Puerto Toro is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

on the eastern coast of

Navarino Island Navarino Island () is a Chilean island located between Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, to the north, and Cape Horn, to the south. The island forms part of the Commune of Cabo de Hornos, the southernmost commune in Chile and in the world, belong ...

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 ...

. Puerto Toro was founded in 1892 during the

Tierra del Fuego Gold Rush Between 1883 and 1906 Tierra del Fuego experienced a gold rush attracting many Chileans, Argentines and Europeans to the archipelago, including many Dalmatians. The gold rush led to the formation of the first towns in the archipelago and fuele ...

by Governor 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 ...

Señoret.Bascopé Julio, Joaquín
SENTIDOS COLONIALES I. EL ORO Y LA VIDA SALVAJE EN TIERRA DEL FUEGO, 1880 -1914
'' Magallania'' It belongs to the Commune of Cabo de Hornos, in Antártica Chilena Province of Magallanes y Antártica Chilena Region. Excluding research stations in Antarctica, Puerto Toro is the southernmost permanently inhabited community on the globe, and some 3,900 km (2425 miles) from 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 ...

. It is the only such community on Earth that is situated below the

55th parallel south The 55th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 55 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and South America. At this latitude the sun is visible for 17 hours, ...

. Puerto Toro is inhabited by 36 people according t
INE
s 2002 census, including fishermen and their families. According to the classification of the seas of the International Hydrographic Organization it is the only Chilean locality (and port) with coasts and waters belonging to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, defining as the limit the meridian of Cape Horn (67°16′ W) from

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 ...

to the Antarctic continent. Over a hundred years ago, Puerto Toro was one of the most important towns in the region of the

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 f ...

as a result of the

Tierra del Fuego gold rush Between 1883 and 1906 Tierra del Fuego experienced a gold rush attracting many Chileans, Argentines and Europeans to the archipelago, including many Dalmatians. The gold rush led to the formation of the first towns in the archipelago and fuele ...

. Once interest in exploring for

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

passed, however, Puerto Toro's importance diminished. Today, Puerto Toro is known for " centolla," the prized southern

king crab King crabs are a taxon of decapod crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas. Because of their large size and the taste of their meat, many species are widely caught and sold as food, the most common being the red king crab (''Paralithodes camtsch ...

Climate

Puerto Toro is considered to be a Tundra Climate in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, despite the fact that it is surrounded by forests.

References

External links

Comuna de Cabo de Hornos / Commune of Cabo de Hornos official websiteOfficial website of Puerto Williams
Cities and towns in Tierra del Fuego Ports and harbours of Chile Hamlets in Chile Populated places in Antártica Chilena Navarino Island Populated places in the fjords and channels of Chile {{MagellanAntarctic-geo-stub

Climate

See also

References

External links