Savage Islands
Macaronesian archipelago in the North Atlantic
The Savage Islands, or Selvagens Islands (Portuguese: Ilhas Selvagens, IPA: [ˈiʎɐʃ sɛlˈvaʒɐ̃jʃ]; also known as the Salvage Islands), are a small Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, 280 kilometres (175 mi) south of Madeira and 165 kilometres (105 mi) north of the Canary Islands. The archipelago includes two major islands, Selvagem Grande and Selvagem Pequena, each surrounded by a cluster of islets and reefs, with the total area of 2.73 km2 (1.05 sq mi). The archipelago is administered as part of the Portuguese municipality of Funchal, belongs to the Madeiran civil parish of Sé, and is the southernmost point of Portugal.
It was designated a natural reserve in 1971, recognising its role as a very important nesting point for several species of birds. Since then, the susceptible bird populations (namely Cory's shearwater) and nearby waters have been more closely protected by the Portuguese government. Given its status, remoteness and few fresh water sources, the archipelago is today largely uninhabited. The only residents year-round are stationed on Selvagem Grande Island, which includes reserve staff and scientists conducting research on wildlife. Two rangers are also usually resident on Selvagem Pequena between May and October. In May 2016, a National Geographic Society scientific expedition prompted the extension of the marine reserve.
Geography
The Savage Islands are part of Macaronesia, which comprises several island groups in the North Atlantic Ocean, near Europe and off the coast of Morocco in North Africa.
“Savage Islands” enters the record as macaronesian archipelago in the North Atlantic. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Savage, Islands and Macaronesian can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q27088. VIAF identifies the subject as 237245703. The Library of Congress control number is sh85119860. Authority coordinates are 30.146, -15.864. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971 and 2016.
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This entry incorporates text from “Savage Islands” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.