Ushuaia

The Yaghan, or Yámana, people lived along the shores of the Beagle Channel for thousands of years, travelling by canoe between the islands to hunt sea lions and gather shellfish; the name Ushuaia comes from their language and means roughly "deep bay". HMS Beagle, under Robert FitzRoy, reached the channel in January 1833. British missionaries of the South American Mission Society came next: Waite Stirling lived with the Yámana in 1869, and in 1870 a mission was set up around a prefabricated house brought from the Falklands for the Reverend Thomas Bridges.

Argentina asserted its rule after the 1881 boundary treaty with Chile. On 12 October 1884 Commodore Augusto Lasserre's South Atlantic expedition established an official subprefecture here, and the next year Ushuaia was named capital of the territory. Epidemics of typhus, measles and whooping cough devastated the Yámana, and by 1911 the mission had closed. The state chose to settle the far south with a prison: re-offenders and some political prisoners arrived from 1896, a military prison was merged in 1910, and the convicts cut timber, built much of the town and laid the railway that is now the End of the World Train.

President Perón closed the prison in 1947 because of reports of abuse and harsh conditions; most guards stayed, and the buildings passed to the navy before becoming a museum. The naval base was active in the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War, and the cruiser General Belgrano, later sunk, had sailed from the port. Tierra del Fuego became a province in 1990, and a special tax and customs regime for industry, along with fishing and tourism, has helped turn a remote outpost into a growing city.

Ushuaia's identity is built on its position: "the end of the world", fin del mundo, appears on the train, the museum, the post office and countless signs. The claim to be the world's southernmost city is part of that pride; Puerto Williams on the Chilean side of the channel lies farther south, but it is a village of a couple of thousand people, and Argentina's tourism authorities keep using the slogan.

The town also carries a strong sense of national memory. The Malvinas war is commemorated on the seafront, a radio station in the city carries the islands' name, and the province's official name includes the South Atlantic islands and the Antarctic sector that Argentina claims. The Yaghan heritage is remembered in museums and at Harberton, although the last native speaker of the language died in 2022.

Winter sport is unusually central for an Argentine city. Ice hockey has a local league and an international Copa del Fin del Mundo, an Olympic-size outdoor rink opened in 2010, and cross-country races are held in the Tierra Mayor valley. Since 2007 the city has also hosted the Bienal del Fin del Mundo, a contemporary art biennial with artists from around the world.

About 80,000 people lived in Ushuaia at the 2022 census, up from 1,558 in 1914, drawn from all over Argentina by industrial jobs, public employment and tourism. The original grid along the bay is now ringed by newer neighbourhoods climbing the slopes towards the mountains.

The economy rests on fishing, oil and gas, tourism and assembly factories — electronics plants operate under the special tax regime that applies to Tierra del Fuego — along with the provincial government, the navy and two universities, including the National University of Tierra del Fuego, founded in 2010. The port handles freight and cruise ships, and is the world's major departure port for tourist and scientific expeditions to the Antarctic Peninsula.

Life follows the extremes of the light: summer evenings stay bright until late, while in midwinter there are only around seven hours of daylight. Prices are high because so much arrives by road or sea from far to the north. Winters bring skiing, skating and snow-clearing, and summer brings crowds of visitors on the main streets.

Seafood from the cold southern waters defines Ushuaia's cooking. Centolla, the southern king crab, is the dish visitors come for, and many restaurants in the centre are known for it. Mussels and local fish are also widely served, among them merluza negra, the Patagonian toothfish, and trout. Most of the city's restaurants are clustered around San Martín and Maipú, close to the bay.

Meat is the other half of the menu. Cordero patagónico, Patagonian lamb, is roasted slowly al asador, split and fixed to an iron cross beside an open fire, and many grill restaurants serve it with the usual Argentine beef cuts and chimichurri.

Sweet things follow the rest of Patagonia: jams, sweets and ice cream made from the calafate, the purple berry of the southern steppe. Local beers are served in the town's pubs, and mate, coffee and hot chocolate are the drinks that carry people through the long, cold afternoons.