Editing Penal colony (section)

==Americas==
{{Location map+|South America|float=right|width=250|caption=Selection of former penal colonies in South America|places=
<!-- North-East--> 
{{Location map~|South America|lat=5.293611 |long=-52.583056 |label=[[Devil's Island|Île du Diable]]|position=right|mark=Green pog.svg}}
{{Location map~|South America|lat=2.9675 |long=-78.1803 |label=[[Gorgona Island (Colombia)|Gorgona Island]]|position=right|mark=Green pog.svg}}
{{Location map~|South America|lat=-0.83 |long=-89.43 |label=[[San Cristóbal Island]]|position=right|mark=Green pog.svg| outside=1<!--prevents flagging for being off the map-->}}
{{Location map~|South America|lat=-3.853808 |long=-32.423786 |label=[[Fernando de Noronha]]|position=left|mark=Green pog.svg}}
{{Location map~|South America|lat=-10.807222 |long=-73.295278 |label=[[El Sepa]]|position=right|mark=Green pog.svg}}
{{Location map~|South America|lat=-22.816667 |long=-57.783333 |label=[[Tevego]]|position=right|mark=Green pog.svg}}
{{Location map~|South America|lat=-39.85 |long=-73.43 |label=[[Valdivian Fort System|Valdivia]]|position=left
|mark=Green pog.svg}}
{{Location map~|South America|lat=-51.532606 |long=-58.131669 |label=[[Port Louis, Falkland Islands|Puerto Luis]]|position=right|mark=Green pog.svg}}
{{Location map~|South America|lat=-53.63 |long=-70.92 |label=[[Fuerte Bulnes]]|position=left|mark=Green pog.svg}}
{{Location map~|South America|lat=-54.801944 |long=-68.303056 |label=[[Ushuaia]]|position=right|mark=Green pog.svg}}
}}
* Brazil had a prison on the island of [[Fernando de Noronha]] from 1938 to 1945.
* [[Gorgona Island (Colombia)|Gorgona Island]] in Colombia housed a state high-security prison from the 1950s. Convicts were dissuaded from escaping by the venomous snakes in the interior of the island and by the sharks patrolling the 30&nbsp;km to the mainland. The penal colony closed in 1984 and the last prisoners were transferred to the mainland. {{As of|2015}} most of the former jail buildings are covered by dense vegetation, but some remain visible.
* [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]] in Cuba is used by the United States as a penal colony.<ref>[https://www.thenation.com/article/world/guantanamo-bay-detention-visit/ ''Journey to Guantánamo: A Week in America's Notorious Penal Colony: A journalist heads to the US naval base and detention center, seeking out truths we're not meant to see.''] Moustafa Bayoumi. ''The Nation''. New York. 25 July 25/1 August 2022. Accessed 11 November 2022. [https://web.archive.org/web/20221111194220/https://www.thenation.com/article/world/guantanamo-bay-detention-visit/ Archived.]</ref><ref>[https://truthout.org/articles/the-imperialist-and-racist-origins-of-the-guantnamo-penal-colony/ ''The Imperialist and Racist Origins of the Guantánamo Penal Colony.''] Adam Hudson. ''Truthout''. Sacramento, California. 12 June 2013. Accessed 11 November 2022. [https://web.archive.org/web/20221111194208/https://truthout.org/articles/the-imperialist-and-racist-origins-of-the-guantnamo-penal-colony/ Archived.]</ref><ref>[https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2002-02-13-0202120790-story.html ''Guantanamo Could be Terrorist Penal Colony.''] John Mintz. ''The Washington Post''. Washington, DC. Reprinted by ''South Florida Sun-Sentinel''. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 13 February 2002. Accessed 11 November 2022.  [https://web.archive.org/web/20221111194236/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Archived.]</ref><ref>[https://captimes.com/news/opinion/column/john-laforge-over-150-still-suffer-at-guantanamo-our-penal-colony/article_6aeb836b-34d6-5d5e-9969-31ff46f8f3fe.html ''John LaForge: Over 150 still suffer at Guantanamo, our penal colony.''] John Laforge. ''Captimes''. Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. 26 Dec 2013. Accessed 11 November 2022. [https://web.archive.org/web/20221111194259/https://captimes.com/news/opinion/column/john-laforge-over-150-still-suffer-at-guantanamo-our-penal-colony/article_6aeb836b-34d6-5d5e-9969-31ff46f8f3fe.html Archived.]</ref>
