Antártica Chilena Province ( es, Provincia Antártica Chilena) is the southernmost and one of four

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 eas ...

's southernmost

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region (XII). The capital is Puerto Williams. The province comprises the extreme southern part of

Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego (English: ''Big Island of the Land of Fire'') also formerly ''Isla de Xátiva''Cordillera Darwin The Cordillera Darwin is an extensive mountain range mantled by an ice field that is located in Chile. Description Cordillera Darwin is located in the southwestern portion of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, entirely within the Chilean territory. ...

), the islands south and west of Isla Grande (

Diego Ramírez Islands The Diego Ramírez Islands ( es, Islas Diego Ramírez) are a small group of subantarctic islands located in the southernmost extreme of Chile. History The islands were first sighted on 12 February 1619 by the Spanish Garcia de Nodal expedition, ...

), and Chile's claims in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. The province is administratively divided into two

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

(''comunas''):

Cabo de Hornos Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramír ...

, located at the southern tip of South America, and Antártica, a wedge-shaped claim of Antarctica, which is not internationally recognized. Its total area of makes it almost twice as large as all other provinces of Chile combined.

Communes

Commune of Cabo de Hornos Cabo de Hornos (''Cape Horn'') is a Chilean commune located in the south of Tierra del Fuego archipelago, in Antártica Province, Magallanes Region. The municipality of Cabo de Hornos, located in the town of Puerto Williams, also administers t ...

(until 2001 called Navarino, capital Puerto Williams), area , population as of census 2002: 2,262, of which 1,952 are in the capital. As a commune, Cabo de Hornos is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The 2016-2020 alcalde is Patricio Fernández (PDC).The communal council has the following members: Daniel Fernando Valdebenito Contreras (PS) Ángela Barría Barrientos (RN) Juan Velásquez (PS) Carolina Guenel González (DC) Francis Delgado Ibaceta (RN) Paola Speake Ojeda (DC) # Commune of Antártica, area , population as of census 2002: 130. This territory as a whole is not recognized internationally. (''See'' Antarctic territorial claims.) The Municipality of Cabo de Hornos governs both Antártica and Cabo de Hornos from Cabo de Hornos, making it the only Chilean municipality to currently administer more than one commune.

Demography

According to the 2002 census by the National Statistics Institute (''INE''), it had a population of 2,392 inhabitants (1,518 men and 874 women), giving it a population density of . Of these, 1,952 (81.6%) lived in urban areas and 440 (18.4%) in rural areas. The province is the largest in Chile, yet it is also the least and most sparsely populated province in the country. Between the 1992 and 2002 censuses, the population grew by 23% (447 persons).

Territory recognition

182 - Punta Arenas - Revendications territoriales chiliennes - Janvier 2010

The South American portion of the territory is internationally recognized as part of Chile; however, the Commune of Antártica, which encompasses most of the area of the province, is disputed. It forms the Chilean claim to

, stretching south of the 60th parallel to the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

. The Commune of Antártica is practically uninhabited except for research stations of various countries, although Chile maintains a permanent civilian population at Villa Las Estrellas (near Frei Montalva Station), including women and children, a small school, and even a bank, in order to support its territorial claim of the area. The official population for the area as of the census 2002 is 130 (115 male, 15 female). This does not include the staff of non-Chilean bases in the area. According to the Chilean argument, its claim to Antártica Chilena is as old as Chile itself. The Tordesillas Line established a west/east division of colonial territories between Portugal and Spain. On the first organization of the new conquered territories,

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

, ruler of the Spanish Empire assigned to

Pedro Sancho de la Hoz Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning " ...

control over Terra Australis, which included the Southern part of South America, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, and all southern undiscovered territories (Terra Australis Ignota). This eventually merged with other territories in the

Captaincy General A captaincy ( es, capitanía , pt, capitania , hr, kapetanija) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule ...

of the Kingdom of Chile.

Prehistory

Early settlement by prehistoric man is known to have occurred from

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

recovery within this Province. Yaghans established many settlements on the islands of the present day province of the Antártica espana Province; for example, there is a significant early

Yaghan Yaghan, Yagán or Yahgan may refer to: * Yahgan people, an ethnic group of Argentina and Chile * Yahgan language, their language * Yaghan (dog), an extinct domesticated fox See also

* Yagan (disambiguation) * Yagha, a province of Burkina Faso ...

site at Wulaia Bay, which C. Michael Hogan terms the ''Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens''.C. Michael Hogan (2008
''Bahia Wulaia Dome Middens'', Megalithic Portal'', ed. Andy Burnham
/ref>

History

Puerto Williams and Porvenir were established in the late 19th century, mainly by

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

an immigrants (esp. from

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

and the former

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

) and navigators in cruise ships and fish boats. The Chilean government transplanted Chilean settlers from the central part of the country in the 20th century to increase the province's sparse population.

References

External links

Gobierno Regional Magallanes y Antártica Chilena
Official website (in Spanish)
Gobernación Provincia de Antártica Chilena
Official website (in Spanish)
Prensa Antártica - News of the Antártica Chilena Province

Instituto Antártico Chileno

Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antartica Chilena Province Provinces of Chile Provinces of Magallanes Region Chilean Antarctic Territory Tierra del Fuego