Desventuradas Islands
| Native name: Islas Desventuradas | |
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Map of Desventuradas Islands, also known as San Félix Islands
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 Desventuradas Islands
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| Geography | |
| Archipelago | Desventuradas |
| Adjacent bodies of water | Pacific ocean |
| Total islands | 4 |
| Major islands | San Ambrosio, San Félix, Gonzalez and Roca Catedral. |
| Area | 5.36 km2 (2.07 sq mi)(together) |
| Highest elevation | 479 m (1,572 ft)max. |
| Administration | |
| Region |
 Valparaíso
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| Province | Valparaíso Province |
| Commune | Juan Fernández |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 11 |
| Additional information | |
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NGA UFI= -900077 "San Ambrosio" -883263 "Gonzáles" -900282 "San Félix" |
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The Desventuradas Islands, also known as Islas de los Desventurados, (Spanish: Unfortunate Islands) is a group of four small islands located 850 kilometres (530 mi) off the coast of Chile, northwest of Santiago in the Pacific Ocean. They are considered part of Insular Chile.
The vegetation is a miniature mosaic of matorral, barren rock, various size trees, and shrubs mixed with ferns and perennial herbs. There are no permanent sources of fresh water on the islands. Vertebrates inhabiting both islands are limited to birds. Ten species of marine birds and one land bird species, some of them endangered, make their nests on or visit the islands.
Because of their isolation and difficulty of access, there are no human settlements on these islands, but a detachment of the Chilean Navy is stationed on Isla San Félix, which also hosts a 2,000-metre (6,600 ft) runway (ICAO code for the airfield: SCFX).
The islands were first sighted by Juan Fernández on 6 November 1574 while voyaging from Callao to Valparaíso, and perhaps earlier by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa wrote in 1579 that "they are now called after St. Felix and St. Ambor (i.e. Felix and Nabor)". However, the name of the martyr Ambor (Nabor) became confused with that of the more famous bishop Saint Ambrose (San Ambrosio). It is, probably, one of these islands that Captain John Davis struck one night in 1686. He was able to continue his voyage but, erroneously reported the position of the incident.
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Wikipedia