Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego archipelago at the tip of South America | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean |
| Major islands | Tierra del Fuego, Hoste, Navarino, Gordon, Wollastone, Noir, Staten, Hermite, Santa Inés, Clarence, Dawson, Capitán Aracena, Londonderry, Picton, Lennox, Nueva, Diego Ramírez, O'Brien, and Desolación Islands among many others |
| Highest point | Monte Shipton |
| Administration | |
| Region | Magallanes y Antártica Chilena |
| Provinces | Tierra del Fuego Province and Antártica Chilena |
| Communes | Cabo de Hornos, Antártica, Porvenir, Primavera, Timaukel |
| Province | Tierra del Fuego Province |
| Demographics | |
| Population | ~201.000 (2022) |
| Ethnic groups | Argentines, Chileans, Selkʼnams, Kawésqar, Yaghans |
Tierra del Fuego (/tiˈɛrə dɛl ˈfweɪɡoʊ/, Spanish: [ˈtjera ðel ˈfweɣo]; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan.
The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, with an area of 73,746 km2 (28,473 sq mi), along with numerous smaller islands, including Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez Islands. The western part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, about two-thirds including its many islands, is part of Chile, and the eastern part is part of Argentina. The southernmost extent of the archipelago, Cape Horn, lies just north of latitude 56°S.
The earliest-known human settlement in Tierra del Fuego dates to approximately 8,000 BC. Europeans first explored the islands during Ferdinand Magellan's expedition of 1520. Tierra del Fuego ("Land of Fire") and similar names stem from sightings of the many fires that the inhabitants built along the coastline and possibly even in their canoes for warmth and signaling.
Settlement by those of European descent and the displacement of the native populations did not begin until the second half of the nineteenth century, at the height of the Patagonian sheep farming boom and of the local gold rush. Today, petroleum extraction dominates economic activity in the north of Tierra del Fuego, while tourism, manufacturing, and Antarctic logistics are important in the south.