Worldly Gnome
  • Jump with Me
  • Tales from the Road
  • The Couchsurfing Experience
  • Cost Calculator
  • Meet Kristin

Ushuaia: The Closest City to Antarctica

11/26/2015

5 Comments

 
If you were to drive roughly 2,600 km south of Buenos Aires, you would come to the end of the mainland of Argentina. To continue south onto the island of Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) you would have to first go through immigration to enter Chile. Then you would drive for around an hour and go through immigration to re-enter Argentina. That sounds ridiculous right? Well it is. There has been much contention between Argentina and Chile over control of the region for many decades. Instead of going to war the two countries signed the Boundary Treaty of 1881 on July 23rd of that same year. If I could go back in time and witness the discussions revolving around their final decisions, it would be worth learning Spanish for. The way Tierra del Fuego is partitioned is illogical and gives Chile the big benefit of being able to control the flow of Argentinian goods. Something worthy of note is that the Chilean portion of Tierra del Fuego is basically uninhabited.

The arrival of man on the island of Tierra del Fuego is estimated to have occurred 10,000 years ago. The Selk’nam are assumed to have been the first to arrive. The Selk’nam group who settled in the southern part of the island in what is now known as Ushuaia were called the Yaghan. Over the centuries there was conflict between the different tribes on the island, but they all shared relatively similar lifestyles. Some lived in temporary structures made from logs and sticks and focused most of their efforts on hunting guanaco. Others lived in more permanent housing along the coastline and collected some of their food from the sea. Many tribes became expert canoe builders and placed their trust in their workmanship by venturing out into the rough waters surrounding the island. It is impressive that these tribes flourished in the extreme weather conditions of the region.

Fast forward to 1520 when the Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, sailing for the Spanish Crown arrived to what would become known as the Straits of Magellan. There are several stories revolving around how the island got its name. One states that Magellan saw the fires of the Yaghan and became nervous that they were waiting to ambush him. So he named it the Land of Smoke which was later changed to Land of Fire.

Jump ahead again to 1833. On January 29th, 1833 the HMS Beagle under the command of a familiar name, Robert Fitz-Roy, reached the channel on which Ushuaia now sits.  Fitz-Roy had employed a young scientist named Charles Darwin to join him on his journey.  Due to the fame the expedition would later gain the channel was named the Beagle Channel. The first non-indigenous people to settle in Tierra del Fuego were British missionaries. It wasn’t until 1873 that the first Argentinian citizens arrived in Ushuaia. Their names were Juan and Clara Lawrence. They moved south to teach. They among others had been encouraged by Julio Argentino Roca (who later served two terms as president) to settle in Tierra del Fuego with hopes of securing Argentina’s legitimacy and sovereignty in the region. Roca also encouraged the creation of a penal colony. Not only would this help the previously stated goal, but it was also a practical move. If criminals escaped, where would they go? They couldn’t survive the rough weather conditions on their own and swimming off the island wasn’t going to happen. Only a few did end up escaping. Several returned on their own accord to avoid freezing and starvation. One made it to Chile only for the Chilean authorities to return him to Ushuaia. One was never accounted for again, but it is assumed he died.

More settlers came with hopes of striking it rich in a supposed gold rush. Unfortunately for them the rumors of gold were just that, rumors. So many of them turned to sheep farming. Later on the Argentinian government made the province of Tierra del Fuego a tax free zone to encourage more citizens to relocate and to encourage companies to place their factories there. As a result most of Argentina’s manufacturing takes place in Tierra del Fuego, especially that of electronics.

Ushuaia itself is a popular resort town for skiing and the main hub in the world for tourists and expeditions heading to Antarctica. It is considered the southernmost city in the world. Chile does have a town to the south of Ushuaia, but it isn’t a city! Our time there was shared with our Swiss friends, Martina and Raphael, as well as Nico’s little brother, Fabrizzio. We went to the prison, the national park, and took a boat ride to see a penguin colony. If you ever want to plan a trip to Antarctica, I highly recommend going to Ushuaia and booking it from there. The prices I saw were SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper than anything you could book online or from another country. I met a retired couple who had just done a 18 day trip around the Falkland Islands/Malvinas, to South Georgia, and then onto Antarctica. Their stories and pictures made me incredibly jealous. The sheer number of penguin species they saw alone would make you want to do the trip.

So what are you waiting for? Start saving and make visiting the bottom of the world one of your action items. Just make sure you bring sea-sickness pills. The seas get pretty rough in those parts. ​
5 Comments
Magdalena
5/21/2021 07:54:40 am

Hi! Ushuaia is not the southernmost city in the world. It is Puerto Williams in Chile. There is a bit of rivalry there, with them being neighbouring countries and everything. Argentina has a bit of a problem with geography claims. They still think the Falklands belong to them and insist in calling them Las Malvinas, for example.

