Tierra del Fuego

Introduction

Montanas de Tierra del Fuego

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Spanish for the land of fire, Tierra del Fuego provides visitors a chance to really see the end of the world. Despite its fiery name, the climate is cold, windy and rainy, but visitors will still find interesting sites.

The Argentinian city of Ushuaia is both the southern most city in the world, and a popular starting point for boats to Antarctica. Nearby is Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, with opportunities for horseback riding, mountain biking, trekking and hiking to scenic Lapataia Bay.

Geography

Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago consisting 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. The archipelago is separated from the southernmost tip of the South American mainland by the Strait of Magellan. The southern point of the archipelago forms Cape Horn.

Subregions

Half of this island, and the islands west and south of it, are part of the Magallanes y Antártica 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. Puerto Toro lies a few kilometres 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 Río Grande, over the Atlantic coast.

Countries

Tierra del Fuego is shared by Chile and Argentina.