Ushuaia is located in a widebay on the southern coast ofIsla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. It is bounded on the north by theMartial mountain range and on the south by theBeagle Channel. It is the onlymunicipality in theDepartment of Ushuaia and has an area of 9,390 km2 (3,625 sq mi). It was founded on 12 October 1884 byAugusto Lasserre and is located on the shores of theBeagle Channel surrounded by the mountain range of the Martial Glacier, in the Bay of Ushuaia. In addition to being an administrative center, it is a light industrial port and tourist destination. Ushuaia is located roughly 1,100 kilometres (680 mi) from theAntarctic Peninsula and is one of five internationally recognizedAntarctic gateway cities; it is one of two South American cities with that status along with Chile'sPunta Arenas.
The wordUshuaia comes from theYaghan language:ush andwaia ('bay' or 'cove') and means "deep bay' or 'bay to background'. The act creating the subprefecture in 1884 cites the name "Oshovia", one of the many orthographic variations of the word.[1] Itsdemonym isUshuaiense.
TheSelkʼnam people, also called the Ona, first arrived inTierra del Fuego about 10,000 years ago. The southern group of people indigenous to the area, theYaghan (also known as Yámana), who occupied what is now Ushuaia, lived in continual conflict with the northern inhabitants of the island.[2]
For much of the latter half of the 19th century, the eastern portion of Tierra del Fuego was populated by a substantial majority of nationals who were not Argentine citizens,[clarification needed] including a number of British subjects. Ushuaia was founded informally by British missionaries, following previous British surveys, long before Argentine nationals or government representatives arrived there on a permanent basis. The British shipHMSBeagle, under the command of CaptainRobert FitzRoy, first reached the channel on January 29, 1833, during its maiden voyage surveyingTierra del Fuego.[3] The city was originally named by earlyBritish missionaries[4] using the nativeYámana name for the area. Much of the early history of the city and itshinterland is described inLucas Bridges’s bookUttermost Part of the Earth (1948). The nameUshuaia first appears in letters and reports of theSouth American Mission Society[4] in England.[clarification needed] The British missionaryWaite Hockin Stirling[5] became the first European to live in Ushuaia when he stayed with the Yámana people between 18 January and mid-September 1869. In 1870 more British missionaries arrived to establish a small settlement. The following year the first marriage was performed. During 1872, 36 baptisms and seven marriages and the first European birth (Thomas Despard Bridges) in Tierra del Fuego were registered.[6] The first house constructed in Ushuaia was a pre-assembled three room home prepared in theFalkland Islands in 1870 for ReverendThomas Bridges. One room was for the Bridges family, a second was for a Yámana married couple, while the third served as the chapel.[7]
Building of the government of the province in the city of Ushuaia, with typical local architecture.
Thomas Bridges learned the Yaghan language and was a fluent speaker. To a lesser extent he was able to communicate in the Ona (forest dwellers) language. His missionary work was mainly directed at the Yaghans. The word Yamana simply means "people" in the Yaghan language. He wrote a dictionary of the Yaghan language, the original manuscript of which is in the British Museum. As the Yaghans had no ability nor means to write, Thomas Bridges had to construct an alphabet which was suited to the phonetics of the language. The original manuscript was lost three times but recovered and almost published under an incorrect name. More than one alphabet has been used over the years in the rendering of this dictionary. The odyssey of the manuscript covered nearly half a century before it was finally published. Natalie Goodall was instrumental in reprinting the dictionary in 1987 and providing valuable insights into the history of Thomas Bridges' work. Copies of the dictionary provide material on the letters and pronunciations used which in many respects differ from the alphabet used in the English language. (Ref: A de la Rue).
During 1873, Juan and Clara Lawrence, the first Argentine citizens to visit Ushuaia, arrived to teach school. That same yearJulio Argentino Roca, who later served as Argentine President twice, promoted the establishment of apenal colony for re-offenders, modeled after one inTasmania,Australia, in an effort to secure permanent residents fromArgentina and to help establish Argentinesovereignty over all of Tierra del Fuego.[8][9] But only after theBoundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina did formal efforts get under way to establish the township and its prison.
