Ilhéu Chão is a small islet within the Desertas Islands, a small chain of islands which are in turn within the Madeira archipelago.

The island is approximately 1.5 kilometres (0.93 miles) long by 480 metres (1,570 ft) wide.

[1] It has steep cliffs at the shore line and a very flat top[1] formed by lava flows.

A narrow channel, 500 metres, separates it from Deserta Grande Island.

Two dominant plant species, the succulent Mesembryanthemum crystallinum and the alkali seepweed Suaeda vera, are left over from cultivation in the nineteenth century where they were grown to be burned for soda ash manufacture.