Los Monjes is a small archipelago of rocky islets about 80 kilometers northwest of the Gulf of Venezuela and roughly 35 kilometers off the Guajira Peninsula near the Colombia-Venezuela maritime border, administered by Venezuela as a federal dependency. The islands, covering only about 0.24 square kilometers and rising to a maximum of 72 meters, are grouped into Monjes del Sur, Monjes del Este and Monjes del Norte, with the two largest islands of the southern group linked by an artificial causeway. According to tradition the Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda named the islands in 1499 because their steep rock formations resembled the hoods worn by monks. The Venezuelan Navy maintains a base, pier and lighthouse on Monjes del Sur; the islands have no natural resources and depend on supply from the mainland, and were the subject of a long running boundary dispute before Colombia recognized Venezuelan sovereignty over them in 1952.
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Los Monjes Archipelago (Wikipedia)
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The Los Monjes islands (Spanish: Archipiélago Los Monjes) is a federal dependency of Venezuela are located to the northwest 80 kilometres (49.7 miles) of the Gulf of Venezuela, 34.8 kilometres (21.6 miles) off the coast of Guajira Peninsula at the border between Colombia and the Venezuelan state of Zulia.
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