The archipelago consists of the main island,Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, with an area of 73,746 km2 (28,473 sq mi),[1] along with numerous smaller islands, includingCape Horn andDiego Ramírez Islands. The western part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, about two-thirds including its many islands, is part of Chile, and the eastern part is part of Argentina.[1] The southernmost extent of the archipelago, Cape Horn, lies just north oflatitude56°S.
The earliest-known human settlement in Tierra del Fuego dates to approximately 8,000 BC.[2] Europeans first explored the islands duringFerdinand Magellan's expedition of 1520.Tierra del Fuego ("Land of Fire") and similar names stem from sightings of the many fires that the inhabitants built along the coastline and possibly even in their canoes for warmth and signaling.[3][4]
Settlement by those of European descent and the displacement of the native populations did not begin until the second half of the nineteenth century, at the height of thePatagonian sheep farming boom and of thelocal gold rush.[5] Today, petroleum extraction dominates economic activity in the north of Tierra del Fuego, while tourism, manufacturing, and Antarctic logistics are important in the south.
The earliest human settlement occurred approximately 8,000 BC. TheYaghan were some of the earliest known humans to settle in Tierra del Fuego.[dubious –discuss] Archeological sites with characteristics of their culture have been found at locations such asNavarino Island.[6]
World map from 1572, when the area was believed to be part of what was calledTerra Australis
The nameTierra del Fuego was given by thePortuguese explorerFerdinand Magellan while sailing for theSpanish Crown in 1520; he was the first European to visit these lands. He believed he was seeing the many fires (fuego in Spanish) of the indigenous inhabitants, which were visible from the sea, and that the "Indians" were waiting in the forests to ambush hisarmada.[7][a]
On his first voyage withHMS Beagle in 1830,Robert FitzRoy picked up four nativeFuegians, including "Jemmy Button" (Orundellico) andYokcushlu, and brought them to England. The three who survived the voyage were taken to London to meet the king and queen and were, for a time, celebrities. They returned to Tierra del Fuego in theBeagle with FitzRoy andCharles Darwin, who made extensive notes about his visit to the islands.
European colonization and extinction of Native Americans (1860–1910)
During the second half of the nineteenth century,Salesian Catholic missions were established in Río Grande andDawson Island.
Anglican missionaries, who had established missions onKeppel Island in 1855, established new missions in 1870 atUshuaia. These missions continued to operate through the nineteenth century. MissionaryThomas Bridges (1842–1898) learned the native language and compiled a 30,000-word Yaghan grammar and dictionary while he worked at Ushuaia.[10] It was published in the 20th century and is considered an important ethnological work.[10]
An 1879 Chilean expedition led by Ramón Serrano Montaner reported large amounts ofplacer gold in the streams and river beds of Tierra del Fuego. This prompted massive immigration to the main island between 1883 and 1909. Numerous Argentines, Chileans, andCroatians settled on the main island, leading to increased conflicts with nativeSelkʼnam. These late nineteenth century gold rushes led to the founding of numerous small settlements by immigrants, such as the Argentine settlements of Ushuaia andRío Grande and the Chilean settlements ofPorvenir andPuerto Toro.
Julius Popper, aRomanian explorer, was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the region. Granted rights by theArgentine government to exploit any gold deposits he found in Tierra del Fuego, Popper has been identified as a central figure in theSelkʼnam genocide.
Following contact with Europeans, the native Selkʼnam andYaghan populations weregreatly reduced by unequal conflict and persecution by settlers, byinfectious diseases to which the indigenous people had noimmunity, and by mass transfer to the Salesian mission of Dawson Island. Despite the efforts of the missionaries, many natives died. Today, onlya few Selkʼnam remain. Some of the few remaining Yaghan have settled in Villa Ukika inNavarino Island; others have scattered throughout Chile and Argentina.
Following the signing of theBoundary Treaty of 1881, Tierra del Fuego was divided between Argentina and Chile; previously, it had been claimed in its entirety by both countries.
