Desecheo (Spanish pronunciation: [deseˈtʃeo]) is a small uninhabited island of the archipelago of Puerto Rico located in the northeast of the Mona Passage; 21 km from the west coast (Punta Higüero) of the main island of Puerto Rico and 50 km northeast of Mona Island. It has a land area of 1.5 km2 (exactly 1,524,613 m2, or 0.589 sq mi, or 376.74 acres). Politically, the island is administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Christopher Columbus was the first European to visit the island during his second voyage to the New World; however, it was not named until 1517 by Spanish explorer Nuñez Alvarez de Aragón.