Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital of

Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province Tierra del Fuego (Spanish language, Spanish for "''Land of Fire''"; ), officially the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlán ...

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 ...

. With a population of nearly 75,000 and a location below the

54th parallel south The 54th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 54 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, ...

latitude, Ushuaia claims the title of world's southernmost city. A much smaller municipality of less than 3,000 people,

Puerto Williams Puerto Williams (; Spanish for "Port Williams") is the city, port and naval base on Navarino Island in Chile. It faces the Beagle Channel. It is the capital of the Chilean Antarctic Province, one of four provinces in the Magellan and Chilean An ...

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 ...

, is nearer to 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, ...

, at a latitude of 54°56' S compared to Ushuaia at 54°48' S. Ushuaia is located in a wide bay on the southern coast 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''Martial mountain range and on the south by 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 ...

. It is the only

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the Department of Ushuaia, which has an area of . It was founded on October 12, 1884, by

Augusto Lasserre Commodore Augusto Lasserre (1826-1906) was an officer in the Argentine Navy. He was born in 1826 in Montevideo. Lasserre was promoted to the rank of captain on the 11 June 1852. Later he was promoted to Commander of the Argentine Navy. Commodore ...

and is located on the shores of the Beagle Channel surrounded by the mountain range of the Martial Glacier, in the Bay of Ushuaia. Besides being an administrative center, it is a light industrial port and tourist hub. Ushuaia is located roughly from the Antarctic Peninsula and is one of five internationally recognized

Antarctic gateway cities The Antarctic gateway cities are five cities on the rim of the Southern Ocean through which nearly all cargo and personnel bound for Antarctica pass. From west to east, they are Punta Arenas, Chile; Ushuaia, Argentina; Cape Town, South Africa; ...

Toponyms

The word ''Ushuaia'' comes from the

Yaghan language Yahgan or Yagán (also spelled Yaghan, Jagan, Iakan, and also known as Yámana, Háusi Kúta, or Yágankuta), is an extinct language that was one of the indigenous languages of Tierra del Fuego, spoken by the Yaghan people. It was regarded as a ...

: ''ush'' and ''waia'' ("bay" or "cove") and means "deep bay" or "bay to background". The act creating the subprefecture in 1884 cites the name "Oshovia", one of the many orthographic variations of the word. Its demonym is "Ushuaiense". The name is often pronounced "u-sua-ia" (), an exception to the orthographic rules of Spanish, since the 's' forms a syllable with the following 'u' despite the intervening 'h'. The pronunciation "Usuaía" (accented on the 'i') is erroneous: the prosodic accent is on the first 'a', which is why the word is written without an accent mark.

History

The Selk’nam Indians, also called the Ona, first arrived in

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 ...

about 10,000 years ago. The southern group of people indigenous to the area, the Yaghan (also known as Yámana), who occupied what is now Ushuaia, lived in continual conflict with the northern inhabitants of the island. For much of the latter half of the 19th century, the eastern portion of Tierra del Fuego was populated by a substantial majority of nationals who were not Argentine citizens, including a number of British subjects. Ushuaia was founded informally by British missionaries, following previous British surveys, long before Argentine nationals or government representatives arrived there on a permanent basis. The British ship HMS ''Beagle'', under the command of Captain

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 ...

, first reached the channel on January 29, 1833, during its maiden voyage surveying

. The city was originally named by early

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, ...

missionaries using the native Yámana name for the area. Much of the early history of the city and its

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...

is described in

Lucas Bridges Esteban Lucas Bridges (December 31, 1874, Ushuaia – April 4, 1949, Buenos Aires) was an Anglo-Argentine author, explorer, and rancher. After fighting for the British during World War I, he married and moved with his wife to South Africa, wher ...

