This island has a special name.
Tierra del Fuego. And some say that it was once known as the Land of Smoke.
Legend has it that Magellan, after his expedition through the strait that now bears his name, remembered seeing smoke rising from the coast of this island.
When these stories reached Europe, someone decided to arbitrarily change the name to Fire Land (Tierra del Fuego).
If there is smoke, there is fire – right?
By the way, Tierra del Fuego was colonized by Europeans starting in the mid-19th century and slowly grew in population.
Argentina and Chile had border problems and both tried to gain sovereignty.
In 1884, Ushuaia was founded in the south of the island, on the banks of the Beagle Channel.
The population grew thanks to the famous prison, now a museum.
Maritime traffic is of great importance and the tourist industry attracts hundreds of tourists to this place: the end of the world and also the end of the Panamericana.
Many travel from Alaska to Ushuaia or in the other direction. 17,000 km of adventure.