In 1945, a division of ChileanCORFO (Spanish acronym for Production Development Corporation), engaged inoil exploration, discovered oil in northern Tierra del Fuego. Extraction began in 1949 and, in 1950, the Chile state-ownedENAP (National Petroleum Company)[words missing]. Until 1960, most oil extracted in Chile came from Tierra del Fuego.[11] During the 1940s Chile and Argentina lodged their Antarctic claims. In the 1950s, the Chilean military foundedPuerto Williams. In the 1960s and 1970s, sovereignty claims by Argentina overPicton, Lennox, and Nueva Islands in Tierra del Fuego led the two countries to the brink of war. In 1986, theArgentine congress decided that the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego should be a new province. This happened in 26 April 1990.[12]
Thearchipelago 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 (18,572 sq mi), and a group of smaller islands. Of the main island the westernmost 29,484.7 km2 (11,384 sq mi, 61.43%) belongs to Chile, and 18,507.3 km2 (7,146 sq mi, 38.57%) belongs to Argentina. The archipelago is divided by an east–west channel, theBeagle Channel, immediately south of the main island. The largest islands south of the Beagle Channel areHoste andNavarino.
Puerto Toro lies a few kilometers south of Puerto Williams. Arguably, it is thesouthernmost village in the world. The mostly uninhabited islands north and west of the main island are part ofMagallanes Province.
TheCordillera Darwin in the southwestern part of the main island contains many glaciers that reach the ocean. WhileMount Darwin had previously been thought to be the tallest mountain in the archipelago, this distinction now belongs to the unofficially namedMonte Shipton at 2,580 metres (8,460 feet).[13]
The topography of Tierra del Fuego can be divided into four regions: an outer archipelago region (Spanish:Región Archipielágica) to the south and west, a mountainous region in the south (Spanish:Región Cordillerana),[14] a plains region (Spanish:Región de las Planicies Orientales)[15] plus a sub-Andean zone in-between the last two zones (Spanish:Región Sub-Andina Oriental).[16]
TheMagallanes–Fagnano Fault, asinistralstrike slip fault crosses the southern part of the main island from west to east. It is an activefault, located inside and parallel to the Fuegianfold and thrust belt, and marks the boundary between a southern belt ofPaleozoicmetasediments and a northernMesozoic belt of sedimentary sequences. Fagnano Lake occupies a glacier-carved depression in a pull-apart basin that has developed along the Magallanes-Fagnano Fault zone.[19]
The Tierra del Fuego region has a subpolaroceanic climate (Köppen climate classificationCfc) with short, cool summers and long, wet, moderately mild winters: the precipitation averages 3,000 mm (118 in) a year in the far west, but precipitation decreases rapidly towards the eastern side. Temperatures are steady throughout the year: in Ushuaia they hardly surpass 9 °C (48 °F) in summers and average 0 °C (32 °F) in winters. Snowfall can occur in summer. The cold and wet summers help preserve the ancientglaciers. The southernmost islands possess a sub-antarctic climate typical of tundra that makes the growth of trees impossible. Some areas in the interior have a polar climate. Regions in the world with similar climates to southern Tierra del Fuego are: theAleutian islands,Iceland, theAlaska Peninsula, theFaroe Islands,Macquarie Island, and theHeard and McDonald Islands.
Only 30% of the islands have forests, which are classified asMagellanic subpolar. The northeastern portion of the region is made up of steppe and cool semi-desert.
They are the only forests in the world to have developed in a climate with such cold summers. Tree cover extends very close to the southernmost tip of South America. Winds are so strong that trees in wind-exposed areas grow into twisted shapes, inspiring people to call them "flag-trees". Tree vegetation extends to the southern tip of the region,Isla Hornos, although theWollaston Islands are mostly covered by subantarctictundra except in wind sheltered areas where the trees can survive.
