Ushuaia
Ushuaia, capital of
Argentina's province of
Tierra del Fuego, is the world's
southernmost city, according to many sources.
It is located at 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.
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The city of Ushuaia in early spring. |
In other times,
Puerto Williams in
Chile was considered to be the southernmost city — it is further 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.
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Satellite view of the city and its bay. |
The city was originally named by early
British colonists after the name that the native
Yámana 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 Argentine 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. They built a railway from the forests to the settlement, now used as a tourist train as the
Tren del Fin del Mundo, the southernmost railway in the world.
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A lighthouse near Ushuaia |
The tourist attractions include the
Tierra del Fuego National Park (to see
Lapataia Bay) including by using the
Tren del Fin del Mundo; 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.
"Ushuaïa, le magazine de l'Extrême" was the name of a television programme, presented by
Nicolas Hulot and broadcast on the French TV channel
TF1 from
September 1987 to
June 1995.
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Tourist information (English - Spanish)*
Site of the television program (French - English)*
Satellite picture by Google Maps*
25 photos of Ushuaia*
Tourist of Ushuaia English
