Robinson Crusoe Island — officially Isla Robinson Crusoe — was renamed by the Chilean government in 1966, partly to boost tourism, from its older colonial name Más a Tierra. The island had inspired Defoe's 1719 novel only indirectly: the actual castaway was Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor marooned there from 1704 to 1709. Chile's decision to anchor a circulating denomination to this literary geography reflects a broader push to brand the Juan Fernández Archipelago internationally, the same period that saw the island designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Robinson Crusoe Island — officially Isla Robinson Crusoe — was renamed by the Chilean government in 1966, partly to boost tourism, from its older colonial name Más a Tierra. The island had inspired Defoe's 1719 novel only indirectly: the actual castaway was Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor marooned there from 1704 to 1709. Chile's decision to anchor a circulating denomination to this literary geography reflects a broader push to brand the Juan Fernández Archipelago internationally, the same period that saw the island designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.