Ushuaia
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| Ushuaia | |
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  Ushuaia
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country |  Argentina |
| Province | Tierra del Fuego |
| Founded | July 25, 1615 |
| Population (2001 census [INDEC]) | |
| - Total | 64,000 |
| CPA Base | V 9410 |
| Area code(s) | +54 2900 |
Ushuaia (pronounced [u'swaia]) is the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, and by agreement the world's second-southernmost city (see discussion below). It is located on the southern coast of the island of Tierra del Fuego in a wide bay, guarded on the north by the Martial mountain range and on the south by the Beagle Channel. Its population is estimated today at about 60 000 inhabitants. (2001: 45 430 inhabitants) [1]
It is the only municipality of the Department of Ushuaia, which has an area of 9,390 km² (3,625 sq mi).
The city was originally named by early British colonists 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 great detail in Lucas Bridges’s book Uttermost Part of the Earth (1948). For most of the first half of the 20th century, the city was centered around a prison for serious criminals. The Argentine government set up this prison following the example of the British with Australia or the French with Devil's Island: escape from a prison on Tierra del Fuego was similarly impossible. 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, 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 we can find indigenous trees of 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.
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[edit] Tourism
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 Buenos Aires. Flights are also available from Santiago, Chile.
The tourist attractions include the Tierra del Fuego National Park to see Lapataia Bay; the park can be reached on 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 the islands in the Beagle Channel. There are daily bus tours to Harberton, the estancia of the Bridges family. Some tours also visit the Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse, known as the Lighthouse at the End of the World (Faro del fin del mundo) — although it is not the same lighthouse as the one made famous by Jules Verne in the novel of the same name.
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 mount located 27 km (17 miles) north of Ushuaia; it is possible to ski hardly 200 m (660 ft) above sea level reaching the summit at 1057 meters (3468 ft) above sea level. Constant temperatures allow the longest skiing season in South America: in winters temperatures fluctuate between 0º and -5°C (32 to 23°F). On its lowest slopes forests can be appreciated.
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] Climate
Despite receiving only 560 mm (22 in) of precipitation yearly on average, Ushuaia's climate is very wet. On average, the city experiences 160 days of rain or snow a year, and there are many cloudy and foggy days. Because temperatures are cool throughout the year, there is little evaporation. Snowfalls are common in winter and regularly happen in any season, including summer.
It belongs to the subpolar oceanic climate. And advancing to the southern outer islands the southwestern winds makes them wetter, achieving 1,400 mm (55 in) at Isla de los Estados (Staten Island). Averages 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.
Very strong winds whip the town. Trees that grow in Ushuaia tend to follow the wind direction, and therefore they are called "flag-trees", named after the bend that they are forced to take.
| Weather averages for Usuhaia, Argentina | |||||||||||||
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| 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[2] 2007 | |||||||||||||
[edit] "Southernmost city"
- See also: Southernmost settlements
Ushuaia claims to be the "Southernmost city in the world."[3]. There are two other contenders for the title of southernmost city; Puerto Williams on the Chilean island of Navarino (farther south but it has only 2500 inhabitants); and Punta Arenas, in Chile (much larger but farther north). Several continuously inhabited settlements also south of Ushuaia include Puerto Toro on Isla Navarino, Chile, Orcadas in the South Orkney Islands, and Esperanza in the Argentine Antarctic territory. Each of these settlements has fewer than 100 residents.
Orcadas and Esperanza are considered stations or bases by nations that do not recognise Argentina's Antarctic territorial claim, but are regarded as permanent communities by the Argentine government. Esperanza has a secondary school, a chapel, and a radio station.
The main reasons that Ushuaia can claim to be the "Southernmost City in the World" are that Ushuaia has a fully functional hospital, institutions of higher learning as well as secondary schools, industrial sector which is mainly the presence of the large Grundig electronics plant, currently named 'Renacer', an organized transportation system and a functioning municipality, all of which allow to make it an actual city on its own right: "an urban settlement of a particularly important status". Ushuaia is also the Capital city of the Tierra del Fuego Province.[4] .
While all these characteristics are shared with the much larger city of Punta Arenas, in Chile, Ushuaia is located about 200 Km south of it and, on the other hand, Puerto Williams has very little productive activities and most of its population are military personnel stationed there.
Despite all said, since 1998 the governments of Chile and Argentina agreed to allow Puerto Williams to display the title of the southernmost city in the world.[5]
[edit] TV program
"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
- Tierra del Fuego National Park
- Southernmost settlements
- Beagle (beer)
- Beagle Channel
- Beagle conflict
- S/V Seal
[edit] References
- ^ Tiscali Encyclopaedia
- ^ Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Ushuaia, Argentina (English). Weatherbase (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
- ^ http://explorer.altopix.com/map/gsu0im/SouthernMost_city_of_the_World.htm Earth Explorer
- ^ http://www.tierradelfuego.gov.ar/ Tierra del Fuego government website (Spanish)
- ^ See agreement Chile-Argentina in [1]
[edit] External links
- (Spanish) Municipality of Ushuaia (official website)
- (Spanish) Online community of residents
- (English) (Spanish) (Portuguese) Ushuaia Travel Guide
- (English) Tourist information
- (French) (English) Ushuaïa, le magazine de l'Extrême (TV programme website)
- (English) Virtual Tour of Ushuaia waterfront
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