Puerto Natales is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

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 ...

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

. It is the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

of both the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Natales Natales ( Spanish for "births") is a commune of the Última Esperanza Province in the Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region of extreme southern Chile. Its capital and only port city is Puerto Natales. Geography The commune's area spans , mak ...

and the

province 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 out ...

of Última Esperanza, one of the four provinces that make up the

Magallanes and Antartica Chilena 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 ...

in the southernmost part of Chile. Puerto Natales is the only city in the province. It is located northwest of

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Are ...

. It is the final passenger port of call for the

Navimag Navimag (Naviera Magallanes S.A.) is a ferry operator in Chile. The company operates two routes carrying passengers and vehicles: *Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, calling at Puerto Eden (a 4-day journey) *Puerto Montt to Puerto Chacabuco The co ...

ferry sailing from

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...

into the Señoret Channel as well as the primary transit point for travellers to

Torres del Paine National Park Torres del Paine National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine) is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Cordillera del Paine is the centerpiece of the park. It lies in a tr ...

, Chile. It is located at the opening of Última Esperanza Sound and was originally inhabited by the Kawésqar or Alacaluf people and the Aoniken or Tehuelche people. The first European to visit the area where the city is located was

Juan Ladrillero Juan Ladrillero (b. c. 1490 in Moguer – 1559) was a 16th-century Spanish navigator and explorer who from 1557 to 1559 explored the coast of Chile from Valdivia (39° 48’ S) to the Barbara Channel (54° S, between Clarence Island and Santa ...

, a Spanish explorer who was looking for 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 ...

's western passage in 1557. The city was later settled by European immigrants, primarily

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, including

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

and Scots,

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic ...

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, ot ...

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

and

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ...

. It was then settled by

Chilean people Chileans ( es, Chilenos) are people identified with the country of Chile, whose connection may be residential, legal, historical, ethnic, or cultural. For most Chileans, several or all of these connections exist and are collectively the source ...

, with a substantial number coming from the island of Chiloé, all attracted by the sheep breeding industry. The city was formally founded under the government of

Ramón Barros Luco Ramón Barros Luco (; June 9, 1835 – September 20, 1919) was President of Chile between 1910 and 1915. Barros Luco was born in 1835 in Santiago, Barros Luco was son of Ramón Luis Barros Fernández and Dolores Luco Fernández de Leiva. He grad ...

on May 31, 1911. Nowadays, one of its most important industries is

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

although the cattle and aquaculture industries are also significant.

History and current status

The province where Puerto Natales is located was named Última Esperanza (''Last Hope'') by the sailor Juan Ladrilleros, who was seeking the Strait of Magellan in the year 1557. It was his "last hope" to find the Strait after exploring the maze of channels between the waters of the Pacific and the mainland. It was not until three centuries later, in 1830, that another major expedition sailed through the fjords and channels of Última Esperanza: the British expedition of the sloop HMS ''Beagle''. Some of the expedition members such as

Robert FitzRoy Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy and a scientist. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, FitzRoy's second expedition to Tierra de ...

, William Skyring and James Kirke as well as their senior officers are remembered by several place-names in the area. Commander Fitzroy was the captain during the Second voyage of HMS ''Beagle'' (1831–1836). In 1870, interest in the region of Ultima Esperanza was rekindled. Among the daring travelers who ventured to these desolate lands was Santiago Zamora, also known as 'Baqueano' Zamora. He discovered the lakes of the Torres del Paine area and many wild horses are locally known as ''baguales''. Another was the English traveler and writer Lady Florence Dixie, commemorated in the city's present-day ''Hotel Lady Florence Dixie''. Dixie wrote the book ''Across Patagonia'', where she relates the first tourist expedition to Torres del Paine (the three granite spires) which she named as Cleopatra's needles. The Singular Patagonia demo

Puerto Natales was founded in May 1911 as a port for the sheep industry. During the last half of the 20th century the sheep industry declined and many people from Puerto Natales started to work in the coal mines of

Río Turbio Río Turbio is a town and municipality in the Güer Aike Department of the Santa Cruz Province in southern Argentina. It was founded in late 1942, as a consequence of the coal mining in the area. Rio Turbio was home to the state-owned coal extr ...

