Island, southwestern Chile.
Lying some 30 mi (50 km) off the mainland, it has an area of 3,241 sq mi (8,394 sq km). Spaniards captured it from Indians in 1567 and controlled it until 1826, making it a last foothold in Chile of royalist forces during the wars for independence. Heavily forested, the island is little developed. The island's inhabitants make their living by agriculture, fishing, and forestry.