* Mexico uses the island of [[Isla María Madre]] (in the [[Islas Marías|Marías Islands]]) as a [[Islas Marías Federal Prison|penal colony]]. With a small population (fewer than 1,200), the colony is governed by a state official who is both the governor of the islands and chief judge. The military command is independent of the government and is exercised by an officer of the Mexican Navy. The other islands are uninhabited. Mexico announced on 18 February 2019 that it will close the Islas Marías Federal Prison, replacing it with a new cultural center.<ref>''San Francisco Chronicle'', 19 February 2019, p. A-2</ref>
* During the 19th century Chile used [[Fuerte Bulnes]] and [[Punta Arenas]] on the [[Strait of Magellan]] as a penal colony (1844–1852).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-598975.html|title=Colonización de Magallanes (1843–1943)|access-date=2020-04-05|website=[[Memoria Chilena]]|publisher=[[Biblioteca Nacional de Chile]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Martinic |first1=Mateo |author-link=Mateo Martinic |date=1977 |title=Historia del Estrecho de Magallanes |language=es |url=http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-10441.html |location=Santiago |publisher=Andrés Bello |pages=140 }}</ref>
* Ecuador has used two islands in the [[Galápagos]] archipelago as penal colonies: the Island of [[San Cristóbal Island|San Cristóbal]] (1869–1904) and [[Isabela Island (Galápagos)|Isabela Island]] (1945–1959).
* Paraguay's first ruler and supreme dictator [[José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia]] opened the penal colony of [[Tevego]] in 1813, where mostly petty criminals were sent. It was abandoned in 1823, but re-established in 1843 as San Salvador. It was evacuated towards the end of the [[Paraguayan War]] of 1864–1870; soon afterwards [[Empire of Brazil|Brazilian]] troops destroyed it.
*Argentina had a penal colony in [[Ushuaia]], [[Tierra del Fuego]], in the [[Patagonia]] region. It was active between 1902 and 1947.
*Once Spanish presence in [[Valdivia]] was [[Dutch expedition to Valdivia#Spanish response|reestablished in 1645]] authorities had convicts from all-over the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] construct the [[Valdivian Fort System]].<ref name=museoniebla>{{Cite web|url=https://www.museodeniebla.gob.cl/643/w3-propertyvalue-42964.html?_noredirect=1|title=Historia|access-date=2020-04-07|website=Museo de Sitio Castillo de Niebla|publisher=Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural|language=es|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804005645/https://www.museodeniebla.gob.cl/643/w3-propertyvalue-42964.html?_noredirect=1|url-status=dead}}</ref> The convicts, many of whom were [[Afro-Peruvian]]s, became later soldier-settlers.<ref name=museoniebla/> Close contacts with indigenous [[Mapuche]] meant many soldiers spoke Spanish and had some command of [[Mapuche language|Mapudungun]].<ref name=Urbina2017>{{Cite journal |last1=Urbina C. |first1=María Ximena|author-link=Ximena Urbina |date=2017 |title=La expedición de John Narborough a Chile, 1670: Defensa de Valdivia, rumeros de indios, informaciones de los prisioneros y la creencia en la Ciudad de los Césares |trans-title=John Narborough expedition to Chile, 1670: Defense of Valdivia, indian rumours, information on prisoners, and the belief in the City of the Césares |url=https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-22442017000200011&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=es |journal=[[Magallania]] |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=11–36 |doi=10.4067/S0718-22442017000200011|doi-access=free }}</ref>