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Ushuaia

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Ushuaia
Ushuaia, seen from the harbor.
Ushuaia, seen from the harbor.
Ushuaia is located in Argentina
Ushuaia
Ushuaia
Location in Argentina
Coordinates: 54°48′S 68°18′W / 54.8°S 68.3°W / -54.8; -68.3
Country  Argentina
Province Tierra del Fuego
Founded 1829, Officially the 12 October 1884 by Commodore Lasserre ARA
Elevation 5 m (16 ft)
Population (2009 est. [1])
 - Total 61,166
CPA Base V 9410
Area code(s) +54 2901

Ushuaia (Spanish pronunciation: [uˈswaja], English: /uːˈʃwaɪ.ə/) is the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego. It is commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world.[2][3] Ushuaia is located in a wide bay on the southern coast of the island of Tierra del Fuego, bounded on the north by the Martial mountain range and on the south by the Beagle Channel. Its population is estimated today at about 64,000.[4] It is the only municipality in the Department of Ushuaia, which has an area of 9,390 km2 (3,625 sq mi).

Contents

[edit] Description

View over the Beagle Channel.

The city was originally named by early British missionaries[5] after the name that the native Yámana people had for the area. Much of the early history of the city and its hinterland is described in Lucas Bridges’s book Uttermost Part of the Earth (1948).

During the first half of the 20th century, the city centered around the prison for serious criminals. The Argentine government had the prison built to increase the Argentine population and ensure its sovereignty over Tierra del Fuego[6][7], and to cater for repeat offenders and serious criminal following the example of the British with Tasmania or the French with Devil's Island[8]. Escape from a prison on Tierra del Fuego was similarly impossible,[citation needed], although 2 managed to escape into the surrounding areas for a few weeks [9]. The prisoners thus became forced colonists and spent much of their time cutting wood in the forest around the prison and building the town. They also built a railway to the settlement[10], now a tourist attraction known as the End of the World Train (Tren del Fin del Mundo), the southernmost railway in the world.

Ushuaia is surrounded by Magellanic subpolar forests; on the hills around the town, the following indigenous trees are local to the area: Drimys winteri (Winter's bark), Maytenus magellanica (hard log mayten) and several species of Nothofagus that give to the landscape a magnificent greenness.

[edit] Tourism

Partial view of the city and the Martial Mountain range.

Ushuaia is a key access point to the southern regions; it receives regular flights from Buenos Aires at Ushuaia International Airport. The city itself is a popular vacation spot for people from Buenos Aires. Flights are also available from Santiago, Chile.

Tourist attractions include the Tierra del Fuego National Park and Lapataia Bay; the park can be reached via the End of the World Train (Tren del Fin del Mundo) from Ushuaia. The city has a museum of Yamana, English, and Argentine settlement, including its years as a prison colony. Wildlife attractions include local birds, penguins and orcas as seen on islands in the Beagle Channel. There are daily bus and boat tours to Harberton, the estancia of the Bridges family. Some tours also visit the Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse, which should not be confused with the Lighthouse at the End of the World (Faro del fin del mundo) made famous by Jules Verne in the novel of the same name. The latter lies some 200 km east of Ushuaia on the Isla de los Estados (Staten Island).

There are a number of ski areas nearby, like Cerro Castor and Glaciar Martial. The glacier is also a tourist destination during the summer months, when the chairlift operates in both directions. Hiking trails lead from the city's edge to the base of the glacier, which has shrunk dramatically over the past century, as shown in photographs on display. Cerro Castor is a mountain located 27 km (17 miles) north of Ushuaia. Here it is possible to ski just 200 m (660 ft) above sea level; the summit reaches an elevation of 1057 meters (3468 ft) above sea level. Constant temperatures allow the longest skiing season in South America: in winter temperatures fluctuate between 0° and −5 °C (32 to 23 °F).

Celebrity Cruises MV Zenith and Orient Lines MS Marco Polo Cruise Ships at Ushuaia

Cruise ships visiting the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and Antarctica dock at the port, as well as Princess Cruises, Holland America, Celebrity Cruises which transit between Valparaíso, Chile, to Buenos Aires and beyond. Orient Lines, MS Marco Polo, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Hurtigruten and other ships provide expeditions to Antarctica out of Ushuaia. The cruise boats periodically do scenic cruising to Antarctica, as do expedition yachts such as S/V Seal and S/V Pelagic.

