Many people think the story was influenced by the life of Alexander Selkirk. Selkirk was a Scottish castaway who lived for over four years on a Pacific island belonging to Chile called Más a Tierra. (In 1966, the island was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island.) However, there are other possible sources. For example, Ibn Tufail's earlier novel "Hayy ibn Yaqdhan", also set on a desert island, may have inspired Defoe.