’s book ''Uttermost Part of the Earth'' (1948). The name ''Ushuaia'' first appears in letters and reports of the

South American Mission Society The South American Mission Society was founded at Brighton in 1844 as the Patagonian Mission. Captain Allen Gardiner, R.N., was the first secretary. The name "Patagonian Mission" was retained for twenty years, when the new title was adopted. The n ...

in England. The British missionary

Waite Hockin Stirling Waite Hockin Stirling (1829 – 19 November 1923) was a 19th-century missionary with the Patagonian Missionary Society (later known as the South American Missionary Society) and was the first Anglican Bishop of the Falkland Islands. He was br ...

became the first European to live in Ushuaia when he stayed with the Yámana people between 18 January and mid-September 1869. In 1870 more British missionaries arrived to establish a small settlement. The following year the first marriage was performed. During 1872, 36 baptisms and seven marriages and the first European birth (Thomas Despard Bridges) in Tierra del Fuego were registered. The first house constructed in Ushuaia was a pre-assembled three room home prepared in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

in 1870 for Reverend Thomas Bridges. One room was for the Bridges family, a second was for a Yámana married couple, while the third served as the chapel. Thomas Bridges learned the Yaghan language and was a fluent speaker. To a lesser extent he was able to communicate in the Ona (forest dwellers) language. His missionary work was mainly directed at the Yaghans. The word Yamana simply means "people" in the Yaghan language. He wrote a dictionary of the Yaghan language, the original manuscript of which is in the British Museum. As the Yaghans had no ability nor means to write, Thomas Bridges had to construct an alphabet which was suited to the phonetics of the language. The original manuscript was lost three times but recovered and almost published under an incorrect name. More than one alphabet has been used over the years in the rendering of this dictionary. The odyssey of the manuscript covered nearly half a century before it was finally published. Natalie Goodall was instrumental in reprinting the dictionary in 1987 and providing valuable insights into the history of Thomas Bridges' work. Copies of the dictionary provide material on the letters and pronunciations used which in many respects differ from the alphabet used in the English language. (Ref: A de la Rue). Cruzada en La Macarena

During 1873, Juan and Clara Lawrence, the first Argentine citizens to visit Ushuaia, arrived to teach school. That same year

Julio Argentino Roca Alejo Julio Argentino Roca Paz (July 17, 1843 – October 19, 1914) was an army general and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 1880 to 1886 and from 1898 to 1904. Roca is the most important representative of the Generation ...

, who later served as Argentine President twice, promoted the establishment of a

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

for re-offenders, modeled after one in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia, in an effort to secure permanent residents from

and to help establish Argentine

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

over all of Tierra del Fuego. But only after the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina did formal efforts get under way to establish the township and its prison. During the 1880s, many gold prospectors came to Ushuaia following rumors of large gold fields, which proved to be false. On 12 October 1884, as part of the South Atlantic Expedition,

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

established the sub-division of Ushuaia, with the missionaries and naval officers signing the Act of Ceremony. Don Feliz M Paz was named Governor of Tierra del Fuego and in 1885 named Ushuaia as its capital. In 1885 the territory police was organized under Antonio A. Romero with headquarters also in Ushuaia. But it was not until 1904 that the Federal Government of

recognized Ushuaia as the capital of Tierra del Fuego. Ushuaia suffered several epidemics, including

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

pertussis Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or t ...

, and measles, that much reduced the native population. But because the Yámana were not included in census data, the exact death toll is not known. The first census was held in 1893, which recorded 113 men and 36 women living in Ushuaia. The prison was formally announced in an

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...

by the then-Acting President Roca in 1896. By 1911 the Yámana had all practically disappeared, so the mission was closed. The population grew to 1,558 by the 1914 census. In 1896 the prison received its first inmates, mainly re-offenders and dangerous prisoners transferred from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, but also some political prisoners. A separate military prison opened in 1903 at the nearby Puerto Golondrina. The two prisons merged in 1910, and that combined complex still stands today. Thus, during the first half of the 20th century, the city centered around the prison built by the Argentine government to increase the Argentine population and to ensure Argentine sovereignty over Tierra del Fuego. The prison was intended for repeat offenders and serious criminals, following the example of the British in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and the French in Devil's Island. Escape from Tierra del Fuego was similarly difficult, although two prisoners managed to escape into the surrounding area for a few weeks. The prison population thus became forced colonists and spent much of their time building the town with timber from the forest around the prison. They also built a railway to the settlement, now a tourist attraction known as the End of the World Train (''Tren del Fin del Mundo''), the southernmost railway in the world. Ushuaia avião

