Southernmost settlements
Southernmost settlements are cities, towns, weather stations or permanent military bases which are further south than latitude 45°S. They are closely related to the Southern Ocean or either the Roaring Forties or Furious Fifties.
Southernmost city
The southernmost city in the world is mainly a slogan used for tourism to attract visitors to the city as well as the tourists headed for Antarctica. Currently three cities or towns use this slogan: Ushuaia in Argentina as well as Punta Arenas and Puerto Williams[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] in Chile, with the latter being the absolute southernmost city by latitude (see table below). There are several more settlements further south but none are considered to be large enough to be classified as a 'city'. The three contending cities are from north to south:
- Punta Arenas (53°10′S 70°56′W / 53.167°S 70.933°W, pop:130,136), literally in Spanish: "Sandy Point", is the oldest and largest city in Southern Patagonia, at the Strait of Magellan and the capital of the Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. It is the largest of the three contenders with around 130,000 permanent residents[9] and it is called the southernmost city by some media outlets. The basis of its claim to be the southernmost city rests on it being larger than Ushuaia, Río Grande (Argentina), and Puerto Williams, all of which are further south.
- Ushuaia (/uːˈʃwaɪ.ə/; Spanish: [uˈswaia], (54°48′S 68°18′W / 54.800°S 68.300°W, pop:71,000), the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, is more commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world due to its large population, 71,000,[10][11] its infrastructure and its accepted classification as a city.[11][12][13] Ushuaia is located in a wide bay on the southern coast of the island of Tierra del Fuego, on the northern shore of the Beagle Channel; hence, it is further north than Puerto Williams.
- Puerto Williams (54°56′S 67°37′W / 54.933°S 67.617°W, pop:2874[14]) located on Isla Navarino, is the southernmost town in the world on the southern shore of the Beagle Channel. It is the capital of the Antártica Chilena Province, one of four provinces located in the Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. It has a population of 2,874 people.[14] Puerto Williams is sometimes considered the southernmost city in the world by Chilean media and some large media international organisations,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21] although it promotes with the slogan Puerto Williams, the southernmost town in the world[22] in its tourism campaigns. It has a Naval Hospital of Puerto Williams, the Martin Gusinde Anthropological Museum, the Guardiamarina Zañartu Airport and a university campus and it is a naval base of the Chilean Navy.
Gallery
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Punta Arenas city view
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Puerto Williams, Micalvi yacht club
Settlements of more than 1,000 inhabitants south of 45°S
This is a list of the all settlements south of the 45th parallel south with over 1,000 permanent inhabitants.
Southernmost settlements outside Antarctica
This list of settlements excludes research stations in Antarctica and its surrounding islands.
| # | Location | Country | Settlement type |
Latitude | Population | Population as of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Estación Naval Islas Diego Ramirez | Chile | Naval station | 56°30′ S | ? | |
| 2 | Estación Meteorológica de Cabo de Hornos | Chile | Weather station | 55°59′ S | 4[23] | 2008 |
| 3 | Puerto Toro | Chile | Hamlet | 55°05′ S | 36[24] | 2002 |
| 4 | Caleta Wulaia | Chile | Hamlet | 55°02′ S | ? | |
| 5 | Caleta Eugenia | Chile | Hamlet | 54°56′ S | ? | |
| 6 | Puerto Williams | Chile | Town [25] | 54°56′ S | 2,874[14] | 2002 |
| 7 | Puerto Navarino | Chile | Village | 54°55′ S | ? | |
| 8 | Puerto Almanza | Argentina | Village | 54°52′ S | 200 | |
| 9 | Ushuaia | Argentina | City | 54°48′ S | 56,956[26] | 2010 |
| 10 | Tolhuin | Argentina | Town | 54°31′ S | 3,004[27] | |
| 11 | Macquarie Island Station | Australia | Scientific research station | 54°30′ S | 20 to 40 | |
| 12 | Grytviken | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | Hamlet | 54°19′ S | up to 18 | |
| 13 | Río Grande | Argentina | City | 53°45′ S | 67,038 | 2010 |
| 14 | Porvenir | Chile | City | 53°17′ S | 5,465 | |
| 15 | Punta Arenas | Chile | City | 53°17′ S | 119,496[24] | 2002 |
- The former Argentine base Corbeta Uruguay (59°28′ S) in South Sandwich Islands was the southernmost settlement outside Antarctica from 1976–1982.
Settlements on the Antarctic continent
There are many research stations in Antarctica, both permanent and summer only. Many of the stations are staffed all year. McMurdo Station is the largest with an average population of 1200.
A total of 30 countries (as of October 2006), all signatory to the Antarctic Treaty, operate seasonal (summer) or year-round research stations on the continent and on its surrounding islands. In addition to these permanent stations, approximately 30 field camps are established each austral summer to support specific one off projects.[28]
The full list is available at: Research stations in Antarctica
See also
- Extreme points of Earth
- List of southernmost items
- Northernmost cities and towns
- Northernmost settlements
References
- ↑ "Ushuaia ya no será la ciudad más austral del mundo". Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ↑ Puerto Williams: ubicada entre Tierra del Fuego por el norte y el Cabo de Hornos por el sur , por lo tanto es la cuidad mas Austral del país y del mundo
- ↑ http://www.infinito-sur.com/, retrieved 9 April 2012
- ↑ Puerto Williams espera una gran temporada de centolla, retrieved 9 April 2012
- ↑ Escritorio Estudiantes, retrieved 9 April 2012
- ↑ dibam, retrieved 9 April 2012
- ↑ Times Online
- ↑ Website thisischile.cl Puerto Williams, the southernmost town in the world
- ↑ Interactive map, INE Census 2002, Chile. (Click on XII Region and then on Punta Arenas)
- ↑ Tiscali Encyclopaedia
- 1 2 Boston Globe 2008
- ↑ "Tierra del Fuego, Argentina". Encarta. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
- ↑ "Ushuaia". Britannica. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
- 1 2 3 4 http://www.ptowilliams.cl/Puerto_Williams.html
- ↑ http://edant.clarin.com/diario/1998/06/30/e-04801d.htm
- ↑ Puerto Williams: ubicada entre Tierra del Fuego por el norte y el Cabo de Hornos por el sur , por lo tanto es la cuidad mas Austral del país y del mundo
- ↑ http://www.infinito-sur.com/, retrieved 9 April 2012
- ↑ Puerto Williams espera una gran temporada de centolla, retrieved 9 April 2012
- ↑ Escritorio Estudiantes, retrieved 9 April 2012
- ↑ dibam, retrieved 9 April 2012
- ↑ Times Online
- ↑ Website thisischile.cl Puerto Williams, the southernmost town in the world
- ↑ "Vida al fin del mundo: Una familia chilena haciendo soberanía en Cabo de Hornos". Emol. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- 1 2 "DEMOGRAFÍA". Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ↑ http://www.thisischile.cl/1116/2/249/puerto-williams,-the-southernmost-town-in-the-world/Article.aspx
- ↑ "INDEC (Argentine Ministry of Economics) 2010 Census results" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-11-21.
- ↑
- ↑ 4.0 Antarctica – Past and Present