Tierra del Fuego Province (Argentina)

**Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur**
Basic data
( Details )	( Details )
Capital:	Ushuaia
Surface: - Total share in Argentina	Rank 23 of 24 21,571 km² 0.77%
Population : - Total 2010 - density	Rank 24 of 24 127,205 inhabitants 5.9 inhabitants / km²

ISO 3166-2 code:	AR-V
politics
Region :	Patagonica region
Structure:	4 departments
Gobernador:	Rosana Bertone
Website of the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur

Tierra del Fuego (officially: Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur , German: Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands ) is the southernmost province of Argentina and occupies the eastern half of the to Tierra del Fuego islands belonging Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados on the southern tip of South America . Areas claimed by Argentina such as some of the islands of the South Atlantic ( Malwinen (Falkland Islands) , South Georgia , South Sandwich Islands and South Orkney Islands ) as well as the Argentine Antarctic Territory appear on Argentine maps as belonging to the province. The province has an area of 21,571 km² (excluding Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands).

geography

Climate diagram Ushuaia

The terrain in the north of the province is flat and steppe-like, while the last foothills of the Andes stretch from west to east through the southern third , and subpolar rainforest can be found in the valleys . The climate is cold, maritime and, especially in the south, relatively humid, whereas in the north it is drier.

population

The population was around 127,000 in 2010 (source: INDEC). The capital is Ushuaia (38,000 inhabitants), which is located in the south of the island on the Beagle Channel , the largest city is the Río Grande (60,000 inhabitants) on the Atlantic . Few people live outside of these two cities. The natives of the Onas and Yámanas are now extinct, the population consists largely of immigrants from the northern provinces of the country.

history

The Argentine presence began in the first half of the 19th century when attempts were made to secure the Argentine territory militarily and to incorporate the indigenous people into the state. After 1880 there was permanent settlement when a penal colony was established in Ushuaia and the Rio Grande, located on the Atlantic, began to emerge as a trading center. From 1883 to 1906 there was a gold rush and around 1900 there was a boom in sheep farming . Both places remained insignificant, small villages until 1972, when the government declared the area, which was then directly administered as a national territory, to a special economic zone . As a result, the population increased six-fold between 1970 and 2000 . In 1991 the area was raised to an independent province.

Administrative division

The province is divided into five departments, three of which are controlled by Argentina. The department Islas del Atlántico Sur belongs partly to the British overseas territories Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands , partly the islands are covered by the Antarctic Treaty , as well as the entire department Antártida Argentina , the Argentine Antarctic territory .

Department	Capital	Area in km²	Residents	description
Río Grande department	Rio Grande	12,181	70,042 (2010)	northern part of the island of Tierra del Fuego
Ushuaia Department	Ushuaia	9,390	56,956 (2010)	southern part of the island of Tierra del Fuego, Isla de los Estados
Tolhuin Department	Tolhuin			In the middle of Tierra del Fuego
Department Islas del Atlántico Sur	Puerto Argentino (Argentine name for Port Stanley )	20,642	17 (2005) ¹	the claimed islands of the South Atlantic: Malwinen (Falkland Islands) , South Georgia , Aurora Islands , South Sandwich Islands , South Orkney Islands ²
Antártida Argentina Department	Marambio Station (Argentine main station)	965,597	190 (2010)	the areas claimed by Argentina on the continent of Antarctica, South Shetland Islands , South Orkney Islands ²

¹ 2010 Argentine Census data

²The southern Orkney Islands are administratively counted to the Department Islas del Atlántico Sur. As the only part of this otherwise actually under British administration that falls under the Antarctic Treaty, it is counted in statistical terms of the Antártida Argentina Department.

economy

The province's economy is based primarily on sheep farming and, since 1972, on the electronics and media industry, which settled here after the province was declared a special economic zone . Tourism is also important , especially in the Ushuaia region near the Beagle Channel.