The prison operated until 1947, when President Juan Perón closed it by executive order in response to the many reports of abuse and unsafe practices. Most of the guards stayed in Ushuaia, while the prisoners were relocated to other jails farther north. After the prison closed, it became a part of the Base Naval Ushuaia , functioning as a storage and office facility until the early 1990s. Later it was converted into the current Museo Maritimo de Ushuaia. The naval base at Ushuaia was active during the Falklands War of 1982. The Argentine cruiser ARA ''General Belgrano'', subsequently sunk by the British Fleet, sailed from the Port of Ushuaia, where a memorial was erected in February 1996. Argintine Navy Boat

Geography

Physical geography

Location

Ushuaia is located on Ushuaia Bay at 6 meters above sea level, surrounded to the west, north, and east by the Andes Fueguinos. It is the only city accessed from the rest of the country by crossing part of the Andes mountain range that runs along the southern edge of

. National Route 3 crosses the Sierra Alvear through the Garibaldi Pass to enter the Carabajal Valley, where it follows the Olivia River through the Sierra Sorondo to the Beagle Channel and Ushuaia Bay. For this reason, in Argentina it is considered the only trans-Andean city (''ciudad trasandina''). Ushuaia has long been described as the southernmost

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 ...

in the world. While there are settlements farther south, the only one of any notable size is

, a

an settlement of some 2,000 residents. As a center of population, commerce, and culture, and as a town of significant size and importance, Ushuaia however clearly qualifies as a city. A 1998 article in the newspaper ''Clarín'' reported that the designation "Southernmost city in the world" had been transferred to Puerto Williams by a joint committee from Argentina and Chile, but this was denied by Argentine authorities, and the Secretariat of Tourism of Argentina continues to use the slogan in official documentation and web sites.

Climate

Ushuaia features a significantly ocean-moderated mild tundra climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''ET''); bordering on 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 ...

(

: ''Cfc''), with cool, but not cold, conditions throughout the year (average temperature remains above 0 °C and below 10 °C year round). Vegetation around the city thus does not resemble typical tundra but is instead heavily forested. Temperatures at the Ushuaia – Malvinas Argentinas International Airport average in the coolest month (July), and in the warmest month (January). The record low is in July, and the record high is in January. On average, the city experiences 146 days of precipitation a year, with many cloudy and foggy days, averaging 206 cloudy days a year. This results in Ushuaia receiving an average of 3.93 hours of sunshine per day (an annual total of 1,434 hours) or about 30.2% of possible sunshine. Despite receiving only average annual precipitation, Ushuaia is very humid with an average humidity of 77%. Summers tend to be cloudy and windy, with maximum temperatures averaging around during the day and about at night. Temperatures of or more occur only on a handful of days, and night frost is always possible, as well as days below . Temperatures gradually diminish during the autumn, to reach maximum temperatures of about and minimum temperatures of in winter, with frequent snow, sleet and rain showers. Some winters may bring extended periods of frost and snow with a perpetual snowcover, whereas other winters might just bring snowstorms followed by thaws. Temperatures then very slowly recover during the spring, but snow showers and frost are a common occurrence until the beginning of the summer in December, and they might occur even in midsummer. The southwestern winds make the outer islands wetter, reaching at

Isla de los Estados Isla de los Estados (English: Staten Island, from the Dutch ''Stateneiland'') is an Argentine island that lies off the eastern extremity of Tierra del Fuego, from which it is separated by the Le Maire Strait. It was named after the Netherlands ...

