Ushuaia is located between the Martial mountains, the bay and the Beagle Channel and is popular for its sheer beauty, spectacular marine wildlife, and for its acclaim as the city at the End of the World.
Fun Facts About Ushuaia:
1. It is the southernmost city in the world. Puerto Williams, in Chile, is technically further south, but at just 2, 500 inhabitants, it doesn't quite qualify as a city.
2. It was once a penal colony. Established in 1883, the prisoners considered most dangerous were sent to Argentina's southernmost territory, where they constructed the prison themselves, as well as other infrastructure in Ushuaia, such as the railway.
3. Ushuaia is not connected to mainland Argentina. The city is on the island of Tierra del Fuego, which is divided between Chile and Argentina.
4. It is the portal to Antarctica. While you can also reach Antarctica from South Africa and New Zealand, Ushuaia is the most popular and easiest way to reach the 7th continent as a tourist.
5. Charles Darwin's influence lives on in here. The channel is named after the boat Darwin travelled on, the HMS Beagle.
6. Tierra del Fuego means Land of Fire. The name was given by early explorers who saw the fires on the shores of the native Yámana people.
7. The iconic Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse in the Beagle Channel is called the Lighthouse at the End of the World, despite that fact that this is misleading. Jules Verne's The Lighthouse at the End of the World, is the San Juan de Salvamento Lighthouse, which is much further east
8. The Beagle Channel is one of three navigable passages between the Atlantic and Pacific ocean.
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