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Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina

Coordinates: 54°21′43″S 67°38′17″W / 54.362°S 67.638°W / -54.362; -67.638
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the province. For the island, see Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. For the archipelago, see Tierra del Fuego.
Tierra del Fuego
Province
Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands
Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida
e Islas del Atlántico Sur (Spanish)
View of the Tierra del Fuego National Park
View of the Tierra del Fuego National Park
Flag of Tierra del Fuego
Flag
Coat of arms of Tierra del Fuego
Coat of arms
Location of Tierra del Fuego Province within Argentina (mainland portion and disputed Falkland Islands only)
Location of Tierra del Fuego Province within Argentina (mainland portion and disputed Falkland Islands only)
Coordinates: 54°21′43″S 67°38′17″W / 54.362°S 67.638°W / -54.362; -67.638
Country Argentina
CapitalUshuaia
Departments5
Local Governments3
Government
 • GovernorGustavo Melella (FORJA)
 • Vice GovernorMónica Urquiza (MOPOF)
 • Legislature15
 • National Deputies5
 • National SenatorsPablo Blanco (UCR)
María Eugenia Duré (PJ)
Cristina López (PJ)
Area

Ranked 23rd
 • Total
21,263 km2 (8,210 sq mi)
Population
 (2022 census[1])
 • Total
190,641
 • Rank24th
 • Density8.9659/km2 (23.221/sq mi)
Demonymfueguino
GDP
[2]
 • TotalUS$ 2.5 billion
 • Per capitaUS$ 13,800
Time zoneUTC−3 (ART)
ISO 3166 codeAR-V
HDI (2021)0.856 very high (4th)[3]
Websitetierradelfuego.gob.ar

Tierra del Fuego (Spanish: [ˈtjera ðel ˈfweɣo]; Spanish for 'Land of Fire'), officially the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands (Spanish: Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur), is the southernmost and least populous Argentine province. The provincial capital city is Ushuaia.

Extent

[edit]
See also: Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands sovereignty dispute
The Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur, including all its territorial claims

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 beyond its own Antarctic bases.

History

[edit]
See also: Tierra del Fuego gold rush and Patagonian sheep farming boom
Period impression of HMS Beagle navigating along Tierra del Fuego, 1833

Tierra del Fuego was first settled by indigenous peoples around 12,000 years ago.[contradictory] When the first Europeans arrived, they encountered a population of about 10,000 indigenous people belonging to four tribes: Yámana, Alakaluf (now known by their autonym of Kawésqar), Selkʼnam (Ona) and Manekʼenk (Haush).[4]

A member of the Selkʼnam people, 1904. The Selkʼnam, or Ona, who traditionally placed great value on amiability, were the island's most numerous native people until their numbers were reduced by disease and genocide in the 19th and 20th centuries

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]

Local sheep ranch, 1942. Sheep, the most important part of the economy by the turn of the 20th century, have been eclipsed by the decline in the global wool market and the rise in petroleum extraction

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 Selkʼnam.[8]

Geography

[edit]
See also: Climate of Argentina, Climatic regions of Argentina, and Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego
Mossy landscape, Tierra del Fuego

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] Extreme temperatures range from 27 to 29 °C (81 to 84 °F) to −21 to 16 °C (−6 to 61 °F).[11] 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 windiest months are from September to March.[11] 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] The lowest are in the extreme north where annual precipitation is around 280 mm (11 in) which increases to 550 mm (22 in) in the central parts of the Beagle Channel.[11] Western parts of the province average around 2,000 mm (79 in) of precipitation a year.[11] Snowfall is abundant throughout the island.[10] Much of this island can be classified as within the Magellanic subpolar forests ecoregion.[12]

Demographics

[edit]
Tierra del Fuego population pyramid 2022

According to the 2022 Argentine national census, the Province of Tierra del Fuego has 190,641 inhabitants.[13] Per Argentine census data, the province's population has grown substantially in recent decades, with an average annual growth rate of 3.3% between 2010 and 2022.[14]

Government

[edit]
Main articles: Legislature of Tierra del Fuego and Governor of Tierra del Fuego
The Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse, on the Beagle Channel near Ushuaia

The provincial government is divided into three branches.

Administrative divisions

[edit]
Governor's offices, Ushuaia

The province is divided into five departments (Spanish: departamentos):

Department Capital
Antártida Argentina (none)
Islas del Atlántico Sur (disputed)
Río Grande Río Grande
Tolhuin Department Tolhuin
Ushuaia Ushuaia

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.[15]

Cerro Castor is the most important ski resort in the province
"Train to the End of the World". Operated by the provincial government, is the world's southernmost active railway

Media

[edit]

Newspapers

[edit]

There are numerous main newspapers: El Diario del Fin del Mundo,[16] El Sureño, Actualidad TDF, and El Diario La Prensa,[17] as well as several other minor publications.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Nuevos datos provisorios del Censo 2022: Argentina tiene 46.044.703 habitantes". Infobae. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  2. ^ "TelluBase—Argentina Fact Sheet (Tellusant Public Service Series)" (PDF). Tellusant. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  3. ^ "El mapa del desarrollo humano en Argentina" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 25 June 2023.
  4. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tierra del Fuego § Inhabitants" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 946.
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ "Yahgan & Ona – The Road to Extinction" Archived 2006-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, Cultural Survival Quarterly
  7. ^ "La Patagonia Trágica", Argentine Schools curriculum
  8. ^ Anne Chapman (11 November 1982). Drama and Power in a Hunting Society: The Selkʼnam of Tierra Del Fuego. CUP Archive. pp. 11–. ISBN 978-0-521-23884-7.
  9. ^ a b c d "Clima" (in Spanish). Gobierno de Tierra del Fuego. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  10. ^ a b c d "Tierra del Fuego: Clima" (in Spanish). Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  11. ^ a b c d "Geografia de Tierra Del Fuego" (in Spanish). Museo Maritimo de Ushuaia. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
  12. ^ World Wildlife Fund; C.Michael Hogan. 2010. Magellanic subpolar forests. Encyclopedia of Earth, National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC
  13. ^ "Nuevos datos provisorios del Censo 2022: Argentina tiene 46.044.703 habitantes". Infobae. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Tierra del Fuego (Province, Argentina) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". citypopulation.de. Archived from the original on 26 August 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  15. ^ "El déficit consolidado de las provincias rondará los $11.500 millones este año" (in Spanish). Instituto Argentino para el Desarrollo de las Economías Regionales. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  16. ^ "El Diario del Fin del Mundo" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 23 November 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  17. ^ "Diario Prensa Ushuaia". Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Tierra del Fuego.
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