(Staten Island). Because temperatures are cool throughout the year, there is little evaporation. Snow is common in winter and regularly occurs throughout the year. Ushuaia occasionally experiences snow in summer (from November to March). Due to its high southern latitude, the city's climate is influenced by Antarctica, and the duration of daylight varies significantly, from more than 17 hours in summer to just over 7 hours in winter.

Economy

The main economic activities are

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

and

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

extraction ,

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

and

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...

Tourism

Tourist attractions include the

Tierra del Fuego National Park Tierra del Fuego National Park () is a national park on the Argentine part of the island of Tierra del Fuego, within Tierra del Fuego Province in the ecoregion of Patagonic Forest and Altos Andes, a part of the subantarctic forest. Establis ...

and Lapataia Bay. The park can be reached by highway, or via the End of the World Train (''Tren del Fin del Mundo'') from Ushuaia. The city has a museum of Yámana, English, and Argentine settlement, including its years as a prison colony. Wildlife attractions include local birds, penguins,

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

s and

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...

s, many of these species colonizing islands in the

. There are daily bus and boat tours to

Harberton Harberton is a village, civil parish and former manor 3 miles south west of Totnes, in the South Hams District of Devon, England. The parish includes the village of Harbertonford situated on the main A381 road. In the 2001 census the parish ...

, the Bridges family compound, Estancia Harberton. Tours also visit the Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse. Les Eclaireurs is sometimes confused with the "Lighthouse at the End of the World" (''Faro del fin del mundo'') made famous by Jules Verne in the novel of the same name; but the latter lies some 200 mi (320 km) east of Ushuaia on

(Island of the States).

Manufacturing

Ushuaia's industrial sector, led by the

Grundig Grundig (; ) is a German consumer electronics manufacturer owned by the Turkish Arçelik A.Ş., the white goods (major appliance) manufacturer of Turkish conglomerate Koç Holding. The company made domestic appliances and personal-care prod ...

''Renacer''

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...

, is among the largest in

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 ...

Arts and culture

Since 2007 Ushuaia has hosted the Bienal de Arte Contemporáneo del Fin del Mundo (Biennial of Contemporary Art at the End of the World), created and organized by the Patagonia Arte & Desafío Foundation under the rubric "South Pole of the Arts, Sciences, and Ecology". The Bienal has gathered over one hundred artists from five continents addressing the motto "think at the End of the World that another world is possible". As a pedagogical project it encourages students at all levels to "think about a better world".

Sports

As in most of Argentina, football is a popular sport in Ushuaia, and in 2010 the TV show ''FIFA Futbol Mundial'' did a story about the sport's development in this locality. In 2015 Ushuaia hosted the first PATHF Snow Handball Panamerican Championship.

Ice hockey

A popular sport in Ushuaia is

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

, and low temperatures all year long make the city a perfect spot for practicing it outdoors. In 2010 the city opened an outdoor short track and

Olympic-size

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

(), the first of its kind in South America. After this Argentina became the first South American nation to be upgraded from affiliate to associate member status of the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

(IIHF). Since 2005 the Municipality of Ushuaia and the Argentinean Ice Hockey Federation (FAHH) organize the yearly End of the World Cup (''Copa del Fin del Mundo'') that has gathered ice hockey teams from Ushuaia,

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 ...

and

Sao Paulo SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U ...

and includes seven different competitions: one for men, one for women, four junior categories and an international tournament. Beside the local league and the Copa del Fin del Mundo, in 2016 the city hosted the first ice hockey Patagonian Championship, with teams from Ushuaia,

Río Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio ...

and Punta Arenas. After the tournament it was announced a new plan to build a roof over the ice rink. Ushuaia has two rival teams: Club Andino de Ushuaia (CAU) and Los Ñires.

