Ushuaia Travel Guide And Tips
Ushuaia is very often at the top of most people’s lists when traveling to Argentina. The world’s southernmost city is a draw precisely because of its location, but what else is going on in Ushuaia? We find out in our ultimate guide to the city at the end of the world.
1- Location and history
Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia’s home province, is in southern Argentina and is an archipelago separated from continental South America by the Strait of Magellan. It was discovered by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan on his 1520 expedition. Argentine Antarctica falls into the Tierra del Fuego province, and, when in Argentina, it is wise to consider Las Islas Malvinas (or the Falkland Islands in English) as constituting Argentine territory, although technically these islands are considered as British overseas territories.An ominous welcome – the entrance to Ushuaia © Kevin Dooley/Flickr
Tierra del Fuego means “Land of Fire” in English, and is the southernmost province in Argentina, with the provincial capital of Ushuaia being commonly known as the southernmost city in the world, giving it the name “End of the World.” Ushuaia means “bay looking into the west” in the ancient Indian tongue of Yamana, and it is bound by the Martial Mountains to the north and by the Beagle Channel to the south, locking it between land and sea. Boats in the Ushuaia harbour with incredible mountains in the background © David Stanley/Flickr
Tierra del Fuego is famous for many reasons, one of the most interesting being that, as a young naturalist, Charles Darwin came to Tierra del Fuego and spent over four years in Patagonia researching and gathering information on the local flora, fauna and indigenous Indian cultures. Traveling with an expedition led by Captain FitzRoy on the HMS Beagle that set sail from Plymouth, England in 1831, Darwin spent just over three years exploring the land of Tierra del Fuego, and a further 18 months trawling the seas, straits, and passages around the archipelago. Many of his findings, including conclusions made about three captured Fuegian Indians that had spent a year in England and were taken back to Patagonia as missionaries, hugely influenced what would later become his Theory of Evolution.Ushuaia, Argentina © Mariamichelle/Pixabay
