Chiloé Island

Chiloé Island, Spanish Isla Grande de Chiloé, island, southern Chile. It has an area of 3,241 square miles (8,394 square km). The island is the extension of Chile’s coastal mountain range, from which it is separated by the Chacao Strait. The nearest of the myriad islands and archipelagoes to its south are the Guaitecas Islands, which lie across the Guafo Gulf. To the east, 30 miles (48 km) across the Corcovado Gulf, is the mainland; to the west is the Pacific Ocean. Situated in an area of heavy rainfall, the densely forested island is little developed. Spaniards captured it from Indians in 1567 and controlled it until 1826, making it the last foothold in Chile of royalist resistance during the struggle for Chilean independence. Most of the island’s inhabitants (Chilotes) live in one of Chiloé’s port cities, Ancud or Castro (the island’s oldest city, founded 1567). Both cities are connected by road. Chilotes are engaged in agriculture (potatoes, grains), livestock raising (sheep, cattle), fishing, and lumbering. Historically, a large number of Chilotes have migrated to the mainland or to southern Argentina.