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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. During the zenith of the sheep industry in Patagonia, two large "frigorificos" or cold-storage plants were constructed in the Natales area, of which one has survived. The plant at Puerto Bories, about 4 km NW from Puerto Natales, was a project of the Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego. The Puerto Bories site was inaugurated in 1913 and was in production until 1993. The Cold-Storage Plant was constructed in "Post Victorian Industrial" architectural style and features of number of British machinery examples which reflect the technology of the beginning of the 20th century. The Cold-Storage Plant complex is part of the industrial history of the Puerto Natales area. A restoration project made by The Singular Hotels, was started on the complex in 2010 in order to transform the cold storage plant into a luxury hotel, called The Singular Patagonia. In 1919, a strike by the '' Federación Obrera de Magallanes'' resulted in the workers taking control of the town. The strike was later suppressed by the government.

Tourism

;Torres del Paine National Park Puerto Natales has many tourist facilities, and it has become a common base for excursions to the world-renowned

, one of the most popular national parks in Chile. Its main feature, the mountainous “towers” ("torres"), are an impressive and unique rock formation known as "Torres del Paine". They comprise the Torre Central (Central Tower), 2,800 meters high; Torre Sur (South Tower) 2,850 m; and Torre Norte (North Tower) 2,248 m. Named a

Unesco The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Biosphere Reserve, the park is home to hundreds of different birds and many species of mammals, as well as the third-largest ice field on the planet. The national park is open all year round but best season to visit the park is from October to April, the southern hemisphere spring and summer. This season has more sunny days with less rain and more than 16 hours of daylight. ;Cueva del Milodón Natural Monument Twenty four kilometres (15 mi) northwest of Puerto Natales, along the flanks of the Cerro Benitez Mountains, lies the Cueva del Milodón Natural Monument.C. Michael Hogan, ''Cueva del Milodon'', Megalithic Portal, 13 April 200

/ref> It comprises several

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s and a rock formation called the ''Silla del Diablo'' (Devil's Chair). The main cave, used by prehistoric tribes, is notable for the discovery in 1895 of skin, bones and other parts of a giant

ground sloth Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths in the mammalian superorder Xenarthra. The term is used to refer to all extinct sloths because of the large size of the earliest forms discovered, compared to existing tree sloths. The Caribb ...

known as the

Mylodon ''Mylodon'' is a genus of extinct ground sloth belonging to the family Mylodontidae, known from the region of Patagonia in Chile and Argentina in southern South America. With a total length of 3 to 4 m, it is one of the best-known and largest re ...

(''Mylodon darwini''), today extinct. The area includes the

Bernardo O'Higgins National Park Bernardo O'Higgins National Park () is the largest of the protected areas in Chile, covering an area of in both the Aysén and Magallanes and Antártica Chilena regions. Management of this and other national parks in Chile is entrusted to the ...

; and the Alacalufes National Reserve. The latter is the site of the

Fjord of the Mountains Fjord of the Mountains, also known as "Channel of the Mountains" (Spanish Canal de las Montañas), is located to the west of Puerto Natales, Chile and inside the boundaries of the Alacalufes National Reserve. It stretches 66 km from north to ...

Cordillera Riesco The Cordillera Riesco is a mountain range located in the Chilean Patagonia to the west of Puerto Natales. It extends in north–south direction on the eastern shore of the Fjord of the Mountains and parallel to the Cordillera Sarmiento. The rock ...

and

Cordillera Sarmiento The Cordillera Sarmiento is a mountain range located in the Chilean Patagonia to the west of Puerto Natales named after Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, who was a Spanish explorer who navigated the region's waterways between 1579 and 1580. It extends i ...

. ;Nao Victoria Museum A museum in nearby

. The Nao Victoria was one of the five ships (and the only one that survived) that sailed in the Spanish Armada de Molucca expedition which discovered the meeting point the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A realistic, technically and historically accurate replica of the ship commemorates the expedition and allows visitors to experience the historic voyage. ; Navigate the fjords Companies offering boat trips through the Patagonian fjords depart from Puerto Natales Pier and take tourists to view the region’s many icebergs. ; Bike, horseback and kayak expeditions Bike trips around Torres del Paine National Park are a quiet way to admire the nature and the majestic sights. On horseback you can visit the characteristic farms that dot the countryside around Puerto Natales. Kayaks offer a quieter alternative to boat trips and are a perfect platform to admire the landscapes of the fjords from a different point of view. ;Facilities Today, there are dozens of camping sites, hostels, hotels, bed & breakfasts, restaurants and transportation services to fit a variety of budgets.Top 10 hotels in Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile
Sarah Gilbert, theguardian.com, Wednesday 19 September 2012, retrieved August 06, 2013 ;How to get there There are daily

