Robinson Crusoe (island)
| Robinson Crusoe (Más a Tierra) | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Waters | Pacific Ocean |
| Archipelago | Juan Fernández Islands |
| Geographical location | 33 ° 38 '29 " S , 78 ° 50' 28" W |
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| surface | 47.93 km² |
| Highest elevation |
Cerro El Yunque 915 m |
| Residents | 1043 (2014) 22 inhabitants / km² |
| main place | San Juan Bautista |
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|
Robinson Crusoe ( Spanish Isla Robinson Crusoe ) is one of the two main islands of to Chile belonging to the archipelago of Juan Fernández Islands . It is located in the southern Pacific 667 kilometers west of the Chilean port city of Valparaíso and, at 47.9 km², is slightly smaller than the second main island, Alejandro Selkirk , located significantly further west in the ocean . Before it was renamed Isla Robinson Crusoe in 1966 , it was called Isla Más a Tierra (German "island closer to the mainland").
geography
Due to the lively volcanic activity in the geological past and due to erosion, the island is mountainous with steep mountain slopes. The highest point on the island is Cerro El Yunque at 915 meters . It is twelve kilometers long and up to three kilometers wide. The southwestern part of the island ends in a narrow six kilometer long peninsula called Cordon Escarpado . Immediately before the western tip of the island, 1.5 km south, is the much smaller, third largest island in the archipelago, the uninhabited Isla Santa Clara .
population
The island had 843 residents in 2012 and 926 residents in 2017.
Flora and fauna
Lactoris fernandeziana is a species of plant that is endemic to the island of Robinson Crusoe. It is the only species of the genus Lactoris and is currently classified either in its own family Lactoridaceae or in the family of the Aristolochiaceae. Endemic among the flowering plants of the island are the species Gunnera peltata Phil. From the family Gunneraceae and Juania australis (Mart.) Drude ex Hook.f. (Syn .: Morenia chonta Phil. ) From the palm family (Arecaceae).
The island's biodiversity is now massively threatened by introduced species such as rats, goats and blackberry bushes.
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history
The island was discovered on November 22, 1574 by the Spanish captain Juan Fernández and named after him.
In 1704, the Scottish seaman Alexander Selkirk was abandoned on this island and lived here in complete solitude for four years and four months. The English writer Daniel Defoe was inspired by his story for his novel Robinson Crusoe . In 2008, a team of archaeologists found objects that could only have belonged to an early 18th century European, such as B. a navigation circle.
In April 1877, the Swiss Alfred von Rodt signed an eight-year lease and became subdelegado, sub-prefect of the island. When he arrived there were around 60 inhabitants, 100 cows, 60 horses and around 7,000 Juan Fernández goats living on the island, along with countless seals . The first ship loaded with 400 seal skins crashed into the storm. Von Rodt married the local Antuquita Sotomayor and fathered six children. The inhabitants made butter and cheese themselves and burned coal. In 1895 a canned lobster factory was built. The Chilean government now began to actively promote fishing. After the lease expired, von Rodt was appointed colony inspector. He also acted as judge, forestry, marine, customs and post chief. On July 4, 1905, von Rodt died after a brief illness. His descendants have lived as simple fishermen ever since. Great-granddaughter Flora de Rodt runs the Barón de Rodt restaurant in the village. In the cemetery there is his gravestone with the inscription Don Alfredo de Rodt - first colonial ruler of the island .
The approximately 600 inhabitants of the island mostly live in the town of San Juan Bautista, centrally on the north coast; they live from fishing for lobsters and tourism . The population has a few vehicles, a satellite internet connection and television reception.
Several hundred tourists visit the island every year. It is primarily a sight because of its connection with the novelist Robinson Crusoe . Diving is also gaining in popularity, with diving especially after the wreck of the German cruiser SMS Dresden, which sank off the island in the First World War . The Dresden, which belongs to Vice Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee's East Asia Squadron, was the only ship to escape the naval battle in the Falkland Islands , but was sunk by its own crew on March 14, 1915 after it was found incapacitated by the British cruiser HMS Glasgow and shot at. The wreck lies in the Cumberland Bay in position 33 ° 38 '6 " S , 78 ° 49' 30" W . In the rocky coast behind the last berth of the Dresden there are still some shells from the guns of the British cruisers. The crew members of the "Dresden" were interned in Chile. Some stayed on the island and are also buried there. The school with the kindergarten that is located today bears the name of the small cruiser "Escuela Dresden".
The earthquake in central Chile on February 27, 2010 triggered a tsunami that destroyed almost all buildings on the island and claimed several lives. Twelve-year-old Martina Maturana saved the lives of many villagers by rang the warning bell with her presence of mind as the wave rushed toward the coast.
Climate change
Like most of the Pacific Islands, Robinson Crusoe has been affected by the effects of climate change ; a study by Karnauskas et al. (2016) in the journal Nature Climate Change suggest that climate change is expected to lead to a complete dehydration of Robinson Crusoe by 2090.
- Views
Robinson Crusoe Island
San Juan Bautista
Fishermen off the coast
Lactoris fernandeziana , illustration
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literature
- Diana Souhami: Selkirk's Island - The True Story of Robinson Crusoe . Goldmann, Munich. First edition (2002), ISBN 978-3-442-30885-9
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Archipiélago Juan Fernández. Sitio prioritario para la conservación de la bioversidad global. Sistematizacion del estado actual del conocimiento. Santiago 2009 (Spanish, wordpress.com [PDF; accessed January 8, 2017]).
- ↑ Santibáñez, HT, Cerda, MT: Los parques nacionales de Chile: una guía para el visitante . Ed .: Editorial Universitaria (= Colección Fuera de serie ). 2004, ISBN 978-956-11-1701-3 (Spanish, google.cl [accessed January 8, 2017]).
- ↑ Microcensus 2017 of the Instituto National de Estatisticas Chile
- ^ Tropicos. [1]
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Gunnera - World Checklist of Selected Plant Families of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on February 13, 2017.
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Juania - World Checklist of Selected Plant Families of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on February 13, 2017.
- ↑ Unique wildlife on Robinson Crusoe islands at risk from goats and brambles. The Guardian, November 16, 2009, accessed February 2, 2019 .
- ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung, October 31, 2008, p. 14
- ↑ Chile after the earthquake: grief, death and rubble. In: Spiegel Online . February 28, 2010, accessed June 9, 2018 .
- ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/04/chilean-girl-saves-her-is_n_485835.html
- ↑ How 12-year-old girl saved her Chilean island from catastrophe. March 4, 2010, accessed October 1, 2019 .
- ↑ Karnauskas et al. (2016), https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2987
Web links
- Terra X - Robinson Crusoe's treasure island
- Robinson Crusoe in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)