Skiing

Several ski areas are located near Ushuaia including Glacier El Martial (on

Martial Mountains The Martial Mountains are a mountain range in Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, an island of Argentina and Chile. The mountain range is located east of Cordillera Darwin, just north of Ushuaia city in Argentina, along the Beagle Channel strait. Se ...

) and Cerro Castor. Opened in 1999, Cerro Castor is the southernmost full-fledged ski resort in the world. On Cerro Castor, it is possible to ski just above sea level. The summit reaches an elevation of above sea level, and consistently cool temperatures allow the longest skiing season in South America. Winter temperatures fluctuate between . It has ten elevation facilities and 28 ski trails for all skill levels. There are cafeterias, mountain huts, a ski school, a first aid room and a forest of beech. Snowboarding, sledding, and snowshoeing are also available at Cerro Castor, in addition to alpine skiing. It is located on the southern side of Cerro Krund, north of Ushuaia. The ski season is typically between June through October. In 2012 Cerro Castor hosted the FIS Freestyle Slopestyle World Cup, organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS), and in 2015 it hosted the Interski Congress and World Cup, organized by the

International Ski Instructors Association The International Ski Instructors Association (ISIA) is the world body for professional ski instructors. As an international organisation for the protection and promotion of the interests of professional ski instructors (skiing and other snow sport ...

, which was its first ever event in the Southern Hemisphere. The

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

is popular even during the summer months, when the

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. Th ...

operates in both directions. Hiking trails lead from the city's edge to the base of the glacier, which has retreated considerably over the past century, as shown in photographs on display at the Antarctic Museum of Ushuaia. The Valley of Tierra Mayor and the Francisco Jerman Nordic Ski Area, located 20 km and 5 km away from Ushuaia respectively, are popular cross-country venues. Since 1986 Tierra Mayor hosts the annual Marchablanca, a 21 km traditional race organized by the Club Andino Ushuaia, and the Ushuaia Loppet, a full distance marathon that is one of the 20 members of the

Worldloppet Ski Federation The Worldloppet Ski Federation is a federation of long distance cross-country skiing events whose aim is to promote cross-country skiing through ski races. The federation was founded on 10 June 1978 in Uppsala, Sweden. Locations Only one and the ...

. Usually this race starts the Federation's Marathon Series in August. In October 2014 the Argentine Olympic Committee (COA) revealed the plan to use the

2018 Summer Youth Olympics The 2018 Summer Youth Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de la Juventud de 2018), officially known as the III Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Buenos Aires 2018, were an international multi-sport event, sports, cultural, and edu ...

, to be held in

, as the launchpad for a bid in the near future. The Committee identified Argentina's south-eastern region of

, which comprises the southern section of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

mountains, as a possible location to host the Winter Games. In 2010 it was suggested that Ushuaia would be the main option for a bid. Before the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

President

Thomas Bach Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953) is a German lawyer, former Olympic foil fencer and Olympic gold medalist, serving as the ninth and current president of the International Olympic Committee since 10 September 2013. He is also a former memb ...

visited Ushuaia and talked about the possibility of holding the 2024

Winter Youth Olympics The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consisten ...

there.

Government

The city government consists of a Mayor (executive), City Council (seven members, legislative) and the Tribunal de Faltas (small court, judicial).

Education

Ushuaia has twelve secondary schools, four of which also provide adult education. The Colegio Nacional de Ushuaia is one of the newest schools in the city and was modeled after the

Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires (''National School of Buenos Aires'') is a public high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, affiliated to the University of Buenos Aires. In the tradition of the European ''gymnasium'' it provides a free education ...

. Another important secondary school is Colegio Diocesano Monseñor Miguel Ángel Alemán, which takes its name after the Monsignor of the same name. The

National University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco The National University of the Patagonia San Juan Bosco (Spanish: ''Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco'') is a higher education establishment in Patagonia, southern Argentina. It was created on February 25, 1980, by law 22.713, ...

operates a campus in Ushuaia, with Faculties of

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

and

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

, and

Social Sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

. The National University of Tierra del Fuego, inaugurated in 2010, has its headquarters in Ushuaia.