LATAM LATAM Airlines Group S.A. is an airline holding company headquartered in Santiago, Chile. It is considered the largest airline company in Latin America with subsidiaries in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru. The company filed for Ch ...

flights from

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, Chile’s capital city, to the Presidente Carlos Ibáñez del Campo International Airport in

. The smaller

Sky Airline Sky Airline, styled as SꓘY, is an airline based at Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago, Chile. It is the second largest airline in the country behind flag-carrier LATAM Airlines and the first airline to operate u ...

offers direct flights to the Teniente Julio Gallardo Airport near Puerto Natales three times a week. Overland, Puerto Natales is from

, from

and from Coyhaique.

Demographics

Parroquia Maria Auxiliadora Puerto Natales

According to the 2002

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

carried out by the Chilean National Statistics Institute, the Natales commune has a population of 19,116 inhabitants (10,068 men and 9,048 women). Of these, 16,978 (88.8%) lived in the city’s

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

and 2,138 (11.2%) in

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descr ...

s. The population grew by 10.7% (1,841 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses. The commune comprises 96.3% of the provinces’s total population of 19,855. Its population density is only .

Geography

Puerto Natales is situated along the shore of Última Esperanza Sound and has views northward into the Cerro Benitez peaks of the

Cerro Toro Cerro Toro is a Cretaceous landform of the Magallanes Foreland in the Patagonian region of southeastern Chile. The Cerro Toro is an element of the southern Andes and a product of the Andean orogeny, caused by the subduction of the Nazca Plate ...

formation within the Cordillera Manuel Señoret. The city of Puerto Natales exists within the larger Natales commune, one of eleven communes in the Magallanes Region. Since the entire province of Última Esperanza () is divided into only two communes, the result is a rather large but sparsely populated area for the Natales commune. The commune's area is , which renders it one of the largest communes in Chile, larger than seven regions of the country. Its altitude is .

Climate

Puerto Natales has a

subpolar oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

(Köppen: ''Cfc''), with cool, short summers, and chilly, wet winters.

Administration

The city of Puerto Natales is the capital of the Natales commune and the Última Esperanza Province. As a commune, Natales is a third-level

administrative division of Chile The administrative division or territorial organization of Chile exemplifies characteristics of a unitary state. State administration is functionally and geographically decentralized, as appropriate for each authority in accordance with the law. ...

administered by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, headed by an

alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) ...

who is directly elected every four years. The 2016-2020 alcalde is Fernando Paredes Mansilla (

UDI Udi may refer to: Places * Udi, Enugu, a local government areas and city in Nigeria * Udi, a place in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh, India People * Udi Gal (born 1979), Israeli Olympic sailor * Udi Vaks (born 1979), Israeli Olympic judoka ...

), and the councilors are: * Ana Mayorga Bahamonde (UDI) * Veronica Pérez Magdalena (IND-UDI) * Daniel Cordova Cordova (IND-UDI) * Alfredo Alderete Flores (IND-Nueva Mayoría) * José Cuyul Rogel (PS) * Guillermo Ruiz Santana (PS) Within the

electoral divisions of Chile Chile has two distinct electoral division systems: * To elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate, Chile is divided into several electoral divisions, namely electoral districts and senatorial constituencies. * To elect members of t ...

, Puerto Natales is represented in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon Res ...

by Carolina Goic (PDC) and Miodrag Marinovic ( Ind.) as part of the 60th electoral district, which includes the entire Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region. The commune is represented in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

by Carlos Bianchi Chelech (Ind.) and Pedro Muñoz Aburto (PS) as part of the 19th senatorial constituency (Magallanes Region).

Gallery

File:PtoNatales(Chile).jpg,

Flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbea ...

s in Puerto Natales File:Homes of Puerto Natales (5464057776).jpg, Typical houses in Puerto Natales File:Muelle - Puerto Natales.JPG, A pier File:Vista de Puerto Natales.JPG, A view of the city File:Placa a Juan Ladrillero 1.jpg, Monument to explorer

in Puerto Natales

Notes

External links

Panoramic virtual tour of Última Esperanza Sound from Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales at Join Chile

Puerto Natales at the Tourist Board of Chile
{{Communes in Magallanes Region Última Esperanza Province Port cities in Chile Capitals of Chilean provinces Populated places established in 1911 Populated places in Última Esperanza Province Populated places in the fjords and channels of Chile