CHINCHA ISLANDS  , three small islands in the Pacific Ocean; about 12 M. from the

coast of Peru (to which country they belong), opposite the town of Pisco, and rob m. distant from Callao, in 13° 38' S., 76° 28' W . The largest of the group, known as the North Island or Isla del Norte, is only four-fifths of a mile in length, and about a third in breadth . They are of granitic formation, and rise from the sea in precipitous cliffs, worn into countless caves and hollows, which furnish convenient resting-places for the sea-fowl . Their highest points attain afl elevation of 113 ft . The islands have yielded a few remains of the Chincha Indian race . They were formerly noted for vast deposits of guano, and its export was begun by the Peruvian government in 184o . The supply, however, was exhausted in 1874 . In 1853—1854 the Chincha Islands were the chief object in a contest known as the Guano War between President Echenique and General Castilla; and in April 1864 they were seized by the Spanish rear-admiral Pinzon in order to bring the Peruvian government to apologize for its treatment of Spanish immigrants .