Tourists can also visit Cape Horn island (in Chilean waters) by boat or helicopter.

[edit] Education

Currently the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco[11] operates a campus in Ushuaia with Faculties of Engineering, Economics and Humanities and Social Sciences. The City has another twelve institutions dedicated to secondary education. Four of these function as adult education and training centres [12][13] The Colegio Nacional de Ushuaia[14] is considered Ushuaia's elite secondary school, modeled after the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires.

[edit] Media

Ushuaia has two television stations, channel 13[15] and channel 11[16], and two main newspapers: Diario del fin del mundo[17] and Diario Prensa[18], plus several other minor publications

[edit] Climate

Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse, located in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

The climate is maritime subantarctic. Average temperatures coldest month: 1 °C (33 °F) and warmest month: 9 °C (48 °F). Record low −20 °C (−4 °F) (July), record high 31 °C (87.8 °F) (December) and record low ever recorded in summer −6 °C (21 °F) (February). Towns in the world with similar climate include Thorshavn, Faroe Islands; Dutch Harbor, Alaska; Reykjavik, Iceland; Stanley, Falkland Islands.

Despite receiving only 560 mm (22 in) of precipitation yearly on average, Ushuaia's climate is very humid. On average the city experiences 160 days of rain or snow a year, with many cloudy and foggy days. The southwestern winds make the outer islands wetter, reaching 1,400 mm (55 in) at Isla de los Estados (Staten Island). Because temperatures are cool throughout the year, there is little evaporation. Snow is common in winter and regularly occurs throughout the year.

Strong winds whip the town. Trees in Ushuaia tend to follow the wind direction, and are therefore called "flag-trees", for their uni-directional growth pattern.

 Weather averages for Ushuaia, Argentina 
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 14
(57)		 13
(55)		 12
(54)		 9
(48)		 6
(43)		 4
(39)		 4
(39)		 6
(43)		 8
(46)		 10
(50)		 12
(54)		 13
(55)		 9
(48)
Average low °C (°F) 5
(41)		 5
(41)		 4
(39)		 2
(36)		 0
(32)		 −2
(28)		 −2
(28)		 −1
(30)		 0
(32)		 2
(36)		 3
(37)		 4
(39)		 2
(35)
Precipitation cm (inches) 8
(3.2)		 7
(2.8)		 6
(2.7)		 6
(2.0)		 5
(2.0)		 3
(1.3)		 1
(0.6)		 2
(1.0)		 6
(2.7)		 11
(4.5)		 11
(4.4)		 9
(3.8)		 80
(31.6)
Source: Weatherbase[19] 2007

[edit] Southernmost city

Main article: Southernmost city
Satellite view of the city and its bay.
View of the port.
Female sea lion and her pup.

Ushuaia has long been described as the Southernmost City in the World. While there are settlements farther south, the only one of any notable size is Puerto Williams, Chile, a settlement of some 2000 residents (Most families of the nearby military bases [20] ) that makes claims on the title of being the world's southernmost city. (The Chilean government defines a city as an urban entity with more than 5,000 inhabitants.)[21] A 1998 article[22] in the newspaper Clarín reported that the designation "Southernmost city in the world" was transferred to Puerto Williams by a joint committee from Argentina and Chile, but this information was denied by Argentine authorities[23], [24]. The Secretariat of Tourism of Argentina continues to use the slogan in official documentation and web sites.[25]

Ushuaia qualifies as a city when such is defined as "an urban settlement of a particularly important status".[clarification needed] It has a fully functional hospital, international airport, and primary and secondary schools as well as institutions of higher learning. Its 64,000 residents enjoy an organized public transportation system and a functioning municipality, and its industrial sector, led by the important Renacer Grundig electronics plant, is among the largest in Patagonia. Ushuaia also serves as the provincial capital of Tierra del Fuego.[26]

