I've recently learned about a not-so-known part of the world in South America that I thought was pretty interesting. So I researched it a little at found these things. I hope you enjoy reading about Tierra del Fuego!

Tierra del Fuego is Spanish for "Land of Fire." It's an archipelago (group of many islands in a lot of water).

The archipelago consists of a main island that is mostly just called Tierra del Fuego, or Isla Grande, and a group of smaller islands.

Half of this island is part of the "Magellanes" region of Chile, the capital and chief town. The biggest towns are Porvenir, on the main island, and Puerto Williams, on Navarino island. Puerto Toro is a couple kilometers south of Puerto Williams and is the Southernmost town in the world! The eastern part of the archipelago belongs to Argentina, being part of the Tierra del Fuego province.

The name comes from Ferdinand Magellan, who was the first European to pass it way back in 1520. He said he saw the many fires (fire is fuego in Spanish) of the Indians, which were visible from the sea, and that the "Indians" were waiting in the forests to ambush his armada. Most say that those fires were of natural causes like lightning or something.

In 1881 Tierra del Fuego was divided between Argentina and Chile, since previously it was claimed by both countries.

The climate is inhospitable in this region and is subpolar with short, cool summers and long, wet, moderate winters. The north is known for its strong winds and little precipitation, in the south and west it's really windy, foggy, and wet most of the year and there is rarely a day without rain, hail or snow. Temperatures are steady in the year, they hardly get more then 9 degrees celcius in summers and average 1 or 0 degrees celcius in winters The cold and wet summers contribute to keep the old glaciers. Snowfalls in summer can happen.

Only 30% of the islands have any kind of forests. There's only six kinds of trees in Tierra del Fuego! Canelo, aka Winter's Bark, Maytenus Magellanica, the farthest south conifer in the world, three kinds of southern beech and the evergreen. Yummy fruits grow in the open spaces in these forests, like beach strawberry. The forests are unique in the world for having developed in a climate with such cold summers. (9 degrees Celsius!)

Hope you enjoyed reading about Tierra Del Fuego!

This is pengwins7 signing out!
~Pengwins7