Chincha Islands

Chincha Islands

Islas Chincha (Spanish)
Partial view of the islands.
Chincha Islands
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	13°38′24″S 76°24′0″W
Major islands	Chincha Norte, Chincha Centro, Chincha Sur
Administration
Peru
Region	Ica Region
Additional information
Time zone	PET (UTC-5)

The Chincha Islands (Spanish: Islas Chincha) are a group of three small islands 21 kilometres (13 mi) off the southwest coast of Peru, to which they belong, near the town of Pisco. Since pre-Incan times they were of interest for their extensive guano deposits, but the supplies were mostly exhausted by 1874.

Geography

Chincha Islands in 1866.

Cormorants at Chincha Sur in 1910.

The largest of the islands, Isla Chincha Norte, is 1.3 kilometres (0.8 mi) long and up to 1.0 kilometre (0.6 mi) wide, and rises to a height of 34 metres (112 ft). Isla Chincha Centro is almost the same size as its neighbour to the north, while Isla Chincha Sur is half the size of its neighbours. The islands are mostly granite, and bordered with cliffs on all sides, upon which great numbers of seabirds nest.

History

The Chincha islands were once the residence of the Chincha people, but only a few remains are to be found today. Peru began the export of guano in 1840. Spain, not having recognized Peru's independence (it was not to do so until 1879) and desiring the guano profits, occupied the islands in April 1864, setting off the Chincha Islands War (1864–1866).

The islands were featured in a 1854 book by American author George Washington Peck titled Melbourne, and the Chincha Islands: With Sketches of Lima, and a Voyage Round the World. The book chronicled Peck's time spent in the Australian city of Melbourne, as well as the Chincha Islands.

See also

• Chinese coolies in the Chincha Islands
• Guano Islands, Islets, and Capes National Reserve System

External links

• Islas Chincha (1865 map)
• Islas Chincha (in Spanish)