54°21′43″S
67°38′17″W
/
54.362°S 67.638°W
/
-54.362; -67.638
Province in Ushuaia, Argentina
Tierra del Fuego
(
Spanish
for "
Land of Fire
";
Spanish pronunciation:
[?tjera
ðel
?fwe?o]
), officially the
Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands
(
Spanish
:
Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur
), is the southernmost, smallest, and least populous
Argentine province
. The provincial capital city is
Ushuaia
, from a native word meaning "bay towards the end".
The territory of the current province had been inhabited by indigenous people for more than 12,000 years, since they migrated south of the mainland. It was first encountered by a European in 1520 when spotted by
Ferdinand Magellan
. Even after Argentina achieved independence, this territory remained under indigenous control until the nation's campaign known as the
Conquest of the Desert
in the 1870s, after which Argentina organised this section in 1885 as a territory.
[
citation needed
]
European immigration followed due to
a gold rush
and rapid expansion of sheep farming on large ranches in the area. Tierra del Fuego is the most recent Argentine territory to gain provincial status, which occurred in 1990.
Extent
[
edit
]
The effective extent of the province is the eastern part of the island of Tierra del Fuego,
Isla de los Estados
and adjacent islands.
The province nominally includes Argentina's claims to the
Falkland Islands
and
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
(which are
British Overseas Territories
) and to a
segment
of
Antarctica
that overlaps with the
British
and
Chilean
claims on that continent. Argentina has no effective control in these territories outside its own
Antarctic bases
.
History
[
edit
]
Tierra del Fuego was first settled by
indigenous peoples
around 12,000 years ago.
[
contradictory
]
Discovered by
Ferdinand Magellan
's expedition in 1520, he named the area
Land of Smokes
(later changed to
Land of Fire
), likely referring to the smoke emitted by fires produced by the local
Fuegian
peoples for heating. When the first Europeans arrived, they encountered a population of about 10,000 indigenous people belonging to four tribes:
Yamana
,
Alakaluf
(now known by their autonym of Kawesqar),
Selk'nam
(Ona) and
Manek'enk
(Haush).
[4]
European attempts at settling the island began in 1555 by Juan de Alderete and later
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
. Neither was successful, however, due to the region's harsh weather and constant attacks by British
pirates
, who took Sarmiento de Gamboa prisoner.
[
citation needed
]
Between the 16th and 19th centuries
Spanish
,
Dutch
, British and
French
explorers visited
Tierra del Fuego
and the nearby seas.
Gabriel de Castilla
passed through before exploring the
Antarctic islands
. In the early 1830s, Commander
Robert FitzRoy
, and
Charles Darwin
explored the island and other parts of
Patagonia
via
HMS
Beagle
. This included the
Falkland Islands
, claimed by the British since 1690, though controlled by Argentina since its establishment of a penal colony at
Puerto Luis
in 1828. In 1833 the British
re-established their rule
on the Falklands via the deployment of naval task force. The Argentinian representative of the islands,
Jose Maria Pinedo
, and Argentinian forces subsequently left the islands.
Luis Piedrabuena
installed a base in
San Juan de Salvamento
on
Isla de los Estados
. The British
South American Mission Society Patagonia Mission
, under its superintendent
Waite Stirling
, founded
Ushuaia
as an
Anglican
mission
in southern Tierra del Fuego in 1869.
[5]
Shortly after,
Salesian
missionaries founded
Rio Grande
. In the 1880s the Argentine government took a more active interest in Tierra del Fuego. In 1881, the
meridian
68°36'38 W was defined as the boundary between the Chilean and the Argentine portions of the island. In 1884 the
Government of Tierra del Fuego
was created, and a
subprefecture
was established at Ushuaia. The southern part of the
Beagle Channel
was an issue of conflict between both states, which competed for control of three small islands,
Picton, Lennox and Nueva
. Finally in 1977, these were awarded to Chile by decision of the mediating
British Crown
, revised by
Pope John Paul II
and ratified by treaty in 1985.
When the crews of sailing-ships told of the notoriously dangerous voyage round the tip of South America, Tierra del Fuego became a byword in Europe for an inhospitable land, where life would be impossibly harsh for settlers. But, it is not the most sparsely populated
province of Argentina
. Its population density of 4.75/ km
2
is higher than five other provinces, due to various waves of immigration.