Media

Television

Ushuaia has two television stations, channel 11 and channel 13.

Newspapers

There are two main newspapers, ''El Diario del Fin del Mundo'' and ''El Diario La Prensa'', plus several other minor publications.

Transportation

Air

Ushuaia receives regular flights at

Ushuaia – Malvinas Argentinas International Airport Ushuaia – Malvinas Argentinas International Airport ( es, link=yes, Aeropuerto Internacional de Ushuaia Malvinas Argentinas, ) is located south of the center of Ushuaia, a city on the island of Tierra del Fuego in the Tierra del Fuego Provin ...

from

El Calafate El Calafate, also known as ''Calafate'', is a city in Patagonia, Argentina. It is situated on the southern border of Lake Argentino, in the southwest part of the Santa Cruz Province (Argentina), Santa Cruz Province, about northwest of Río Galleg ...

and Santiago, Chile.

Sea

In addition to being a vacation destination for local and international tourists, Ushuaia is also the key access point to the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

, including

subantarctic The sub-Antarctic zone is a region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands ...

islands such as

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oce ...

and Antarctic islands such as the South Orkney Islands and the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...

. Its commercial pier is the major port of departure in the world for tourist and scientific expeditions to the Antarctic Peninsula.

Cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

s visiting the

and

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 ...

dock at the port, as well as

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company is incorporated in Bermuda and its headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California. As of 2021, it is the second largest cruise line by net revenue. It w ...

Holland America Line Holland America Line is an American-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. Holland America Line was founded in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and from 1873 to 1989, it operate ...

, and Celebrity Cruises, which transit between

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

, Chile, to

and beyond. Albatros Expeditions, Antarpply Expeditions, Global Maritime,

Hurtigruten ''Hurtigruten'' (), formally Kystruten Bergen-Kirkenes ("coastal route Bergen-Kirkenes"), is a Norwegian public coastal route transporting passengers that travel locally, regionally and between the ports of call, and also cargo between ports no ...

, Lindblad Expeditions,

Orient Lines Orient Lines was a cruise line specialising in exotic destinations that was in operation 1993–2008. The brand was founded in 1993 by Gerry Herrod, and was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line in 1998. It ceased operations in March 2008 and was sold ...

Quark Expeditions Quark Expeditions is an expedition travel company. The company offers Polar Region expeditions aboard purpose-built expedition ships and icebreakers. History Quark Expeditions was founded in 1985 by Mike McDowell, initially specializing in sm ...

Regent Seven Seas Cruises Regent Seven Seas Cruises (RSSC), formerly known as Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, is a luxury cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida. Since September 2014, Regent Seven Seas Cruises has been a wholly owned subsidiary owned of Norwegian Cruis ...

, and other passenger and freight lines provide regularly scheduled services between Ushuaia and local seaports and settlements.

Road

The southern terminus of the

Pan-American Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...

, which is also the southern end of Argentina National Route 3, is located in

Health care

Located at the corner of Avenida 12 de Octubre and Maipú, the ''Hospital Gobernador Ernesto M. Campos'' is one of the big health care centers in Ushuaia; the other one is private and it is called Clínica San Jorge.

Ecology

;Flora Ushuaia is surrounded by

Magellanic subpolar forests The Magellanic subpolar forests () are a terrestrial ecoregion of southernmost South America, covering parts of southern Chile and Argentina, and are part of the Neotropical realm. It is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion, and ...

. On the hills around the town, the following indigenous trees are found: ''

Drimys winteri ''Drimys winteri'', the winter's bark or canelo, is a slender tree in the family Winteraceae, growing up to tall. It is native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate rain forests of Chile and Argentina, where it is a dominant tree in the coas ...

