The southernmost city in the world
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"The southernmost city in the world" is a slogan used to attract tourists, including those bound for Antarctica, to various southern cities. Currently, three cities or towns use this slogan; there are several settlements further south than the three, but none are considered to be large enough to be classified as a "city". The three candidate cities are:
Puerto Williams (Spanish for "Port Williams"), a Chilean port located on Isla Navarino, on the southern shore of the Beagle Channel. It is the capital of the Antártica Chilena Province, one of four provinces located in the Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region. It has a population of over 2,000 people, mainly naval personnel (Military personnel total 1,700[1]), and many of the houses in Puerto Williams belong to the Chilean Navy. Puerto Williams is sometimes considered the southernmost city in the world by Chilean media[2][3] and some large media organisations[4][5], and it promotes this slogan in its tourism campaigns. An argument against Puerto Williams's use of this slogan is the fact that Chile's Department of Statistics classifies a city as any urban entity which has more than 5,000 permanent residents, so, for the Chilean government, Puerto Williams is only a small town.[6]
Ushuaia (pronounced [u'swaia] in Spanish, /u'ʃwaia/ in English) the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego is more commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world due to its larger population, 64,000[7][8] , its infrastructure and its widely accepted classification as a city.[9][10][11] This is the basis of its claim to use the slogan. Ushuaia is located in a wide bay on the southern coast of the island of Tierra del Fuego, on the northern shore of the Beagle Channel; hence, it is further north than Puerto Williams.
Punta Arenas (literally in Spanish: "Sandy Point") is the most prominent settlement on the Strait of Magellan and the capital of the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region, Chile. It is much larger than Ushuaia with around 120,000 permanent residents [12] and it is called the southernmost city by some media outlets.[13] The basis of its claim to be the southernmost city rests on it being larger than Ushuaia, Río Grande (Argentina), and Puerto Williams, all of which are further south.
Southernmost cities according to different sources:
| Locality | Population | Latitude/longitude | Southernmost city according to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puerto Williams, Chile | 2,262 | 54°56′S 67°37′W / 54.933°S 67.617°W | Cabo de Hornos municipality, Canal 13 (2005) |
| Ushuaia, Argentina | 64,000 | 54°48′S 68°18′W / 54.8°S 68.3°W | Britannica Online, New York Times (2004), National Geographic |
| Punta Arenas, Chile | 130,136 | 53°10′S 70°56′W / 53.167°S 70.933°W | CNN (2001), BBC (2004), New York Times (1987) |
[edit] References
- ^ Su población, de aproximadamente 1.700 habitantes, esta compuesta casi en su totalidad, por personal de la Armada y sus familiares.
- ^ Teletrece Internet "Puerto Williams: la ciudad más austral del mundo sigue creciendo" July 17, 2005
- ^ [nadasimple/todosimple]: cero rating in La Nación
- ^ BBC 2004
- ^ Times Online
- ^ Department of Statistics Chile Pag7
- ^ Tiscali Encyclopaedia
- ^ Boston Globe 2008
- ^ "Tierra del Fuego, Argentina". Encarta. http://encarta.msn.com/media_461538660/Tierra_del_Fuego_Argentina.html. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
- ^ "Ushuaia". Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/620331/Ushuaia. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
- ^ Boston Globe 2008
- ^ Interactive map, INE Census 2002, Chile. (Click on XII Region and then on Punta Arenas)
- ^ BBC 2004