Gold fever started in Tierra del Fuego around 1883. Many
Croatians
from the
Dalmatian
coast arrived in search of gold. In addition, the gold rush inspired new technologies and innovations, such as the
telegraph
. Although by 1910 the gold had run out, most of the pioneers stayed. The inauspicious-looking northern plains proved ideal sheep-farming country, and vast ranches were developed. Croatian,
Scottish
,
Basque
,
Italian
,
Galician
and Chilean immigrants arrived to work on the
estancias
, with the hope of eventually buying their own land and stock.
The Amerindians suffered high fatalities from
diseases
(including
measles
and
smallpox
) and the outright warfare waged by ranchers and bounty hunters; by 1916 their population on the island had dropped to only 900.
[6]
[7]
In addition, in the late 19th century, ranchers and settlers committed
genocide
against the Selk'nam.
[8]
News of the atrocities and genocide reached the
Federal Congress
in
Buenos Aires
. It sent aid and tried to help the
Salesian
mission, the only institution working in the island to protect the indigenous peoples.
[
citation needed
]
With the creation of the
Gobernacion Maritima de Tierra del Fuego
in 1943, construction of naval bases began in Ushuaia and
Rio Grande
. An airport and other infrastructure were also built. These projects attracted immigrants from other countries as well as other parts of Argentina. In 1990 the "National Territory of Tierra del Fuego, the Antarctic and the South Atlantic Islands" was declared a province, with its first
governor
appointed two years later.
Geography
[
edit
]
There are low mountains and sandy beaches at the north of the island, ascending to the south. The north is somewhat similar to the steppe of
Santa Cruz Province
. In the middle of the island, the end of the
Andes
mountain system becomes flattened, and its highest peak, Mount Cornu, rises only 1,490 m (4,890 ft). There are a number of short rivers (the
Grande
,
Moneta
,
Ona
,
Lasifashaj
, etc.), and as a result of the low temperature there are many small glaciers that flow to the sea.
Due to its latitude, the island has a cold
oceanic climate
.
[9]
The influences from the surrounding ocean and the predominant winds from the west result in the climate being uniform throughout the province.
[10]
Mean annual temperatures are low, with winter temperatures averaging close to 0 °C (32 °F) and summer temperatures averaging around 10 °C (50 °F).
[9]
[10]
The strong westerly winds from the
Pacific Ocean
decrease the perception of the temperature (
wind chill
).
[9]
In the extreme south in the
Beagle Channel
which is surrounded by hills rising above 100 m (330 ft), winds can exceed 100 km/h (62 mph).
[9]
The island averages around 700 mm (28 in) of precipitation per year which is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year with a slight maximum in autumn.
[10]
Snowfall is abundant throughout the island.
[10]
Much of this island can be classified as within the
Magellanic subpolar forests
ecoregion.
[11]
Demographics
[
edit
]
According to the 2022 Argentine national census, the Province of Tierra del Fuego has 190,641 inhabitants.
[12]
Government
[
edit
]
The provincial government is divided into three branches: the executive, headed by a popularly elected governor, who appoints the cabinet; the
legislative
; and the
judiciary
, headed by the Supreme Court.
The Constitution of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina forms the formal law of the province.
In Argentina, the most important law enforcement organization is the
Argentine Federal Police
but the additional work is carried out by the
Tierra del Fuego Provincial Police
.
Administrative divisions
[
edit
]
The province is divided into five
departments
(Spanish:
departamentos
), only the first three of which are under the effective control of Argentina:
- Ushuaia
(seat
Ushuaia
)
- Tolhuin
(seat
Tolhuin
)
- Rio Grande
(seat
Rio Grande
)
- Islas del Atlantico Sur: consists of the Argentine claim to the
Falkland Islands
(
Malvinas
in Spanish) and
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
, both of which are
self-governing overseas territories of the United Kingdom
.
- Antartida Argentina
: the Argentine claim to Antarctica lies between
25°W
and
74°W
(overlapping both
Chilean
and
British claims
) and is uninhabited apart from the staff of scientific bases. Being south of
60°S
, the Argentine claim to the entire department is suspended under the
Antarctic Treaty
.
