The islands of Chile encompass the various islands that the government of Chile has sovereignty over. By far the majority of these are the islands in the south of the country. Chile has one of the world's longest coastlines, and one of the most dangerous for boats; it is more than long and has at least 43,471 islands.
Classifications vary for isla ("island"), islote ("islet"), roquerío ("rocks"), farallón ("cliff") and archipiélago or grupo ("archipelago"). The Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy has begun to consider island a surface greater than 100000m2.[1]
The Chilean Ministry of National Assets and the Chilean Military Geographical Institute has counted 43,471 units of land, according to last update at 2019,[2] located between the 18° 15'S and 56° 32'S latitudes, with a total area of 105561km2, that is, 14% of Chile's territory (not including its Antarctica claims). The biggest eight islands and archipelagos (Tierra del Fuego, Chiloé, Wellington, Riesco, Hoste, Santa Inés, Navarino and Magdalena), each measuring over 2000km2 in area, represent 56% of the island territory of Chile. The 381 biggest islands – all those over 10frac=16NaNfrac=16 in area – represent 97% of the island territory of Chile.
Units by region, according to last update of 2019:[3]
| Regions of Chile | Number of islands | |
|---|---|---|
| Tarapacá Region | 111 | |
| Antofagasta Region | 241 | |
| Atacama Region | 319 | |
| Coquimbo Region | 335 | |
| Valparaíso Region | 269 | |
| O'Higgins Region | 1 | |
| Maule Region | 1 | |
| Ñuble Region | 1 | |
| Biobío Region | 397 | |
| Los Ríos Region | 23 | |
| Los Lagos Region | 1,769 | |
| Aysén Region | 10,050 | |
| Magallanes Region | 29,954 | |
| Total | 43,471 |
See main article: List of islands of Chile.
Elizabeth Island, Bodesta, Pactolus Bank and some reefs have been mentioned in the past as lying near Chilean territories but they are phantom islands. Gable Island is listed by National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Country Files (GNS)[4] as a Chilean Island, but it is actually part of Argentina.
Several reports, novels and tales have the islands of Chile as geographic background: