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{{Short description|Series of small guano-covered islands off the southwestern coast of Peru}}

factoids

| image_name = Chincha Islands - panoramio.jpg| image_size = 260px| image_caption = Partial view of the islands.| map_alt = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Peru| pushpin_label = | pushpin_label_position = left| pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_relief = | pushpin_map_caption = 1324760display=it}}| etymology = | location = Pacific Ocean| country = {{PER}}| country_admin_divisions_title = Region| country_admin_divisions = Ica Region| total_islands = | major_islands = Chincha Norte, Chincha Centro, Chincha Sur| area_km2 = Peru Time>PET| utc_offset1 = -5}}The Chincha Islands () are a group of three small islands {{Convert|21|km|mi|0|abbr=out}} 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

(File:Carguio de guano en las islas Chincha..jpg|left|thumb|Chincha Islands in 1866.)File:FMIB 42121 Very small portion of a flock of cormorants on the south island of the Chinchas.jpeg|left|thumb|Cormorants at Chincha Sur in 1910.]]The largest of the islands, Isla Chincha Norte, is {{convert|0.8|mi|km|1|order=flip}} long and up to {{convert|0.6|mi|km|1|order=flip}} wide, and rises to a height of {{convert|34|m|0|abbr=out}}. 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.EB1911, Chincha Islands, 6, 231,

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.BOOK, Peck, George Washington, Melbourne, and the Chincha Islands: With Sketches of Lima, and a Voyage Round the World, 1854, C. Scribner,weblink 12 November 2022,

See also

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

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

• Islas Chincha (1865 map)
• Islas Chincha {{in lang|es}}

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