Economy
[
edit
]
Tierra del Fuego has since the 1970s benefited from government subsidies to local industry and from its natural wealth. Its estimated 2006 output of US$2.6 billion gave the province a
per capita
income of US$25,719, the second highest in Argentina, behind
Buenos Aires
.
[13]
Manufacturing, despite the province's remoteness, contributes about 20% to output owing partly to generous certain tax incentives to local industry, a policy Buenos Aires has pursued to encourage immigration to less populated areas. A number of sizable factories have opened on Tierra del Fuego Island to take advantage of the tax benefits legislated in 1972, mainly home appliance and electronics manufacturers.
Recently, in the city of
Rio Grande
, many international and Argentine companies, most notably the Korean company
Samsung
and the Argentine company
Teltron
, have set up factories that produce high-definition televisions (
HDTV
),
CD-ROM
-related articles, and low-cost
GSM
cell phones, built mainly from Argentine components.
Sheep
ranching is the leading source of the province's modest agricultural income (5% of output). It provides wool, mutton and hides throughout the province and the wider Argentine market, whose taste for these products has been growing strongly.
As in
Patagonia
to the north,
petroleum
and
natural gas
extraction are important to Tierra del Fuego's economy, generating over 20% of total output. Exploration efforts continue. The
government of the Falkland Islands
has issued exploration licenses within its waters. This competition has caused anger in Argentina. The activity has also intruded into some of the area's lucrative crab and shrimp fishing industry.
Tourism is gaining importance on Tierra del Fuego island. The region offers mountains, glaciers, forests, fast rivers, waterfalls, ski centres (the most important is
Cerro Castor
), and the sea, all within short distances.
The most visited destinations in Argentine Tierra del Fuego include
Ushuaia
, the
Tierra del Fuego National Park
and the
Tren del Fin del Mundo
,
Fagnano Lake
, the
Museum of the End of the World
, the
Beagle Channel
, the
Les Eclaireurs
lighthouse, the old jail, and
South Staten Island
.
The Antarctic Peninsula is a tourist destination. Tourists can see wildlife at the Argentine
Marambio Base
during the summer.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Nuevos datos provisorios del Censo 2022: Argentina tiene 46.044.703 habitantes"
. Infobae. 31 January 2023
. Retrieved
2023-02-03
.
- ^
"TelluBase?Argentina Fact Sheet (Tellusant Public Service Series)"
(PDF)
. Tellusant
. Retrieved
2024-01-11
.
- ^
"El mapa del desarrollo humano en Argentina"
(PDF)
.
United Nations Development Programme
. 25 June 2023.
- ^
Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911).
"Tierra del Fuego § Inhabitants"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 946.
- ^
Bridges, E. L. (1948)
Uttermost Part of the Earth : Patagonia & Tierra del Fuego
. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1948; republished 2008, Overlook Press
ISBN
978-1-58567-956-0
- ^
"Yahgan & Ona ? The Road to Extinction"
Archived
2006-10-02 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Cultural Survival Quarterly
- ^
"La Patagonia Tragica"
, Argentine Schools curriculum
- ^
Anne Chapman (11 November 1982).
Drama and Power in a Hunting Society: The Selk'nam of Tierra Del Fuego
. CUP Archive. pp. 11?.
ISBN
978-0-521-23884-7
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Clima"
(in Spanish). Gobierno de Tierra del Fuego
. Retrieved
October 31,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Tierra del Fuego: Clima"
(in Spanish). Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires
. Retrieved
October 31,
2015
.
- ^
World Wildlife Fund; C.Michael Hogan. 2010.
Magellanic subpolar forests
. Encyclopedia of Earth, National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC
- ^
"Nuevos datos provisorios del Censo 2022: Argentina tiene 46.044.703 habitantes"
. Infobae. 31 January 2023
. Retrieved
2023-02-03
.
- ^
"El deficit consolidado de las provincias rondara los $11.500 millones este ano"
(in Spanish). Instituto Argentino para el Desarrollo de las Economias Regionales
. Retrieved
10 July
2015
.
External links
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]
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