During the 1880s, many gold prospectors came to Ushuaia following rumors of large gold fields, which proved to be false.[10][11] On 12 October 1884, as part of the South Atlantic Expedition,CommodoreAugusto Lasserre established the sub-division of Ushuaia,[12] with the missionaries and naval officers signing the Act of Ceremony. Don Feliz M Paz was named Governor of Tierra del Fuego and in 1885 named Ushuaia as its capital. In 1885 the territory police was organized under Antonio A. Romero with headquarters also in Ushuaia. But it was not until 1904 that the Federal Government ofArgentina recognized Ushuaia as the capital of Tierra del Fuego.[6] The prison was formally announced in anexecutive order by the then-Acting President Roca in 1896.[6][clarification needed]
Ushuaia suffered several epidemics, includingtyphus,pertussis, andmeasles, that much reduced the native population. But because the Yámana were not included in census data, the exact death toll is not known. The first census was held in 1893, which recorded 113 men and 36 women living in Ushuaia.[6] By 1911 the Yámana had all practically disappeared, so the mission was closed.[13] The population grew to 1,558 by the 1914 census.[clarification needed]
In 1896 the prison received its first inmates, mainly re-offenders and dangerous prisoners transferred fromBuenos Aires, but also some political prisoners. A separate military prison opened in 1903 at the nearbyPuerto Golondrina. The two prisons merged in 1910, and that combined complex still stands today.[5] Thus, during the first half of the 20th century, the city centered around the prison built by the Argentine government to increase the Argentine population and to ensure Argentine sovereignty over Tierra del Fuego.[8][9] The prison followed the example of the British inTasmania and the French inDevil's Island.[9][14] Escape from Tierra del Fuego was similarly difficult, although two prisoners managed to escape into the surrounding area for a few weeks.[8] The prison population thus became forced colonists and spent much of their time building the town with timber from the forest around the prison. They also built a railway to the settlement,[15] now a tourist attraction known as theEnd of the World Train (Tren del Fin del Mundo), the southernmost railway in the world.
Argentine Navy seaplane, one of the first to arrive to Ushuaia in the 1930s
The prison operated until 1947, when PresidentJuan Domingo Perón closed it by executive order in response to the many reports of abuse, unhealthy conditions, and unsafe practices.[5][14] Most of the guards stayed in Ushuaia, while the prisoners were relocated to other jails farther north. After the prison closed, it became a part of theBase Naval Ushuaia(in Spanish), functioning as a storage and office facility until the early 1990s.[16] Later it was converted into the current Museo Maritimo de Ushuaia.[17][14]
The naval base at Ushuaia was active during theFalklands War of 1982. The Argentine cruiserARAGeneral Belgrano, subsequently sunk by the British Fleet, sailed from the Port of Ushuaia, where a memorial was erected in February 1996.
Argentine Navy ships in Ushuaia
This also led to violence in the 2014Top Gear: Patagonia Special as the locals had taken offense to the license plate of the Porsche, which read "H982 FKL". The protesters believed that the number plate was a direct reference to the 1982 Falklands War fought between Argentina and the United Kingdom, and that it was a fake, deliberately designed for this specific trip to their country. The show's producers attempted to negotiate with Argentinian officials saying that the number plate was not fake (something that was later proven to be correct), but offered a compromise that the number plate would be removed before the game of car football. Attempts to placate the officials were unsuccessful; in fact, if anything, the attempts to reason with the officials may have escalated the scenario even further as, shortly afterwards, Clarkson received word from the producers that they had been ordered by the officials to leave the Tierra del Fuego area immediately.
Downtown Ushuaia in the eveningThematic Gallery Ushuaia.
Ushuaia is located on Ushuaia Bay at 6 meters above sea level, surrounded to the west, north, and east by theAndes Fueguinos. It is the only city accessed from the rest of the country by crossing part of the Andes mountain range, which runs along the southern edge ofTierra del Fuego. National Route 3 crosses the Sierra Alvear through the Garibaldi Pass to enter the Carabajal Valley, where it follows the Olivia River through the Sierra Sorondo to the Beagle Channel and Ushuaia Bay.[18][19][20] For this reason, it is considered the only trans-Andean city (ciudad trasandina) in Argentina.
