Robinson Crusoe Island
Robinson Crusoe Island is the largest of four islands in the South Pacific known collectively as the Juan Fernández Islands.
The Juan Fernández Islands, located about 667 km off the coast of Chile, include Robinson Crusoe Island, Alejandro Selkirk Island, Santa Clara and Juananga.
The islands were made famous after the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk (also known as Alexander Selcraig) was shipwrecked on the islands for four rather lonely years starting in 1705. His experiences there, which were widely publicized after his rescue, served as inspiration for Daniel Defoe's most famous book, Robinson Crusoe.
The islands were named after the Spanish explorer Juan Fernández, who stumbled upon them in November of 1574.
The islands were used as pirate coves in the 17th and 18th centuries by those naughty but ever-popular pirates there are so many articles devoted to on the Latin American history page.
Today the islands, with their mountains, volcanoes, ridges and steep valleys, are primarily connected with the tourist trade. Only Robinson Crusoe Island is inhabited-- though just barely, with fewer than 600 inhabitants, but more than enough to have kept Selkirk from getting lonely.
