The Tierra del Fuego is named for the bonfires made by the native peoples of the area to protect themselves from the cold and it was the Spanish king Carlos I who put this name.
Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago located at the southern end of the American continent. It is a fascinating environment, with a great story behind him and with a very remarkable ecological and environmental value. However, you know why the land of fire is called that? If you want to discover it, keep reading ecology and we tell you.
What is the Tierra del Fuego
The Tierra del Fuego is a set of islands located just at the end southern of the American continent. In this way, it is located right at the point where the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic Ocean are joined. This region is famous for having the known Strait of Magallaneswhich allows the passage between the Pacific and the Atlantic without completely surrounding the archipelago of the Islands of Tierra del Fuego.
The Tierra del Fuego is formed by a large number of islands. However, of all of them, there is one that stands out on the rest due to its size, and which is called precisely the large island. The Great Island of Tierra del Fuego It is located just south of the Strait of Magallanes, and is the best known place in the entire Tierra del Fuego. In addition to this large island, the archipelago is made up of INfinity of smaller islands. For the most part, these islands extend east and south of the Great Island, in the direction of the Pacific and Antarctic Ocean respectively.
What country does the land of fire belong
The archipelago of the Tierra del Fuego is Administratively divided between the countries of Chile and Argentinacorresponding the easternmost part to Chile and the westernmost to Argentina. Likewise, the Grande Island is divided between both nations:
- Tierra de Fuego Chile: In the case of Chile, the territory that belongs to it is constituted as the province of Tierra del Fuego (formed by the islands of the area), as well as the Antarctic region belonging to this country. The capital of the entire region is the city of Porvenir, located in the Chilean part of the Grande Island.
- Argentina Tierra de Fuego: Likewise, in the case of Argentina, we would be talking about the province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands. Which constitute the same area of territorial administration, whose capital is Ushuaia, also located in one of the areas of Isla Grande.
In the following article we talk about environmental problems in Chile.
Why the land of fire is called that
Despite what you can think, the origin of the name of Tierra del Fuego It does not come from the presence of volcanoes in the area. Actually, this denomination is due to European navigators that came to this territory around the 16th century. This name refers to the bonfires made by the original peoples to protect themselves from the cold.
This archipelago was originally inhabited by various pre -Columbian tribes. In fact, there are archaeological testimonies that the area was populated for more than 10,000 years, so it can be ensured that the human presence in the region is very old. Some of the tribes that populated this region during the arrival of European navigators were the Yaganes, the Kawésqar and the Patagonians, among others. These villages were quite well adapted to the climate of the area, especially the cold that characterizes the entire region. However, despite this constant cold, they had the habit of not wearing barely clothes. This made these pre -Columbian peoples acquired the custom of light many bonfires to warm up. In fact, it was common for small bonfires to even carry the canoes or boats they used to move between the different islands.
When European navigators arrived in the region, one of the things that surprised them most was the high presence of smoke columns. Logical consequence of the abundance of these bonfires that the original peoples used to stay hot. In fact, it is attributed to the Fernando de Magallanes expedition that the region reached in August 1520 the name of “Humos Earth”which was the denomination they gave to the area as a result of the abundance of smoke columns in the area. Later, this name would be popularized, genericly calling the southern archipelago of the American continent.
Finally, it would be the Spanish king himself Carlos I who would modify the namechanging it from “fume land” for that of “Tierra del Fuego”. This name was popular again and, in the end, it would be the name by which the entire region would be known. So, before the question of why the land of fire is called that The answer is that it does Reference to the multitude of bonfires that the native peoples of the area did to protect themselves from the cold.
Now that you know why it is called Tierra del Fuego, you may also be interested in this article on what are the indigenous peoples of the Amazon.
If you want to read more articles similar to Why the land of fire is called thatwe recommend that you enter our category of indigenous peoples.
