Tierra del Fuego (Spanish for "Land of Fire") (English pronunciation ; Spanish ) is an archipelago, 28,476 sq mi (73,753 km²), separated from the southernmost tip of the South American mainland by the Strait of Magellan. The southern point of the archipelago forms Cape Horn.

Geography

The archipelago consists of a main island (Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, often simply called Tierra del Fuego or Isla Grande) with an area of 48,100 km², and a group of smaller islands.

Half of this island, and the islands west and south of it, are part of the Magallanes y Antartica Chilena Region, the capital and chief town of which is Punta Arenas, situated on the mainland across the strait. The biggest Chilean towns are Porvenir, capital of the Chilean Province of Tierra del Fuego, on the main island, and Puerto Williams, on Navarino Island, being the capital of the Antartica Chilena Province. Puerto Toro lies a few kilometers south of Puerto Williams and is the southernmost town in the world.

The eastern part of the archipelago belongs to Argentina, being part of the Tierra del Fuego Province; its capital is Ushuaia, the biggest city of the archipelago, and the other important city in the region is Rio Grande, over the Atlantic coast.

History

Its name comes from Ferdinand Magellan, who was the first European to pass it in 1520. He believed he was seeing the many fires (fuego in Spanish) of the Amerindians, which were visible from the sea, and that the "Indians" were waiting in the forests to ambush his armada. These were fires lit by the Yamana indian who lived in the southern part of the island, to ward off the low temperatures in the area.

The Yamana Indians spent a great deal of their time fishing and hunting from their canoes. They also used to carry a lighted fire aboard. Fire was critical to their survival since they wore little to no clothing.

Four native Fuegians, including "Jemmy Button" (Orundellico), were brought from Tierra del Fuego by Robert Fitzroy on his first voyage with the Beagle in 1830. They were taken to meet the King and Queen in London and were to an extent celebrities. The surviving three returned to Tierra del Fuego with the Beagle with Charles Darwin, who made extensive notes about his visit to the islands.

In 1881 it was divided between Argentina and Chile; previously it was claimed by both countries in its entirety.

Climate

The climate is very inhospitable in this region and is a subpolar oceanic climate (Koppen climate classification Cfc) with short, cool summers and long, wet, moderate winters: the northeast is characterized by its strong winds and little precipitation, in the south and west it is very windy, foggy, wet most of the year and there are very few days without rain, slush, hail or snow. Permanent snow-line begins at 700 m above sea level. Rainfalls are very heavy in the west (3000 mm a year). Temperatures are steady throughout the year, they hardly surpass 9 °C in summers and average 1 or 0 °C in winters in the city of Ushuaia (the southernmost city in the world). The cold and wet summers contribute to preserve the ancient glaciers. Snowfalls in summer can happen. Regions in the world with similar climates to the south of Tierra del Fuego are: Aleutian islands, Iceland, Alaska Peninsula and Faroe Islands.

Flora

Only 30% of the islands have forests which are classified as Magellanic subpolar; the northeast is made up by steppe and cool semidesert.

There are six species of trees found in Tierra del Fuego: Canelo or Winter's Bark (Drimys winteri), Maytenus magellanica, the southernmost conifer in the world (Pilgerodendron uviferum), and three kinds of Southern Beech; Nothofagus antarctica, Nothofagus pumilio and the evergreen Nothofagus betuloides. Very delicious fruits grow in open spaces in these forests, this is the case of beach strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis var. chiloensis forma chiloensis) and calafate (berberis buxifolia), which were and are collected respectively by indians and countrymen. These forests are unique in the world for having developed in a climate with such cold summers (around 9°C). Tree covers spread very close the southernmost tip of South America. Tree vegetation extends as far south as the Isla de los Estados, Navarino Island and the north of Hoste Island. Over 500 m height, dwarf nothofagus communities are found. Going further south, Wollaston Islands and the south of Hoste Island are covered by subantarctic tundra.

Fauna

Among the most notable animals in the archipelago that are found: parakeets, seagulls, guanacos, foxes, kingfishers, condors, owls, and firecrown hummingbirds. North American beaver, introduced in the 1940s, have proliferated and caused considerable damage to the island's forests.

Salmoninae

Like mainland Chile and Argentina to the North, the archipelago boasts some of the finest trout fishing in the world. Sea Run Brown Trout often exceed 20 lbs, particularly in rivers such as the Rio Grande and San Pablo and in the Lago Fagnano. Much of this water is private, catch and release and fly fishing only.

Economy

The main industries are oil, natural gas, sheep farming and ecotourism. On the Argentine side there are several electronic companies established. Tierra del Fuego is also home to the brewing company Cerveceria Fueguina, known for its three styles of Beagle Beer.

External links

Moribund Savages of Tierra del Fuego

References

Bridges, Lucas. 1948. Uttermost Part of the Earth. Reprint with Introduction by Gavin Young, Century Hutchinson, 1987. ISBN 0-7126-1493-1
Keynes, Richard. 2002. Fossils, Finches and Fuegians: Charles Darwin's Adventures and Discoveries on the Beagle, 1832-1836. HarperCollinsPublishers, London. Reprint: 2003.
Bollen, Patrick. 2000. "Tierra del Fuego" B/W Photobook. Lannoo Publishers, Tielt, Belgium. ISBN 90-209-4040-6
Islands-of-Chile
Geography-of-Magallanes-and-Chilean-Antartica-Region

Other pages about Geography of Magallanes and Chilean Antartica Region

-Aguila Islet -Almirantazgo Fjord -Angamos Island -Azopardo River -Bruggen Glacier -Brunswick Peninsula -Cami/Fagnano Lake -Cape Froward -Cape Horn -Cerro Castillo Dynevor -Cerro Chalten -Cerro Torre -Cordillera Darwin -Cordillera Riesco -Cordillera Sarmiento -Cordillera del Paine -Cueva del Milodon Natural Monument -Dawson Island -Del Toro Lake -Dickson Glacier -Diego Ramirez Islands -Drake Passage -False Cape Horn -Fjord of the Mountains -Greve Lake -Grey Glacier -Grey Lake -Grey River (Chile) -Hardy Peninsula -Hearst Island -Hermite Islands -Hornos Island -Hoste Island -Ildefonso Islands -Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego -Larsen Ice Shelf -Magdalena Island, Magallanes, Chile -Messier Channel -Monte Balmaceda -Mount Darwin (Andes) -Mount Tarn -Murray Channel -Navarino Island -Nordenskjold Lake -Paine River -Patagonia -Pehoe Lake -Picton, Lennox and Nueva -Primera Angostura -Punta Dungeness -Santa Ines -Sarmiento Lake -Serrano River -Southern Patagonian Ice Field -Strait of Magellan -Tierra del Fuego -Ultima Esperanza Sound -Villa Puerto Eden -Weddell Sea -Wellington Island -Wollaston Islands

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Tierra del Fuego