Forests from Tierra del Fuego have expanded beyond local importance. These forests have been a source of trees that have been transplanted abroad in places with similar climate, but which originally were devoid of trees, such as theFaroe Islands and nearby archipelagos. Most species were gathered from the coldest places in Tierra del Fuego, mainly sites with tundra borders. This effort resulted in positive changes, as the heavy winds and cool summers in the Faroe Islands did not allow the growth of trees from other regions in the world. The imported trees are used ornamentally, as curtains against wind, and to fight erosion caused by storms and grazing in the Faroe Islands.[22]
North American beavers, introduced during the 1940s, have proliferated and caused considerable damage to the island forests. The governments have established a wide-reaching program to trap and kill beavers in Tierra del Fuego.[26]
Like the mainland of Chile and Argentina to the north, this archipelago boasts some of the finesttrout fishing in the world. Sea-run brown trout often exceed 9 kg (20 lb), particularly in rivers such as the Rio Grande and the San Pablo, and in theLago Fagnano.
Today, the main economic activities of the archipelago are fishing, extraction of natural gas andoil,sheepfarming, andecotourism. Tourism is gaining increasing importance as it attracts numerous upmarket visitors. Much of the tourism is based on "southernmost" claims: for example, bothUshuaia andPuerto Williams claim to be the "southernmost city in the world". On the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego, the government has promoted the establishment of severalelectronic companies via tax exemptions, particularly in the city ofRío Grande.
Energy production is a crucial economic activity. On the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego during the period 2005–2010, petroleum and natural gas extraction contributed 20% of the region's economic output.[45]
The French painter and lithographerÉvremond de Bérard illustrated the travel journal "Le Tour du Monde" with Tierra del Fuego motifs in 1861.
Rockwell Kent painted "more than twenty large pictures of Tierra del Fuego" during his stay there in 1922 and 1923, as he reported in his autobiographyIt's Me O Lord: The Autobiography of Rockwell Kent.
The German painterIngo Kühl traveled three times to Tierra del Fuego, where he created paintings in a cycle entitledLandscapes of the End of the World (2005).[48]
Alexander BuchanHMS Endeavour on 12 January 1769, off the coast of Tierra del Fuego
Alexander BuchanInhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, 1769
Conrad MartensHMS Beagle in Tierra del Fuego, between 1832 and 1836
^There is no direct evidence that the name Tierra del Fuego was given to the archipelago by Magellan himself or his companions. In its modern form, this name appeared on maps only in the middle of the 16th century.[8][9]
^Morello, Flavia; Borrero, Luis; Massone, Mauricio; Stern, Charles; García-Herbst, Arleen; McCulloch, Robert; Arroyo-Kalin, Manuel; Calás, Elisa; Torres, Jimena; Prieto, Alfredo; Martinez, Ismael; Bahamonde, Gabriel; Cárdenas, Pedro (1 March 2012). "Hunter-gatherers, biogeographic barriers and the development of human settlement in Tierra del Fuego".Antiquity.86 (331):71–87.doi:10.1017/S0003598X00062463.hdl:1893/3664.S2CID161882222.
^Hogan, C. Michael (4 April 2008)."Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens". Megalithic Portal.Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved20 June 2011.
^Bergreen, Laurence (2003).Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe. HarperCollins. p. 179.ISBN978-0-06-186588-6.
^Martínez Crovetto, Raúl. 1968.Estudios Etnobotánicos. Nombres de plantas y su utilidad según los indios Onas de Tierra del Fuego, Revista de la Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria de la Universidad del Nordeste, Corrientes, Argentina
^Højgaard, A., J. Jóhansen, and S. Ødum (eds) 1989.A Century of Tree Planting in the Faroe Islands, Føroya Frodskaparfelag, Tórshavn.
^Richard Keynes:The Beagle Record: Selections from the Original Pictorial Records and Written Accounts of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, 1979, CUP ArchivesISBN0-521-21822-5
Bridges, Lucas. 1948.Uttermost Part of the Earth. Reprint with introduction by Gavin Young, Century Hutchinson, 1987.ISBN0-7126-1493-1
Keynes, Richard. 2002.Fossils, Finches and Fuegians: Charles Darwin's Adventures and Discoveries on theBeagle, 1832–1836.HarperCollins Publishers, London. Reprint: 2003.
.jpg)
.jpg)
%2522_2005.jpg)
