Puerto Williams

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Puerto Williams (Spanish for "Port Williams") is a Chilean port, located on Isla Navarino facing the Beagle Channel. It is the capital of the Chilean Antarctic Province, one of four provinces located in the Magallanes and the Chilean Antarctic Region.

Having a little over 2,000 inhabitants, Puerto Williams claims to be the southernmost city in the world. The settlement was named after Irish Captain John Williams Wilson (locally known as Juan Guillermos), who founded Fuerte Bulnes (Fort Bulnes) on the Brunswick Peninsula in 1843. Puerto Luisa was its original name. Since its foundation in 1953 the settlement has served primarily as a naval base. In recent years tourism has contributed to an increase in economic activity at Puerto Williams. It has a population of over 2,000, including both naval personnel and civilians. Access is by air or by a ferry service from Punta Arenas, 350 kilometres to the north in Chile, or by private yacht charter from Ushuaia in Argentina (there is no regular link with Argentine territory). Most of the houses in Puerto Williams belong to the Chilean Navy.

Tourism

Tourism to Puerto Williams and Isla Navarino is being encouraged. The community has a small airport. Most lodgings for tourists are hostels.

There are several trails for multi-day hikes and back-packing trips in the mountains south of Puerto Williams. Remains of Indian campsites and fishtraps can be found along the coast east of Puerto Williams. Puerto Williams is home to the Martin Gusinde Anthropological Museum, which depicts the lives of both the Yamana or Yahgan and Selknam peoples who once inhabited Tierra del Fuego. For easy exploration of some of the subantarctic forest, the Omora Ethnobotanical Park is five kilometres down the road to the west.

The Cape Horn National Park may be reached by boat from Puerto Williams. During the summer months (January-March), private sailing boats and charter yachts use "PW" as a departure port for Cape Horn and the Antarctic Peninsula; the half-sunken M/V Micalvi is often pressed into service as a yacht club.

See also

• Southernmost settlements
• Beagle conflict

External links

• Information from the Chilean Tourism Service regarding activities in Puerto Williams and Cabo de Hornos National Park
• Patagonia Expedition Race
• Fotografias de Patagonia
• Spanish WP on Commune of Cabo de Hornos
• Puerto Williams and Commune of Cabo de Hornos official website
• Museo Antropológico Martín Gusinde

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Last updated on Monday February 25, 2008 at 12:33:31 PST (GMT -0800)
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