Hornos (Chile)
Isla Hornos | ||
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Cape Horn seen from the sea | ||
Waters | Drake Street | |
Archipelago | Hermite Islands ( Tierra del Fuego ) | |
Geographical location | 55 ° 56 ′ 50 ″ S , 67 ° 16 ′ 15 ″ W | |
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length | 9.7 km | |
width | 5.4 km | |
surface | 28.29 km² | |
Highest elevation | 425 m | |
Residents | 4th <1 inh / km² |
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main place | (Estación Meteorológica de Cabo de Hornos) | |
Isla Hornos at Cape Horn |
Hornos ( Spanish Isla Hornos ) is an approximately 6 km long and 2 km wide island in the Chilean part of Tierra del Fuego , at the southern tip of which is the famous Cape Horn . The island belongs to the Hermite Islands and is located directly to the north of the Drake Strait between the Tierra del Fuego archipelago and the Antarctic Graham Land .
Hornos is sometimes referred to as the southernmost point of America - and thus of the inhabited continents . In fact, it is only the southernmost island immediately in front of South America. The southernmost American islands are the Diego Ramírez Islands , which are located about 100 km further south-west and also belong to Chile .
There is a lighthouse on Hornos, the crew of which is changed every three months. There is also a small chapel and a post office hut as well as a meteorological station ( Estación Meteorológica de Cabo de Hornos ).
The Yámana ( Yaghanen ), a nomadic Indian tribe who populated the islands of this area , lived on Hornos and the neighboring islands until the end of the 18th century . With them ended at Cape Horn the millennia-long migration of Indian peoples, who descended from the Mongolian peoples of East Asia , crossed the Bering Strait and crossed the entire American continent from Alaska, only to find their home after a journey of more than 20,000 km on the extreme southern tip of South America.
Kaphoorniers monument: Albatros on Hornos
Cape Horn seen from another part of the island