Ushuaia has long been described as the southernmostcity in the world.[21][22][23] While there are settlements farther south, the only one of any notable size isPuerto Williams, aChilean settlement of some 2,000 residents.[24] As a center of population, commerce, and culture, and as a town of significant size and importance,[25] Ushuaia, however, clearly qualifies as a city. A 1998 article in the newspaperClarín[26] reported that the designation "southernmost city in the world" had been transferred to Puerto Williams by a joint committee from Argentina and Chile, but this was denied by Argentine authorities,[27][28] and the Secretariat of Tourism of Argentina continues to use the slogan in official documentation and web sites.[29]
Ushuaia features a significantly ocean-moderated mildtundra climate (Köppen:ET, bordering onCfc;Trewartha:Ftkk), with cool, but not cold, conditions throughout the year (average temperature remains above 0 °C and below 10 °C year round). Vegetation around the city thus does not resemble typical tundra but is instead heavily forested. Temperatures at the Ushuaia – Malvinas Argentinas International Airport average 1.3 °C (34.3 °F) in the coolest month (July), and 9.7 °C (49.5 °F) in the warmest month (January). The record low is −21.0 °C (−5.8 °F) in July, and the record high is 29.5 °C (85.1 °F) in January.[30] On average, the city experiences 146 days of precipitation a year, with many cloudy and foggy days, averaging 206 cloudy days a year.[31] This results in Ushuaia receiving an average of 3.93 hours of sunshine per day (an annual total of 1,434 hours) or about 30.2% of possible sunshine.[30] Despite receiving only 529.7 millimetres (21 in) average annual precipitation, Ushuaia is very humid, with an average humidity of 77%.[32]
Summers tend to be cloudy and windy, with maximum temperatures averaging around 14 °C (57 °F) during the day and about 5 °C (41 °F) at night.[31] Temperatures of 20 °C (68 °F) or more occur only on a handful of days, and night frost is always possible, as well as days below 10.0 °C (50 °F). Temperatures gradually diminish during the autumn, to reach maximum temperatures of about 4.5 °C (40 °F) and minimum temperatures of −1.4 °C (29 °F) in winter, with frequent snow, sleet and rain showers.[31] Some winters may bring extended periods of frost and snow with a perpetualsnow cover, whereas other winters might just bring snowstorms followed by thaws. Temperatures then very slowly recover during the spring, but snow showers and frost are a common occurrence until the beginning of the summer in December, and they might occur even in midsummer.Frost is common in any month.
The southwestern winds make the outer islands wetter, reaching 1,400 mm (55 in) atIsla de los Estados (Island of the States). Because temperatures are cool throughout the year, there is little evaporation. Snow is common in winter and regularly occurs throughout the year. Ushuaia occasionally experiences snow in summer (from November to March). Due to its high southern latitude, the city's climate is influenced by Antarctica. The duration of daylight varies from more than 17 hours in summer to just over 7 hours in winter.
Ushuaia is surrounded byMagellanic subpolar forests. On the hills around the town, the following indigenous trees are found:Drimys winteri (winter's bark),Maytenus magellanica (hard-log mayten) and several species ofNothofagus (southern beech).[citation needed] Trees in Ushuaia tend to follow the wind direction, and are therefore called "flag-trees" for their uni-directional growth pattern. "Originally this life form was considered genetically determined [Holtmeier, 1981] but the term was subsequently used to designate all genetically or environmentally determined stunted and dwarf trees at the timberland."[37]
Tourist attractions include theTierra del Fuego National Park and Lapataia Bay. The park can be reached by highway, or via theEnd of the World Train (Tren del Fin del Mundo) from Ushuaia. The city has a museum of Yámana, English, and Argentine settlement, including its years as a prison colony. Wildlife attractions include local birds,penguins,seals andorcas, many of these species colonizing islands in theBeagle Channel. There are daily bus and boat tours toHarberton, the Bridges family compound, Estancia Harberton. Tours also visit theLes Eclaireurs Lighthouse. Les Eclaireurs is sometimes confused with the "Lighthouse at the End of the World" (faro del fin del mundo) made famous byJules Verne inthe novel of the same name; but the latter lies some 200 mi (320 km) east of Ushuaia onIsla de los Estados (Island of the States).
