Native name: Isla Robinson Crusoe | |
|---|---|
 Satellite image of Robinson Crusoe Island | |
  Robinson Crusoe Island | |
| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 33°38′29″S 78°50′28″W / 33.64139°S 78.84111°W |
| Type | Shield Volcanoes (last eruption in 1835) |
| Archipelago | Juan Fernández Islands |
| Adjacent to | Pacific Ocean |
| Area | 47.94 km2 (18.51 sq mi)[1] |
| Highest elevation | 915 m (3002 ft)[1] |
| Highest point | El Yunque |
| Administration | |
| Region | Valparaíso |
| Province | Valparaíso Province |
| Commune | Juan Fernández Islands |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 843[2] (2012) |
Robinson Crusoe Island (Spanish: Isla Róbinson Crusoe, pronounced [ˈisla ˈroβinsoŋ kɾuˈso]) is the second largest of the Juan Fernández Islands, situated 670 km (362 nmi; 416 mi) west of San Antonio, Chile, in the South Pacific Ocean. It is the more populous of the inhabited islands in the archipelago (the other being Alejandro Selkirk Island), with most of that in the town of San Juan Bautista at Cumberland Bay on the island's north coast.[2] The island was formerly known as Más a Tierra ('Closer to Land').[3]
From 1704 to 1709, the island was home to the marooned Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, who at least partially inspired novelist Daniel Defoe's fictional Robinson Crusoe in his 1719 novel, although the novel is explicitly set in the Caribbean.[4] This was just one of several survival stories from the period of which Defoe would have been aware.[5] To reflect the literary lore associated with the island and attract tourists, the Chilean government renamed the place Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966.[3]
- ^ a b Torres Santibáñez, Hernán; Torres Cerda, Marcela (2004). Los parques nacionales de Chile: una guía para el visitante (in Spanish). Editorial Universitaria. p. 49. ISBN 978-956-11-1701-3.
- ^ a b "Censos de poblacion y vivienda". Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas (2012). Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ a b Severin, Tim (2002). In Search of Robinson Crusoe. New York: Basic Books. pp. 23–24. ISBN 978-046-50-7698-7.
- ^ Severin, Tim (2002). In Search of Robinson Crusoe. New York: Basic Books. pp. 17–19. ISBN 978-046-50-7698-7.
- ^ Little, Becky (28 September 2016). "Debunking the Myth of the 'Real' Robinson Crusoe". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 28 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.