How to make the most out of this travel site

Tierra del Fuego (Spanish for "Land of Fire") is an archipelago separated from the southernmost tip of the South American mainland by the Strait of Magellan. The southern point of the archipelago forms Cape Horn.

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 Region of Chile, the capital and chief town of which is Punta Arenas, situated on the mainland across the strait.

The biggest Chilean towns are Porvenir, on the main island, and Puerto Williams, on Navarino Island. 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 Río Grande, over the Atlantic coast.

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. It is, however, more likely that the fires he witnessed were from natural sources such as lightning.

Patagonia Wonderland - SA3307 Dates Available! TOUR TYPE: Specialist Tour TOUR FUND: US$550.00 TRAVEL TO: Argentina - Chile

11 Days

US$1,025.00

Patagonia Express Tour - SA30 Dates Available! TOUR TYPE: Overland Tour LOCAL PAYMENT: US$590.00 TRAVEL TO: Argentina - Chile

21 Days

US$975.00

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.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tierra del Fuego"