Since 2007 Ushuaia has hosted the Bienal de Arte Contemporáneo del Fin del Mundo (Biennial of Contemporary Art at the End of the World), created and organized by the Patagonia Arte & Desafío Foundation under the rubric "South Pole of the Arts, Sciences, and Ecology". The Bienal has gathered over one hundred artists from five continents addressing the motto "think at the End of the World that another world is possible". As a pedagogical project it encourages students at all levels to "think about a better world".[39]
As in most of Argentina,football is a popular sport in Ushuaia, and in 2010 the TV showFIFA Futbol Mundial did a story about the sport's development in this locality. In 2015 Ushuaia hosted the firstPATHF Snow Handball Panamerican Championship.[40]
A popular sport in Ushuaia isice hockey, and low temperatures all year long make the city a perfect spot for practicing it outdoors. In 2010 the city opened an outdoorshort track andice hockey Olympic-sizeice rink (30 by 60 metres, 98 by 197 ft),[41] the first of its kind in South America. After this Argentina became the first South American nation to be upgraded from affiliate to associate member status of theInternational Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).[42]
Since 2005 the Municipality of Ushuaia and the Argentinean Ice Hockey Federation (FAHH) organize the yearly End of the World Cup (Copa del Fin del Mundo) that has gathered ice hockey teams from Ushuaia,Buenos Aires,Punta Arenas andSão Paulo and includes seven different competitions: one for men, one for women, four junior categories and an international tournament.[43]
Beside the local league and the Copa del Fin del Mundo, in 2016 the city hosted the first ice hockey Patagonian Championship, with teams from Ushuaia,Río Grande and Punta Arenas. After the tournament a new plan to build a roof over the ice rink was announced.[44] Ushuaia has two rival teams: Club Andino de Ushuaia (CAU) and Los Ñires.[44]
Severalski areas are located near Ushuaia, including Glacier El Martial (onMartial Mountains) andCerro Castor. Opened in 1999,[45] Cerro Castor is the southernmost full-fledged ski resort in the world.[46][47] On Cerro Castor, it is possible to ski just 200 metres (660 feet) above sea level. The summit reaches an elevation of 1,003 metres (3,291 feet)above sea level, and consistently cool temperatures allow the longest skiing season in South America. Winter temperatures fluctuate from 0 to −5 °C (32.0 to 23.0 °F). It has ten elevation facilities and 28ski trails for all skill levels. There are cafeterias, mountain huts, a ski school, a first aid room and a forest of beech.[48] Snowboarding, sledding, and snowshoeing are also available at Cerro Castor, in addition to alpine skiing.[49] It is located on the southern side of Cerro Krund,[50] 27 kilometres (17 miles) north of Ushuaia. The ski season is typically between June through October. In 2012 Cerro Castor hosted theFIS Freestyle Slopestyle World Cup, organized by theInternational Ski Federation (FIS),[51] and in 2015 it hosted the Interski Congress and World Cup, organized by theInternational Ski Instructors Association, which was its first ever event in the Southern Hemisphere.[52]
Theglacier is popular even during the summer months, when thechairlift operates in both directions. Hiking trails lead from the city's edge to the base of the glacier, which hasretreated considerably over the past century, as shown in photographs on display at the Antarctic Museum of Ushuaia.[53]
The Valley of Tierra Mayor and the Francisco Jerman Nordic Ski Area, located 20 km and 5 km away from Ushuaia respectively, are popularcross-country venues. Since 1986 Tierra Mayor hosts the annual Marchablanca, a 21 km traditional race organized by the Club Andino Ushuaia,[54] and theUshuaia Loppet, a full distance marathon that is one of the 20 members of theWorldloppet Ski Federation. Usually this race starts the Federation's Marathon Series in August.[55]
In October 2014 the Argentine Olympic Committee (COA) revealed the plan to use the2018 Summer Youth Olympics, to be held inBuenos Aires, as the launchpad for a bid in the near future. The Committee identified Argentina's south-eastern region ofPatagonia, which comprises the southern section of theAndes mountains, as a possible location to host the Winter Games.[56] In 2010 it was suggested that Ushuaia would be the main option for a bid.[57] Before the2018 Summer Youth Olympics,International Olympic Committee PresidentThomas Bach visited Ushuaia and talked about the possibility of holding the 2024Winter Youth Olympics there.[58]
Notable broadcast radio stations in and around the territory include LRA 10 Radio Nacional Ushuaia e Islas Malvinas, FM Master's 107.3, FM del Pueblo 94.5, Radio Estación del Siglo, Radio Fueguina's FM 96.9, and LRF 780 Radio Argentina.
The port of Ushuaia is depicted on apostage stamp released byCorreo Argentino in January 2023. The stamp, denominated at 1,000Argentine pesos, is the highest value in the National Parks series.[67]
Located at the corner of Avenida 12 de Octubre and Maipú, theHospital Gobernador Ernesto M. Campos[68] is one of the two main health care centers in Ushuaia; the other one is private and it is called Clínica San Jorge.