'' (Winter's bark), ''

Maytenus magellanica ''Maytenus magellanica'' (Magellan's mayten or hard log mayten; ''leña dura'' in Spanish) is a small evergreen tree from the genus ''Maytenus'', up to 5 meters (16 ft), in the Celastraceae. It grows in southern Argentina and Chile from 36º ...

'' (Hard-log Mayten) and several species of ''

Nothofagus ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...

'' (Southern Beech). Trees in Ushuaia tend to follow the wind direction, and are therefore called " flag-trees", for their uni-directional growth pattern.

Filmography

''Ushuaïa, le magazine de l'Extrême'' was the name of a television program, presented by

Nicolas Hulot Nicolas Jacques André Hulot (; born 30 April 1955) is a French journalist and environmental activist. He is the founder and honorary president of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation, an environmental group established in 1990. Hulot ran as a candida ...

and broadcast on the French TV channel TF1 from September 1987 to June 1995. The show is known in English as ''Ushuaia: The Ultimate Adventure'', and this language's version was hosted by

Perri Peltz Perri Peltz is an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, journalist and public health advocate. Most recently, Perri created the documentary news series ''Axios'' on HBO with Matthew O’Neill. Perri & Matthew also co-directed and produced the 2019 ...

and was shown on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

, and international affiliates of the Discovery Channel.. The city was also featured on the American

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

reality television show ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

'' in the fourth leg of Season 11. In 2014,

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

car program ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

'' visited Ushuaia at the conclusion of their " Patagonia Special", with the intent of constructing a stadium and playing a game of car football there. Before they could do so, however, they were chased out of the city (and subsequently across the border into Chile) by mobs of people angered by an apparent reference to the Falklands War encoded in the registration plate of presenter

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes '' Top Gear'' and '' The Grand Tour'' alongside R ...

's vehicle (H982 FKL). Several scenes in the 2015 film '' The Revenant'', directed by

Alejandro González Iñárritu Alejandro González Iñárritu (; American Spanish: ; credited since 2016 as Alejandro G. Iñárritu; born 15 August 1963) is a Mexican filmmaker and screenwriter. He is primarily known for making modern psychological drama films about the hu ...

, were shot in Ushuaia from July through November 2014. The

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

original television series ''

Long Way Up ''Long Way Up'' is a British television series which debuted 18 September 2020, documenting a motorcycle journey undertaken in 2019 by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, from Ushuaia in Argentina through South and Central America to Los Angeles i ...

'' started its journey in Ushuaia.

Same-sex marriage

On 29 December 2009, the first same-sex couple to marry in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

were married in Ushuaia. Although the

Civil Code of Argentina The Civil Code of Argentina was the legal code in force between 1871 and 2015, which formed the foundation of the system of civil law in Argentina. It was written by Dalmacio Vélez Sársfield, as the culmination of a series of attempts to cod ...

at that time did not allow marriage between people of the same sex, Governor

Fabiana Ríos María Fabiana Ríos (born March 31, 1964 in Rosario, Santa Fe) is an Argentine politician and founder of the Patagonian Social Party. She was the governor of the province of Tierra del Fuego from December 17, 2007 to December 10, 2015. She was fi ...

issued a special decree allowing the couple to wed there. The marriage was

annulled Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...

when the decree was reversed by Tierra del Fuego's

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

, since the Civil Code did not support it. Same-sex marriage became legal nationwide in Argentina a few months later, on 15 July 2010, after the approval of a gender-neutral bill by the Argentine National Congress.

Gallery

File:Ushuaia_port.jpg, Port File:Hafen von Ushuaia, Argentinien.jpg, Harbor File:Cruceros en el muelle, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.jpg, Cruise ships in Ushuaia File:Patagonia-lighthouse.jpg, Lighthouse File:Ushuaia city view.jpg, City view File:Pinguinoak.jpg, Penguins on Martillo Island File:Beagle Channel - La Isla de Los Lobos.jpg, Los Lobos Island File:Shipwreck (8320375418).jpg, Shipwreck near Ushuaia