Islas Ildefonso are a group of islands in Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. The islands belong to the Commune of Cabo de Hornos in Antártica Chilena Province

Antártica Chilena Province

Antártica Chilena Province is the southernmost and one of four provinces in Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region . The capital is Puerto Williams...

 of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. They are located at 55°44′S 69°26′W, 96 km (60 mi) west of Isla Hermite

Hermite Islands

The Hermite Islands are a group of Chilean islands in the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego. They form part of the Commune of Cabo de Hornos in Antártica Chilena Province of Magallanes y Antártica Chilena Region, at the southernmost end of South America...

, part of Tierra del Fuego

Tierra del Fuego

Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape...

, and 93 km (58 mi) NNW

NNW

NNW may refer to:*National Nurses Week, the week of May 6 through May 12 proclaimed by Richard Nixon in 1974 as a period for Americans to recognize nurses' service and contributions...

 of Diego Ramirez Islands

Diego Ramírez Islands

The Diego Ramírez Islands are a small group of lesser islands located in the southernmost extreme of Chile about south-west of Cape Horn and south-south-east of Ildefonso Islands, stretching north-south . Their land area is little more than...

, but only 27 km (17 mi) south of Isla Hoste

Hoste (island)

Hoste is one of the southernmost islands in Chile, lying south, across the Beagle Channel, from Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and west of Navarino Island, from which it is separated by the Murray Channel. With an area of , Hoste is the second largest island of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago,...

 or 23 km (14 mi) to rocks near Isla Hoste.

The islands consist of nine stacks

Stack (geology)

A stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, isolated by erosion. Stacks are formed through processes of coastal geomorphology, which are entirely natural. Time, wind and water are the only factors involved in the...

, within two groups. They extend 6 km (4 mi) on a northwest-southeast axis.

The land area measures about 200 sqm. More than 50% of this comprises the large single southern stack, which is 970 m (3,182 ft) long and between 80 to 200 m (262.5 to 656.2 ) wide.

The islands are steep and rocky, and covered in tussac grass.

They are inhabited by penguin

Penguin

Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...

s: both Rockhopper Penguin

Rockhopper penguin

The rockhopper penguins are three closely related taxa of crested penguins that have been traditionally treated as a single species and are sometimes split into two or three species. Not all experts agree on the classification of these penguins...

 and Magellanic Penguin

Magellanic Penguin

The Magellanic Penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus, is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil where they are occasionally seen as far north as Rio de Janeiro. It is the most numerous of the Spheniscus penguins. Its nearest...

 are present. There is a large colony of Black-browed Albatross

Black-browed Albatross

The Black-browed Albatross or Black-browed Mollymawk, Thalassarche melanophrys, is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae, and it is the most widespread and common albatross.-Taxonomy:...

 here also, with small number of Grey-headed Albatross

Grey-headed Albatross

The Grey-headed Albatross, Thalassarche chrysostoma, also known as the Grey-headed Mollymawk, is a large seabird from the albatross family. It has a circumpolar distribution, nesting on isolated islands in the Southern Ocean and feeding at high latitudes, further south than any of the other...

. Imperial Shag

Imperial Shag

The Imperial Shag, Phalacrocorax atriceps, is a black and white cormorant native to many subantarctic islands, the Antarctic Peninsula and southern South America, primarily in rocky coastal regions, but locally also at large inland lakes. It is sometimes placed in the genus Leucocarbo instead...

 is also a common breeding species.

See also

• List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
• List of Antarctic islands north of 60° S