[edit] History of settlement

It is generally accepted that the Selk’nam Indians, also called the Ona, first arrived in Tierra del Fuego about 10,000 years ago. The southern group of the Selk’nam, the Yámana, occupied what is modern day Ushuaia, living in continual conflict with the northern inhabitants of the island.[27] The British ship HMS Beagle under the command of Captain Robert FitzRoy first reached the channel on 29 January 1833 during its maiden voyage surveying Tierra del Fuego.[28]

The name Ushuaia first appears in letters and reports of the South American Missionary Society[29] in England. The British missionary Waite Hockin Stirling[30] became the first European to live in Ushuaia when he stayed with the Yámana people between the 18th of January and mid-September 1869. In 1870 more British missionaries arrived to establish a small settlement. The following year the first marriage was performed. During 1872, 36 baptisms and 7 marriages and the first European birth (Thomas Despard Bridges) in Tierra del Fuego were registered.[31]

The very first house constructed in Ushuaia was a pre-assembled 3 bedroom home prepared in the Falkland Islands in 1870 for Reverend Thomas Bridges. One bedroom was for the Bridge's family, a second for a Yámana married couple and the third bedroom served as the chapel[32]. During the 1880s many gold prospectors made their way to Ushuaia following rumours of large Gold fields, which later proved to false.[33][34].

During 1873, Juan and Clara Lawrence, the first Argentine citizens to visit Ushuaia, arrived to teach school. That same year, the Argentine President Julio Argentino Roca promoted the establishment of a penal colony for re-offenders, modeled after Tasmania, Australia in an effort to secure permanent residents from Argentina and to help establish Argentine sovereignty over all of Tierra del Fuego[35][36]. But only after the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina did formal efforts get under way to establish the township and its prison. The prison was formally announced in an Executive Order by Roca in 1896.[37]

On the 12th of October 1884, as part of the South Atlantic Expedition, Commodore Augusto Lasserre established the sub-division of Ushuaia,[38] with the missionaries and naval officers signing the Act of Ceremony. Don Feliz M Paz was named Governor of Tierra del Fuego and in 1885 named Ushuaia as its capital. In 1885 the territory police was organized under Antonio A Romero with headquarters also in Ushuaia. But it was not until 1904 that the Federal Government of Argentina recognized Ushuaia as the capital of Tierra del Fuego. [39]

Ushuaia suffered several epidemics, including typhus, whooping cough, and measles, that decimated the native population. But because the Yámana were not included in census data the exact numbers lost are not known. The first census was held in 1893 with 113 men and 36 women living in Ushuaia. The population grew to 1,558 by the 1914 census. By 1911 the Yámana had all practically disappeared, so the mission was closed.[40]

In 1896 the prison received its first inmates, mainly re-offenders and dangerous prisoners transferred from Buenos Aires but also at times political prisoners. A separate military prison opened in 1903 at the nearby Puerto Golondrina. The two prisons merged in 1910, and that combined complex still stands today. It operated until 1947, when President Juan Perón closed it by executive order in response to the many reports of abuse and unsafe practices.[41][42]. Most of the guards stayed in Ushuaia, while the prisoners were relocated to other jails farther north. After the prison ceased operation, it became a part of the Base Naval Ushuaia (Spanish), functioning as a storage and office facility until the early 1990s.[43]. Later it was converted into the current Museo Maritimo de Ushuaia.

