The Magallanes Region, officially the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region, is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is the southernmost, largest, and second least populated region of Chile. It comprises four provinces: Última Esperanza, Magallanes, Tierra del Fuego, and Antártica Chilena.
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 passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It was navigated by canoe-faring indigenous peoples including the Kawésqar for thousands of years. In 1520, the Spanish expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, after whom the strait is named, became the first Europeans to discover it.
The Battle of Angamos was a naval encounter of the War of the Pacific fought between the navies of Chile and Perú at Punta Angamos, on 8 October 1879. The battle was the culminating point of a naval campaign that lasted about five months in which the Chilean Navy had the sole mission of eliminating its Peruvian counterpart. In the struggle, two armored frigates, led by Commodore Galvarino Riveros Cárdenas and Navy Captain Juan José Latorre battered and later captured the Peruvian monitor Huáscar, under Rear Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario.
Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe, also known as Puerto del Hambre, is a historic settlement site at Buena Bay on the north shore of the Strait of Magellan approximately 58 km (36 mi) south of Punta Arenas in the Región de Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena, Patagonia, Chile.
Juan José Latorre Benavente Chilean Vice Admiral, one of the principal actors of the War of the Pacific, and hero of the Battle of Angamos.
Luis Alberto Pardo Villalón was a Chilean Navy officer who, in August 1916, commanded the steam tug Yelcho to rescue the 22 stranded crewmen of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, Endurance, part of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The crewmen were stranded on Elephant Island, an ice-covered mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean.
Punta Arenas is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. Although officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, the name was changed back to Punta Arenas in 1938. The city is the largest south of the 46th parallel south and the most populous southernmost city in Chile and the Americas. Due to its location, it is also the coldest coastal city with more than 100,000 inhabitants in Latin America. Punta Arenas is one of the world's most southerly ports and serves as an Antarctic gateway city.
Policarpo Toro Hurtado was a Chilean naval officer.
Carlos Arnaldo Condell De La Haza was a Chilean naval officer and hero of the Battle of Punta Gruesa during the start of the War of the Pacific.
The corvette Abtao was a wooden ship built in Scotland during 1864 of 1.600 tons and 800 IHP. She fought in the War of the Pacific and was in service for the Chilean Navy until 1922.
The Nao Victoria Museum is located in Punta Arenas, Chile, and has been open to the public since 1 October 2011. The museum is private, the owner has received the Medal of the President of Chile for his work in promoting national identity during the celebrations for the bicentenary of the independence of the South American country. Spanish Vice Consul in Punta Arenas gave the entrepreneur the prize "Hispanic Identity" for the building of the Nao Victoria Replica.
The schooner Ancud was the ship sent by Chile in 1843 to claim sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan and establish Fuerte Bulnes, the first Chilean settlement in the strait. It was built for the purpose in the city of San Carlos de Ancud and commanded by John Williams Wilson, a British-born Chilean captain.
The Micalvi was an auxiliary vessel of the Chilean Navy.
In late 19th and early 20th centuries, sheep farming expanded across the Patagonian grasslands making the southern regions of Argentina and Chile one of the world's foremost sheep farming areas. The sheep farming boom attracted thousands of immigrants from Chiloé and Europe to southern Patagonia. Early sheep farming in Patagonia was oriented towards wool production but changed over time with the development of industrial refrigerators towards meat export. Besides altering the demographic and economic outlook of Southern Patagonia the sheep farming boom also changed the steppe ecosystem.
Isabel Island is an island in the Strait of Magellan. It is located near the western shores of the Strait about 3.5 km east of the narrowest part of Brunswick Peninsula. The island is famous for being the place where large-scale sheepherding was first practiced in Southern Patagonia.
BAP Unión was a corvette of the Peruvian Navy, originally ordered by the government of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Built in France it was bought by the Peruvian Navy and during its service participated in the Chincha Islands War and in the War of the Pacific in which it was scuttled following the Blockade of Callao to prevent it falling into Chilean hands.
The Second Battle of Iquique was a naval battle of the War of the Pacific that occurred on July 10, 1879. During the battle, the Huáscar faced the 2nd Chilean Naval Squadron which was blockading the port which lead to both forces to face each other.
The Second Battle of Antofagasta was a battle that took place during the Naval campaign of the War of the Pacific between the Peruvian ironclad Huáscar against the Chilean corvettes Abtao and Magallanes as well as the land defenses at Antofagasta.
Chilean colonization of the Strait of Magellan began in 1843 when an expedition founded Fuerte Bulnes. In 1848 the settlement of Punta Arenas was established further north in the strait and grew eventually to become the main settlement in the strait, a position it holds to this day. The Chilean settlement of the strait was crucial to establish its sovereignty claims in the area. Argentina formally recognised Chilean sovereignty in 1881. The Magallanes territory was made a regular Chilean province in 1928.
Chile
