Fagnano Lake ( es, Lago Fagnano), also called ''Lake Cami'' (), is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

located on the main island of the

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

, and shared by

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

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 ...

. The 645 km² lake runs east–west for about 98 kilometres, of which 72.5 km (606 km²) belong to the Argentine Tierra del Fuego Province, and only 13.5 km (39 km²) belong to the Chilean

Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region Magallanes may refer to: * Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521), Portuguese explorer who led part of the first expedition around the world * Strait of Magellan, the strait between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, located in Chile Places * Magallanes ...

. It has a maximum depth of 449 meters. The southern bank is steep compared to the northern, and expands in a considerably wide and flat

piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

from which both levels of the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

s can be appreciated. From its western end, the

Azopardo River The Azopardo River (Spanish: ''Río Azopardo''), is a river in Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, Chile at the southern tip of South America. It flows in a westerly direction and drains the waters of Fagnano Lake Fagnano Lake ( es, Lago Fagnano), a ...

drains towards the

Almirantazgo Fjord Almirantazgo Fjord ( es, Fiordo Almirantazgo), also known as Almirantazgo Sound ( es, Seno Almirantazgo) or Admiralty Sound, is a Chilean fjord located in the far south of the country at .Earth Info, ''earth-info.nga.mil'' webpage: . The fjor ...

. On its eastern end is the town of

Tolhuin Tolhuin is a town in the province of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. It has 2,949 inhabitants as per the . It is located on the eastern shore of Lake Fagnano, in the southern part of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. It is the third largest settlem ...

. The lake is located in a

pull-apart basin In geology, a basin is a region where subsidence generates accommodation space for the deposition of sediments. A pull-apart basin is a structural basin where two overlapping (en echelon) strike-slip faults or a fault bend creates an area of cru ...

developed along the

Magallanes–Fagnano Fault The Magallanes–Fagnano Fault () is a continental transform fault. The fault marks a transform boundary between the Scotia Plate and the South American Plate, cutting across continental crust. It runs under the Strait of Magellan's western arm, A ...

zone. According to a

Selk'nam The Selk'nam, also known as the Onawo or Ona people, are an indigenous people in the Patagonian region of southern Argentina and Chile, including the Tierra del Fuego islands. They were one of the last native groups in South America to be enco ...

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

the lake was created alongside the

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 ...

and

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego fr ...

in places where slingshots fell on earth during Taiyín's fight with a witch who was said to have "retained the waters and the foods". Lago Fagnano Hualo

References

* Lakes of Argentina Lakes of Chile Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego Lakes of Magallanes Region Argentina–Chile border International lakes of South America Lakes of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina {{MagallanesyAntártica-geo-stub