[edit] TV programme

"Ushuaïa, le magazine de l'Extrême" was the name of a television program, presented by Nicolas Hulot and broadcast on the French TV channel TF1 from September 1987 to June 1995. The show is known in English as Ushuaia: The Ultimate Adventure, and this language's version was hosted by Perri Peltz and was shown on NBC, CNBC, and international affiliates of the Discovery Channel.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ INDEC Population estimates 2001-2010
  2. ^ "Tierra del Fuego, Argentina". Encarta. http://encarta.msn.com/media_461538660/Tierra_del_Fuego_Argentina.html. Retrieved on 2008-09-11. 
  3. ^ "Ushuaia". Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/620331/Ushuaia. Retrieved on 2009-05-23. 
  4. ^ Tiscali Encyclopaedia
  5. ^ Every, D.D., Right Reverend, Edward Francis (1915). "The South American Missionary Society". Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1915., London. http://anglicanhistory.org/sa/every1915/sams.html. Retrieved on 2007-09-27. 
  6. ^ Spanish "Prison synonymous for suffering"
  7. ^ Spanish Historia de Ushuaia
  8. ^ Spanish Historia de Ushuaia
  9. ^ Spanish "Prison synonymous for suffering"
  10. ^ Spanish
  11. ^ Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, http://www.unp.edu.ar/
  12. ^ Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, Ciencia y Tecnología - Escuela de Adultos, http://www.tierradelfuego.gov.ar/m_educct/est_secundarios.php
  13. ^ http://quefuede.universia.com.ar/buscarcentro.asp?txtName=&txtCity=&search=1&txtRegion=Tierra%20del%20Fuego
  14. ^ "Colegio Nacional de Ushuaia", Retrieved on Jan 14 2009
  15. ^ http://www.tierradelfuego.gov.ar/canal13/icanal13.php
  16. ^ http://www.tierradelfuego.gov.ar/canal11/icanal11.php
  17. ^ http://eldiariodelfindelmundo.com/ver.php?modulo=principal
  18. ^ http://www.diarioprensa.com/
  19. ^ "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Ushuaia, Argentina". Weatherbase. 2007. http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=83978&refer=. Retrieved on 2007-11-10. 
  20. ^ Su población, de aproximadamente 1.700 habitantes, esta compuesta casi en su totalidad, por personal de la Armada y sus familiares.
  21. ^ Chile's Federal Institute of Statistics pag7
  22. ^ Ushuaia ya no sera la cuiduad mas Austral de Mundo
  23. ^ Argentine Congress, Lower House
  24. ^ Argentine Congress Nov 11,1998 Dictamen CXXXVII : se expresa preocupación ante la difusión de la información publicada sobre el traspaso del slogan que caracteriza a la ciudad de Ushuaia como la ciudad mas austral del mundo, a la población chilena de Puerto William
  25. ^ Secretariat of Tourism of Argentina
  26. ^ http://www.tierradelfuego.gov.ar/ Tierra del Fuego government website (Spanish).
  27. ^ The Selk'nam (Ona), Hunter-Gatherer Wiki, Anthropology Department, The Ohio State University
  28. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beagle_Channel
  29. ^ Every, D.D., Right Reverend, Edward Francis (1915). "The South American Missionary Society". Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1915., London. http://anglicanhistory.org/sa/every1915/sams.html. Retrieved on 2007-09-27. 
  30. ^ http://www.roughguides.com/website/travel/Destination/content/default.aspx?titleid=151&xid=idh571931328_0750
  31. ^ "Historia de Ushuaia" http://www.tierradelfuego.org.ar/historia/ushuaia/resena.php?idpag=01
  32. ^ Spanish Tierra del Fuego
  33. ^ Spanish Historia de Ushuaia
  34. ^ [1]
  35. ^ Spanish "Prison synonymous for suffering"
  36. ^ Spanish Historia de Ushuaia
  37. ^ "Historia de Ushuaia" http://www.tierradelfuego.org.ar/historia/ushuaia/resena.php?idpag=01
  38. ^ http://www.victory-cruises.com/cape_horn_patagonian_news5.html
  39. ^ http://www.tierradelfuego.org.ar/historia/ushuaia/resena.php?idpag=01
  40. ^ http://www.der.org/films/ona-people.html
  41. ^ Vittar, Daniel; Redaccion Clarin (22 May 2006). "Viaje a la Carcel de Ushuaia Historias macabras en el museo del fin del mundo". Grupo Clarin. http://www.clarin.com/diario/2006/05/22/conexiones/t-01199796.htm. Retrieved on 15 Jan 2009. 
  42. ^ http://www.roughguides.com/website/travel/Destination/content/default.aspx?titleid=151&xid=idh571931328_0750
  43. ^ http://www.rionegro.com.ar/diario/cultural/2008/03/01/11648.php

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 54°48′S 68°18′W / 54.8°S 68.3°W / -54.8; -68.3

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