Juan Fernández (redirected from Arch Juan Fernandez)

Juan Fernández (hwän fārnän`dās), group of small islands, S Pacific, c.400 mi (640 km) W of Valparaiso, Chile. They belong to Chile and are administered as a part of Valparaiso prov. The two principal islands are Isla Robinson Crusoe (formerly Más a Tierra) and Isla Alejandro Selkirk (formerly Más Afuera). Volcanic in origin, they have a pleasant climate and are rugged and wooded. The chief occupation is lobster fishing. Discovered by a Spanish navigator in 1563, the islands achieved fame with the publication of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719), generally acknowledged to have been inspired by the confinement on Más a Tierra (1704–9) of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor. Occupied by the Spanish in 1750, the islands passed to Chile upon its independence. In the 19th cent., Isla Robinson Crusoe was a penal colony.

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Juan Fernández 

a group of volcanic islands belonging to Chile; located in the Pacific Ocean, 450 km west of the South American coast. The islands have an area of 185 sq km and a maximum elevation of 1,650 m. The climate is subtropical, and the vegetation features evergreen forests (with many endemic species) and abundant ferns. There are meadows in leeward areas. Economic activities include fishing and cattle raising.

It is probable that the Juan Fernández Islands were a source of inspiration to D. Defoe; for that reason the largest island, Isla Más a Tierra, is also known as Isla Róbinson Crusoe.