Ushuaia

The city of Ushuaia in early spring.

Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego

Ushuaia, capital of Argentina's province of Tierra del Fuego, is the world's southernmost city, according to many sources.

It is located at [54°48′00″S, 068°18′00″W] on the southern coast of the island of Tierra del Fuego, in a setting surrounded by mountains and overlooking the Beagle Channel. The city has about 50,000 inhabitants.

In other times, Puerto Williams in Chile was considered to be the southernmost city — it is farther south but has fewer inhabitants, thus some consider it to be a town rather than a city. The greatly more populated Punta Arenas is also sometimes considered to be the southernmost city, as it is more a true city sized establishment, though it is to the north of Ushuaia. The southernmost continuously inhabited settlement is Puerto Toro on Isla Navarino, but it has fewer than 100 residents and is more properly called a village.

The city was originally named by early British colonists after the name that the native Yamana people had for the area. For most of the first half of the 20th century, the city was centered around a prison for serious criminals. The Argentinian government set up this prison following the example of the British with Australia: being a remote island, escape from a prison on Tierra del Fuego would have been impossible. The prisoners thus became forced colonists and spent much of their time cutting wood in the lands around the prison and building the town.

Tourism

A lighthouse near Ushuaia

The tourist attractions include the Tierra del Fuego National Park (to see Lapataia Bay), hiring a boat charter to Cape Horn (in Chilean waters) and local birds, penguins and seawolves on the islands in the Beagle Channel. Some tours also visit the Lighthouse at the End of the World (Faro del fin del mundo) at the Isla de los Estados, made famous by Jules Verne in the novel of the same name.

It is also a key access point to the southern regions; it receives regular flights from Buenos Aires, (at Ushuaia International Airport), and cruise ships visiting the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and Antarctica dock at the port. There are a number of ski areas nearby, like Cerro Castor and Glaciar Martial.

TV program

"Ushuaïa, le magazine de l'Extrême" was the name of a television program, presented by Nicolas Hulot and broadcast on the French TV channel TF1 from September 1987 to June 1995.

External links

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