The Diego Ramírez Islands ( es, Islas Diego Ramírez) are a small group of

subantarctic The sub-Antarctic zone is a region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands ...

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

s located in the southernmost extreme of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

History

The islands were first sighted on 12 February 1619 by the Spanish Garcia de Nodal expedition, and named after the

cosmographer The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-scal ...

of the expedition, Diego Ramírez de Arellano. They were cited as the southernmost land mass plotted as of that time, and retained the distinction for 156 years, until the discovery of the

South Sandwich Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oce ...

in 1775. In 1892, the Chilean government rented the islands to Pedro Pablo Benavides for fishing and on condition that a lighthouse, a port, and a school would be built. Later the rent was transferred to Koenigswerther and Pasinowich. The

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Origins and the War ...

established a meteorological station above Caleta Condell, a small cove on the northeastern side of Isla Gonzalo (Gonzalo Island), in 1957, and resupplies it several times each year.Dingwall (1995), p. 109. This is the southernmost inhabited outpost outside

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. The next most southerly inhabited outpost is the lighthouse of

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...

Cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

s occasionally pass by on their way to and from Antarctica.

Geography

The islands lie about west-southwest of

and south-southeast of Ildefonso Islands, stretching north-south. They are divided into a smaller northern group with six islets, and a larger southern group, separated by a passage wide. The two largest islands,

Isla Bartolomé Isla Bartolomé is an uninhabited subantarctic island. Administratively it belongs to Chile. Geography and ecology With an area of 93 ha and a maximum height of it is the largest of the Diego Ramírez Archipelago, being more than twice ...

and Isla Gonzalo, both lie in the southern group.

Águila Islet Águila Islet ( es, Islote Águila, "Eagle Islet") is the southernmost point of the American continent (including the islands, but not counting the South Sandwich Islands). It is part of the larger southern group of the Diego Ramírez Islands, a ...

(''Islote Águila''), the southernmost land of the group, is at latitude and longitude coordinates 56°32'9"S. They lie about 350 km north of

Sars Bank Sars Bank (named for M. Sars and G. O. Sars) is located in the Drake Passage in between the southern tip of South America and Antarctica. The bank's coordinates are , about 350 km south of Diego Ramírez Islands and 500 km from the South Shetlan ...

, a

seamount A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise a ...

that once may have been an island. File:Diego Ramirez Islands.jpg, View of the Diego Ramirez Islands File:Diego Ramirez station.jpg, The Chilean station on Isla Gonzalo, with the beacon visible at highest point of the island __NOTOC__

Climate

The islands have a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. undra climate https://www.britannica.com/science/tundra-climateThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019 It is classified as ET according to Köppen ...

('' ET)'' with abundant precipitation. Temperatures remain chilly to cool throughout the entire year.

Environment

Important Bird Area

The islands have been designated as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

for their significant seabird breeding populations. These include colonies of

macaroni Macaroni (, Italian: maccheroni) is dry pasta shaped like narrow tubes.Oxford DictionaryMacaroni/ref> Made with durum wheat, macaroni is commonly cut in short lengths; curved macaroni may be referred to as elbow macaroni. Some home machine ...

and

southern rockhopper penguin The southern rockhopper penguin group (''Eudyptes chrysocome''), is a species of rockhopper penguin, that is sometimes considered distinct from the northern rockhopper penguin. It occurs in subantarctic waters of the western Pacific and Indian ...

s, grey-headed and black-browed albatrosses, and blue petrels. In 2022, Ricardo Rozzi et al. identified the Subantarctic rayadito (''Aphrastura subantarctica'') as a new bird species endemic to the Diego Ramírez Islands. Subantarctic rayadito individuals had been formerly idenfitied as belonging to the species ''Aphrastura spinicauda'' ( thorn-tailed rayadito).

References

External links

Chart of the islands made by ''Beagle'' expedition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diego Ramirez Islands Islands of Magallanes Region Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean Archipelagoes of Chile Lighthouses in Chile Important Bird Areas of Chile Important Bird Areas of subantarctic islands Seabird colonies Penguin colonies