Kawésqar National Park ( es, Parque nacional Kawésqar), formerly Alacalufes National Reserve, is the second largest national park in Chile and one of the largest in the world with an area of 7,023,542 acres. It is located between Canal Concepción and the open

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, on both sides of

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Its area covers parts of two out of the four provinces of

Magallanes and Chilean Antártica Region The Magallanes Region (), officially the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region ( es, Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena), is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is the southernmost, largest, and second lea ...

: Magallanes Province and

Última Esperanza Province Última Esperanza ( es, Provincia de Última Esperanza, meaning "Last Hope Province") is one of four provinces in the southern Chilean region of Magallanes and Antártica Chilena. The capital is Puerto Natales and it is named after Última Espera ...

Description

There are two types of weather within the national park: "high humidity, mild cold" and, "

Isothermal In thermodynamics, an isothermal process is a type of thermodynamic process in which the temperature ''T'' of a system remains constant: Δ''T'' = 0. This typically occurs when a system is in contact with an outside thermal reservoir, and a ...

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

", with a mean temperature of and , respectively. Rainfall can reach up to per year. The park is composed of western archipelagos; its landscape is filled with low mountain-like islands and islets and many channels and fjords. Magellanic rainforest is the dominant ecosystem of the park. There are around 24 different species of mammal in the park, and the nearby national reserve is home to numerous marine species.

Culture

The Kawésqar people arrived about seven thousand years ago. They were nomadic hunter-gatherers. The park is named in their honor.

Notes

References

External links

* National parks of Chile Protected areas of Magallanes Region Protected areas established in 1969 1969 establishments in Chile Última Esperanza Province Magellanic subpolar forests {{SouthAm-protected-area-stub