Patos Island (Spanish: Isla de Patos, Duck Island) is a small uninhabited island in the northwestern Gulf of Paria. The island is a part of the Dependencias Federales (Federal Dependencies) of Venezuela.
Patos Island is located about 540 kilometres (340 mi) northeast of Caracas in the Golfo de Paria (Gulf of Paria). The coordinates are 10°38′18″N 61°51′50″W / 10.63833°N 61.86389°W / 10.63833; -61.86389. It lies in the Boca Grande strait of the Bocas del Dragón (Dragon's Mouth), approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) off the Paria Peninsula of mainland Venezuela and about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west-south-west of Chacachacare, which is part of Trinidad and Tobago.
The uninhabited island has an area of only 0.65 square kilometres (0.25 sq mi)[1] with a length of 1.1 kilometres (0.68 mi) and 0.6 kilometres (0.37 mi) wide with the highest point reaching about 100 metres (330 ft).[2][3][4]
Patos Island was part of the former British colony of Trinidad and Tobago.[5]In 1859 the United Kingdom began a claim on the island that Venezuela rejected arguing that it was not mentioned in the capitulation of 1797 nor in the Treaty of Amiens of 1802, Despite this in 1902 the United Kingdom raised its flag on the island which provoked a strong protest from the Venezuelan government. In 1904 Venezuela included it as part of the federal territory Colón. On 26 February 1942, the island became part of Venezuela in exchange for Soldado Rock to Trinidad and Tobago[6] and was put under the administration of the Ministerio del Interior y de Justicia (Ministry of Interior and Justice)[1] as part of the Dependencias Federales.
10°38′18″N 61°51′50″W / 10.63833°N 61.86389°W / 10.63833; -61.86389