Madre de Dios Island (Spanish: ''Isla Madre de Dios'', ) is an uninhabited island in the

Magallanes Region The Magallanes Region (), officially the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region ( es, Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena), is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is the southernmost, largest, and second lea ...

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 east a ...

. It is located west of the Trinidad Channel and Concepción Channel. Madre de Dios Island is composed partly of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and has several natural caves. In one of those caves, called the "Cave of the Whales", skeletons of whales 2600 to 3500 years old have been discovered 10 to 30 meters above sea level. In another cave, named Cueva del Pacifico, rock art was discovered in 2006. Many other caves near the coast were used by the indigenous Kaweskar people for burial. One skull found dates back to 4500 years ago. Some caves were used as temporary camps. The island, along with 53 smaller nearby islands, was protected as a nature reserve (''Bien Nacional Protegido'') in 2007. The island obtained its current name from a map in

Alonso de Ovalle Fr. Alonso de Ovalle (Santiago; July 27, 1603 – Lima; May 1651) was a Chilean Jesuit priest and chronicler of Chilean history, author of the ''Historica relacion del Reyno de Chile y de las missiones y ministerios que exercita en él la Comp ...

's work ''Histórica relación del reino de Chile'' which was published in 1646 in Italy. Apparently Alonso de Ovalle had based this name on the exploration of

Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1532–1592) was a Spanish explorer, author, historian, mathematician, and astronomer. His birthplace is not certain and may have been Pontevedra, in Galicia, where his paternal family originated, or Alcalá de Henare ...

's expedition in the area in 1579. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa had called a cove from where he made observations ''Nuestra Señora (del Rosario)'', and from this name Alonso de Ovalle elaborated it to Madre de Dios and extended it to name a whole island.

References

External links

Islands of Chile @ United Nations Environment Programme

World island information @ WorldIslandInfo.com

South America Island High Points above 1000 meters
*

United States Hydrographic Office The United States Hydrographic Office prepared and published maps, charts, and nautical books required in navigation. The office was established by an act of 21 June 1866 as part of the Bureau of Navigation, Department of the Navy. It was transf ...

South America Pilot
(1916)
French expedition to Isla Madre de Dios

a film by Luc-Henri Fage, 52 min., GEDEON, 2009.
L'île aux Glaciers de Marbre
', Georges Marbach & al, Centre Terre publisher, Toulouse 2012.

Photos of Isla Madre de Dios
Karst caves Archaeological sites in Chile Islands of Magallanes Region {{MagellanAntarctic-geo-stub

See also

References

External links