Strait of Magellan
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The Strait of Magellan is a navigable route immediately south of mainland Chile, South America and north of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. The strait is arguably the most important natural passage between the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, but it is considered a difficult route to navigate because of the inhospitable climate and the narrowness of the passage.
[edit] History
Ferdinand Magellan became the first European to navigate the strait in 1520, during his global circumnavigation voyage. Because Magellan's ships entered it on November 1, All Saints' Day, it was originally named Estrecho de Todos los Santos (Strait of All Saints). Later the Spanish king changed the name to Estrecho de Magallanes in honor of Magellan. Since its discovery the Spanish Empire and the Kingdom of Chile saw it as its southern boundary. The first Spanish colonization attempt was led by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa who founded Nombre de Jesús and Rey Don Felipe on its northern shores. The cities suffered severe food shortages and some years after the foundations Spanish ships found only ruins in the place were once were founded. The English navigator, Sir Thomas Cavendish landed at the site of Rey Don Felipe in 1587 and found only ruins of the settlement. He renamed the place Port Famine. Other early explorer includes Francis Drake and Charles Darwin, among others.
[edit] Incorporation to Chile
Chile took possession of the channel on May 23, 1843. Chilean president Bulnes ordered the expedition after have spoken with the Chilean libertador Bernardo O'Higgins who feared an occupation by Great Britain or France. The first Chilean settlement was Fuerte Bulnes that lied in a forested zone in the north side of the strait. Fuerte Bulnes was later abandoned and the city of Punta Arenas was founded in 1848 further north were the magallanic forests met the patagonian plains. In front of Punta Arenas, on the other shore of the strait in Tierra del Fuego the village of Porvenir emerged during a gold rush in late 1800s.
Until the Panama Canal was finished in 1914, the Strait of Magellan was to main route for steam ships traveling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, it was considered often the only safe way to move between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Protected by the Tierra del Fuego to the south and the bulk of South America to the north, ships crossed with relative ease, removed from the dangers of Drake Passage. Despite of this sail ships such as the clippers preferred Drakes passage as they had more place to manoverate. The Drake Passage is the relatively narrow stretch of ocean separating Cape Horn (the southern tip of South America) from Antarctica, the waters of which are notoriously turbulent, unpredictable, and frequented by icebergs and sea ice.
[edit] Features
The eastern opening is the wide bay on the border of Chile and Argentina in which the border limitation was defined in the 1984 Peace and Friendship Treaty. To the west, there are a number of access points from the Pacific, though the most easily seen here is the roughly 200 km stretch from the Queen Adelaide Archipelago (at center left) to the bulk of the Strait (at lower center). The islands and mountains are highlighted by bright white snow, while the lower-elevation lands to the north and east remain clear. This image was acquired by the Aqua satellite on August 27, 2003.
