Day 3 Flight to Ushuaia/Board Viking Polaris

- November 12, 2022

Head Note: Day 12, November 12, 2022. We are sailing north to return to our beginning port. AND finally able to get a strong enough satellite signal to use our blog software. So here we go .......

🛬Ushuaia 🛫

Ushuaia is the most southerly city on our planet.

Here we embarked on the Viking Polaris and will debark when the cruise ends.

Ushuaia is the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of nearly 75,000 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, Ushuaia claims the title of world's southernmost city. A much smaller municipality of less than 3,000 people, Puerto Williams in Chile, is nearer to the 55th parallel south, at a latitude of 54°56' S compared to Ushuaia at 54°48' S.

Ushuaia is located in a wide bay on the southern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, bounded on the north by the Martial mountain range and on the south by the Beagle Channel. It is the only municipality in the Department of Ushuaia, which has an area of 3,625 square miles. It was founded on October 12, 1884, by Augusto Lasserre and is located on the shores of the Beagle Channel surrounded by the mountain range of the Martial Glacier, in the Bay of Ushuaia. Besides being an administrative center, it is a light industrial port and tourist hub. Ushuaia is located roughly 680 miles from the Antarctic Peninsula and is one of five internationally recognized Antarctic gateway cities.

Ushuaia is located on Ushuaia Bay 20 feet above sea level, surrounded to the west, north, and east by the Andes Fueguinos. It is the only city accessed from the rest of the country by crossing part of the Andes mountain range that runs along the southern edge of Tierra del Fuego. National Route 3 crosses the Sierra Alvear through the Garibaldi Pass to enter the Carabajal Valley, where it follows the Olivia River through the Sierra Sorondo to the Beagle Channel and Ushuaia Bay. For this reason, in Argentina it is considered the only trans-Andean city (ciudad trasandina).

Ushuaia has long been described as the southernmost city in the world. While there are settlements farther south, the only one of any notable size is Puerto Williams, a Chilean settlement of some 2,000 residents. As a center of population, commerce, and culture, and as a town of significant size and importance, Ushuaia however, clearly qualifies as a city. A 1998 article in the newspaper Clarín reported that the designation "Southernmost city in the world" had been transferred to Puerto Williams by a joint committee from Argentina and Chile, but this was denied by Argentine authorities, and the Secretariat of Tourism of Argentina continues to use the slogan in official documentation and web sites.

More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushuaia