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H Land of Fire is an archipelago and a homonymous island in the south of its continent South America, from which the largest island is separated by Strait of Magellan.
At a glance
The archipelago is divided between Argentina and Chile with the latter having national sovereignty in the west and Argentina in the east. The part of Argentina was renamed "Province of the Land of Fire" with important cities on Rio Grande and Ushuaia. In the western part (of Chile) main cities are Porvenir and Puerto Williams.
The main island has an area of 48,000 sq.km. and is called "Big Island of the Land of Fire" or "Big Island" or "Land of Fire" and has a triangular shape. Its largest cities belong to the Argentine side. Near it there are five other medium-sized islands, islets and islets. These include Hoste, Navarin, Gordon, Stewart and Wallaston (south of the Beagle Canal) and Clarence, Dawson and Desert Island (west).
The Land of Fire ("Tierra del Fuego" in Spanish) was so named by Magellan that in 1520, as he passed through the archipelago, he saw many burning fires on the shore. The natives were later treated very disparagingly by Charles Darwin and he even considered them the lost link between the ape man and homo sapiens.
The arrival of missionaries and other colonial powers (who also brought sheep for livestock) but also viruses in which the natives had no antibodies, decimated the population. Those who survived this wave were exterminated after 1880 when nuggets of gold were found there and gold diggers arrived from all parts of South America and beyond.
The son of one of the first missionaries, E. Lucas Bridges, wrote the book "The Uttermost Part of the Earth" which describes the natives and how they disappeared from the face of the earth. The area was claimed by Chileans and Argentines and formally divided between them in 1881. In 1978 when the two countries wanted to secure rights to Antarctic, found themselves on the brink of war again. Today the locals on both sides of the island and on the smaller islands of the area live mainly from tourism and livestock.
The best time to visit the Land of Fire is from December to the end of February, the time that corresponds to the summer of the southern hemisphere.
The area has a short and cold summer, and a long but relatively mild winter, with almost constant rain, fog and snowfall or hail. At altitudes above 700 meters the snow does not melt. The average temperature in summer is 10 degrees Celsius but often 15 - rarely reaches 30 degrees Celsius. In winter the average temperature is 1 degree Celsius but can reach -10 degrees Celsius. If you start from Hellas or another country of the Northern Hemisphere remember that there the seasons are reversed and that in similar latitudes or extremes Parallels there are no spring and autumn as seasons, but merely as calendar designations.
Languages
Areas
Important cities
- Ushuaia (Spanish: Ushuaia) - the southernmost city in the world
- Porvenir (Spanish: Porvenir) —
- Puerto Williams (Spanish: Puerto Williams) —
- Rio Grande (Spanish: Río Grande) —
Additional destinations
- Tierra del Fuego National Park (Spanish: Tierra del Fuego National Park) —
Surrounding islands
- Cape Horn (Spanish: Cape of Horn) - Although not the southernmost point of South America on the Diego Ramirez Islands, Cape Horn marks the northernmost point of the Drake Strait.
- Diego Ramirez Islands (Spanish: Islas Diego Ramírez) —
- Los Estados (Spanish: Isla de los Stados) —
How to get there
The country is also connected to Chile and with Argentina both by air and by ferry (ferry journey takes about 20 minutes from Chile)
By air
By air
By train
By train
By road
By road
By boat
By boatHow to move
The island does not have a very unsuccessful road network and the only train that circulates (and this is limited) is the tourist one. Public transport is also minimal. In addition to the tourist offices that undertake the transfers, there are also taxis as well as car and bicycle rental offices.
By road
Bus
BusWhat to see
Entertainment
Local cuisine
You will find food that is common in either Chile either in Argentina. Fruits and vegetables are very expensive because they are imported from afar.
Local drinks
Stay safe
The island has a low crime rate.