18th centuries century was used as a den of pirates and privateers. In 1935 the three main islands of the archipelago were declared a national park, with an extension of about 9,967 hectares and in 1977 the archipelago was declared a World Biosphere Reserve by theUNESCO.
Following the 8.8 ° Richter scale earthquake that occurred on the night of Saturday 27 February 2010 at 3:34 local time (7:34 am in Italy) and occurred 90 km from the Chilean city of Concepción, the islands were hit by a tsunami, with waves up to 3 meters high which caused extensive damage and some victims.
Territories and tourist destinations
Juan Fernández Islands: full screen map.
- Robinson Crusoe Island (former More in Tierra) - Island that gathers the entire (albeit small) population of the archipelago.
- Alexander Selkirk Island (former Más Afuera) —
- Santa Clara Island —
Urban centers
- San Juan Bautista - Located on Robinson Crusoe Island and founded in 1877 by Baron Alfredo Van Rodt.
How to get
How to get around
What see
- Fort of Santa Barbara. Built for the Spaniards in 1749 on Robinson Crusoe Island as a protection from pirates. It was rebuilt in 1974 and declared a historic monument in 1979.
- Shipwreck of Robinson Crusoe. L'Robinson Crusoe island was the island where the sailor Alexander Selkirk landed, who lived there from 1704 to 1709. This story inspired the novel by Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe. Today it is possible to visit the place where the castaway is supposed to have landed. This is also the reason why the name of the two main islands was changed in 1966.
Events and parties
What to do
Shopping
How to have fun
Where to eat
Where stay
Safety
How to keep in touch
Around
Other projects
Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Juan Fernández Islands
Commons contains images or other files on Juan Fernández Islands
