Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Some Background
Unless your history teachers were far better
than ours, you learned little about this south-
ernmost inhabited region of the earth. So you'll
be surprised at the important role this region
played in world history. Ferdinand Magellan,
Charles Darwin and Jemmy Button, major
players here, will become part of your travel
vocabulary.
Tierra del Fuego (Tee-AIR-uh del FUEY-go) is a
large irregularly-shaped island off the southern
tip of South America. It was part of the conti-
nent until the final Ice Age when the waters
separating it from the mainland broke through,
stranding several native tribes. The meander-
ing body of water was later named the “Straits
of Magellan” for the Portuguese explorer who
was the first to traverse it. The strait forms
Tierra del Fuego's western and northern
boundaries. Magellan is also responsible for the
island's name - “Land of Fire.” When he sailed
by in the 1520s he spied fires on the island. Lit
by local Indians, these were not beacons of wel-
come, for in this case the natives were definitely
not friendly.
The island is shared by Argentina and Chile.
Chile governs the western portion of the island
as well as 75% of the land. The Argentine por-
tion, which is triangular in shape and covers
approximately 8,000 square miles, abuts Chile
to the west and the Beagle Channel to the
south. More people (about 72,000) live in