Reply
Sergio
2/1/2023 08:20:54 am

Actually, Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world. Puerto Williams is not a city as they have less than 3000 habitants. Regarding the Islas Malvinas, the foundations of Argentine sovereignty were already impeccably mentioned in the Decree of June 10, 1829 that created the Political and Military Command of the Malvinas Islands. The Decree established that Spain had material possession and exercised its full sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands at the time the emancipation process began on May 25, 1810, that Spanish possession of the islands was based on the right of first occupant, the consent of the main European maritime powers and the proximity of the islands to the mainland. Finally, he recalled that the Republic inherited all rights over the territories of the former metropolis and continued to exercise acts of domination over them. As of May 25, the national government carried out acts demonstrating sovereignty related to Malvinas. Just five days after the May Revolution, the Primera Junta ordered the payment of the salaries owed to the former Malvinas commander, Gerardo Bordas. The letter of General San Martín of August 1816 from Mendoza, requesting that the detainees in Malvinas be sent to him to add them to the Army of the Andes, is an example of the certainty of our heroes regarding sovereignty. A fundamental fact is the formal takeover and hoisting of the national flag in Malvinas on November 6, 1820, which meant the exercise of existing sovereignty since 1810 through effective possession. The creation of the Command in 1829 and the appointment of Luis Vernet to its position, were actions carried out in the same direction. The British usurpation of the Malvinas in 1833 was part of a process of colonial expansion that at this stage tried to control the interoceanic crossings. They all meant deaths, slavery and economic plunder.

Reply
Milo lydon
7/10/2022 12:13:19 am

It’s so cold there!! 0*!!

Reply
Veronica
3/9/2023 08:42:44 pm

Sergio is correct.
Absolutely correct.

On another note,
UK. throughout history have stolen enormous amounts of property from other countries....... Read the history of UK and how they, by force, used others.
Most recently and big time documented, India.
They have built UK with stolen property. Even the Royals right now are not the ones that should be in the throne. It had also been in a documentary.

Reply
Turkish Residence Permit Cost link
11/21/2023 10:26:15 pm

Since the beginning of the 19. century, economic differences between countries have become obvious, and as a result, migration has become more intense. 20. and 21. over the centuries, migration movements have been growing in the data repository and includesthe data repository of more and more people and countries. https://turkeyresidencepermit.com/apply

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Hi, I'm Kristin!

    I am an avid traveler who also loves photography, history, and food. Life is short and I am trying to gather as many special memories as I can.

    Picture

    Archive

    Argentina-USA
    Uruguay-Chile

    Argentina-Bolivia

    Pacific Ocean

    Vietnam- Korea

    Vietnam

    Thailand Again
    Laos-Cambodia-Malaysia
    Thailand to Laos
    Japan to Thailand
    Japan 1

    Taiwan 2
    Taiwan 1
    Thanks to these supporters!
    Picture

    Travel Resume:
    Mexico (1990)
    Brazil (2003)
    England (2007)
    Zambia (2007)
    Zimbabwe (2007)
    Slovakia (2007)
    Italy (2007)
    Germany (2007)
    Czech Republic (2007)
    Poland (2007)
    Croatia (2007)
    Bosnia (2007)
    Belgium (2007)
    The Netherlands (2007)
    Sweden (2007)
    France (2007)
    Ireland (2007)
    England (2008)
    Canada (2008)
    Italy (2009)
    Austria (2009)
    Hungary (2009)
    Germany (2009)
    Italy (2012)
    Turkey (2012)
    Taiwan (2012-2014)
    China (2012)
    Hong Kong (2013 & 2014)
    Macau (2014)
    Japan (2014)
    Thailand (2014)
    Laos (2014)
    Cambodia (2014)

    Malaysia (2014)
    Singapore (2015)
    Thailand (2015)
    Vietnam (2015)
    South Korea (2015)

    Japan (2015)
    Taiwan (2015)
    Australia (2015)
    New Zealand (2015)
    French Polynesia (2015)
    Canada (2015)
    USA (2015)
    Argentina (2015)
    Uruguay (2015)
    Bolivia (2015)
    Chile (2015)
    USA (2016)
    ​Belize (2016)
    Guatemala (2016)
    ​Costa Rica (2016)
    ​Greece (2016)
    Switzerland (2016)
    Liechtenstein (2016)
    Austria (2016)
    Germany (2016)
    ​
    Italy (2016)
    United Arab Emirates (2016)
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.