Ushuaïa, le magazine de l'Extrême was the name of a television program, presented byNicolas Hulot and broadcast on the French TV channelTF1 from September 1987 to June 1995.[citation needed] The show is known in English asUshuaia: The Ultimate Adventure, and this language's version was hosted byPerri Peltz and was shown onNBC,CNBC, and international affiliates of theDiscovery Channel.[citation needed]. The city was also featured on the AmericanCBS reality television showThe Amazing Race in the fourth leg ofseason 11.[69]
In 2014,BBC car programTop Gear visited Ushuaia at the conclusion of their "Patagonia Special", with the intent of constructing a stadium and playing a game of car football there. Before they could do so, however, they were chased out of the city (and subsequently across the border into Chile) by mobs of people angered by an apparent reference to theFalklands War encoded in the registration plate of presenterJeremy Clarkson's vehicle (H982 FKL).
The summit of Cerro Alarkén served as the finishing line for the second series of the BBC programRace Across the World in 2020.
^The record highs and lows are based on the Secretaria de Mineria link for the period 1901–1990 while records beyond 1990 come from the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional link since it only covers from 1961–present. When these two sources are used together, the record highs and lows are from the period 1901–present
^Canclini, Arnoldo (1984).Ushuaia 1884–1984 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Hanis Association. p. 529.OCLC252895269.Because of the difficulty of native pronunciation (...) the variations of the spelling are enormous. (...) In 1938, the bookGeographical nomenclature and technical terminology, Santiago, Chile, reported eighteen variants.
^"The Selkʼnam (Ona)".Hunter-Gatherer Wiki. Anthropology Department, Ohio State University.Archived from the original on 5 November 2009. Retrieved28 November 2010.
^Iparraguirre, Sylvia; von der Fecht, Florian (2009).Tierra del Fuego. A biography of the end of the world (in Spanish and English). Buenos Aires: Del Nuevo Extremo. p. 172.ISBN978-9-87991-669-8.Miles and miles of impassable lands separated Ushuaia from the nearest centre of population. By land, the mountain range of the Andes stood as a wall that cut it off from Punta Arenas and Rio Grande.
^Arias, Mariela (3 July 2011)."Garibaldi Pass: on the other side of the Andes".La Nación. Archived fromthe original on 4 January 2018. Retrieved21 June 2012.Msnm in a north-south direction, we are in the only place in the Argentine territory west of the Andes, which makes Ushuaia the only trans-Andean city in Argentina. The Garibaldi Pass, where The National Route N° 3 crosses the mountain range of the Andes to leave us still in Argentine soil.
^"Cabalgata Paso Bridges".Tierra Del Fuego (in Spanish). 21 June 2012. Archived fromthe original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved10 January 2017.You will cross the old road that crosses the Cordillera de Los Andes, linking Estancia Harberton with Estancia Viamonte. Path that crosses the Andes, opened in 1900 ... Cerro Spion Cop announces the beginning of the crossing of the mountain range. Going through narrow passages between pedreros, we reach the highest point of the path, located at 790 metres above sea level. From there, the descent presents large peat bogs and you will begin to see the Beagle Channel.
^"Ushuaia".Britannica.Archived from the original on 25 December 2010. Retrieved28 November 2010.
^"Sello/Stamp #962: 1979 "25 Años de la Fundacion de Puerto Williams"" [Seal/Stamp #962: 1979 "25 Years of the Foundation of Puerto Williams"].Chile Collector.net (in Spanish). Archived fromthe original on 7 August 2008. Retrieved28 November 2010.Su población, de aproximadamente 1.700 habitantes, esta compuesta casi en su totalidad, por personal de la Armada y sus familiares
^"City".The Free Dictionary.Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved28 November 2010.
^"Argentine Congress Nov 11, 1998 Dictamen CXXXVII".Argentine Chamber of Deputies. Archived fromthe original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved28 November 2010.Se expresa preocupación ante la difusión de la información publicada sobre el traspaso del slogan que caracteriza a la ciudad de Ushuaia como la ciudad mas austral del mundo, a la población chilena de Puerto William.
^"Estudios est_secundarios".Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, Ciencia y Tecnología – Escuela de Adultos (in Spanish). Archived fromthe original on 18 August 2010. Retrieved28 November 2010.
^Potenze, Lucas (15 April 2008)."Historia del Colegio".Colegio Nacional de Ushuaia (in Spanish). Archived fromthe original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved28 November 2010.
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