Tierra del Fuego, the closest island to the South Pole, why does it belong to two countries?

It is human nature to explore the unknown territory of the world.

a few years ago, when people traveled all over the great rivers and mountains of the motherland, bathed in the sunshine of Southeast Asian islands, got tired of visiting European museums and cathedrals, and shopped for American brand discount stores, they set their sights on another unknown area-polar travel.

Compared with the North Pole, Antarctica is more difficult to reach because it is not bordered by other continents, which makes it look more elegant.

among several routes to the south pole, Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost island in South America, is the most important transit point, because it is closest to the Antarctic continent, only across the Drake Strait.

▲ The distance between Tierra del Fuego and the South Pole. Compared with New Zealand and Australia, it is obviously closer to the South Pole.

Because of its unique geographical location, Tierra del Fuego has not only become the rear base for countries all over the world to visit the South Pole, but also attracted tourists from all over the world. Especially every summer in the southern hemisphere, polar tourists from all over the world will come here.

▲ Patagonia in Tierra del Fuego

ushuaia, located in the east of Tierra del Fuego, is the closest city to the South Pole, which is called "the end of the world", and it is only 8 kilometers away from the nearest place on the Antarctic continent.

▲ The colored area is the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego

ushuaia belongs to Argentina, but not all Tierra del Fuego islands belong to Argentina.

▲ ushuaia, Argentina (the largest city in Tierra del Fuego)

Tierra del Fuego, the largest island in Tierra del Fuego, is divided into two parts, with Chile in the west and Argentina in the east.

There was a great dispute between the two countries over the ownership of some small islands in the archipelago, especially around beagle channel.

How did Tierra del Fuego split into two? What kind of historical disputes did Chile and Argentina stage on this archipelago closest to the South Pole?

1. The desert island that the colonists disdained was divided between the two countries after independence

Tierra del Fuego has a long history of human habitation, although it seems to be far away from the center of human civilization. The aborigines here are called the Yagan people.

They live near the sea and live by fishing and hunting. Even in the worst weather, they wear little clothes and walk barefoot in snowy areas.

▲ Aboriginal people in Tierra del Fuego

In p>152, the Spanish explorer Magellan who traveled around the world came to these islands closest to the South Pole. He saw the bonfires lit by local aborigines on the island, and named the largest island as Tierra del Fuego.

In the following hundreds of years, Spanish Francis, Dutch East India Company, and British HMS Biegel all came here successively.

In order to swear that they have been here, westerners have named many areas here. The famous Cape Horn (named after the birthplace of the Dutch navigator) and the controversial beagle channel (named after the British warship mentioned above) all record their visits.

Although the western colonists discovered Tierra del Fuego and visited it many times, they didn't show much interest in this extremely southern archipelago because it was too far away and the climate was particularly bad.

it was not until the independence movement in south America in the late 18th century and early 19th century that Tierra del Fuego's fate took an important turn.

▲ The map drawn by France in 1862 shows Tierra del Fuego as terra nullius

In the 19th century, the South American independence movement won, and Argentina and Chile, which are adjacent to Tierra del Fuego, gained independence in 1816 and 1818.

before, the western colonists were too far away to compete for Tierra del Fuego. However, Argentina and Chile, as the southernmost countries rooted in South America after independence, both saw the geographical position and value of Tierra del Fuego Islands.

At the beginning of their independence, Chile and Argentina both expressed their claims to the entire Tierra del Fuego Islands for the first time.

in p>1843, the Chilean government began to send expeditions to Tierra del Fuego. Their aim is to establish permanent settlements along the coast of strait of magellan in the west of Tierra del Fuego, and Chileans began to swear the sovereignty of Tierra del Fuego through de facto occupation.

According to the conventional script, the Argentines at this time should quickly occupy the western part of Tierra del Fuego.

However, the reality is always different from the script. The Argentines actually came to Tierra del Fuego several decades later than the Chileans.

Before the Argentines came to the west of Tierra del Fuego, besides the aborigines, there were many British people living here. They were British missionaries. Ushuaia, the largest Argentine city in Tierra del Fuego, was the earliest settlement of British missionaries in Tierra del Fuego.

At the end of the 19th century, after many negotiations, Argentina and Chile reached an agreement on the ownership of Tierra del Fuego, and signed the Border Treaty between Chile and Argentina in 1881.

The treaty stipulates: Draw a line on Tierra del Fuego, along the meridian of the earth, starting from Cape San Espiritu in the north and drawing a line to beagle channel in the south. The west of the line belongs to Chile, and the east of the line belongs to Argentina.

thus, the sovereignty of Tierra del Fuego is clearly defined for the first time.

▲ The boundary line between Chile and Argentina in Tierra del Fuego determined by the p>▲1881 border treaty

However, according to the treaty, Tierra del Fuego is only the largest island in Tierra del Fuego, although it is divided between the two countries. The demarcation of several other islands in the archipelago, such as picton, Nueva and lenox, has not been resolved.

The competition between the two countries around Tierra del Fuego, especially around beagle channel, has just begun.

2. The gold rush in Tierra del Fuego and the death of the aborigines

The 19th century was the heyday of the gold rush, and one place after another was discovered, which became the goal of people seeking wealth and freedom at that time.

First, California, then Australia, then South Africa and Yukon, Canada, all these places with gold have become legends of getting rich overnight.

In p>1884, a French ship ran aground on the east coast of Tierra del Fuego. When the sailors on the rescue boat pulled the ship out of the mud, they found gold in the black sand.

The news that there is gold in Tierra del Fuego suddenly "got hot search" and spread from South America to Europe.

Similar to the gold rush in California and Australia, a large number of Chileans, Argentines, businessmen and miners from Europe and Croatia flocked to Tierra del Fuego and set up gold mining companies.

▲ Tierra del Fuego's Gold Rush Equipment

In the first few years of Tierra del Fuego's gold rush, mining explorers gained a lot. Although it is cold, humid and windy here, the bad weather conditions make it very difficult to mine gold.

But driven by huge profits, in just three years, gold prospectors have mined more than 2, kilograms of gold in lenox Island and Nueva near beagle channel.

▲ Gold coins produced in Tierra del Fuego

But it didn't last long. By 1885, most gold mines in Tierra del Fuego had been mined. By 191, all gold mines in the archipelago had stopped mining.

After the gold mining, most miners returned to their homes in Europe or Central and South America. However, some miners stayed in Tierra del Fuego and settled down. Later, they mainly engaged in fishing and sheep breeding.

▲ Sheep Ranch on Tierra del Fuego

Like many new continents, the arrival of a large number of western immigrants has also brought devastating disasters to the indigenous people in Tierra del Fuego.

The aborigines in Tierra del Fuego had no resistance to various infectious diseases brought by westerners, and with the acquiescence of the governments of Chile and Argentina, the new immigrants brutally persecuted the aborigines, which eventually led to the complete extinction of the Yagan people.

3. The discovery of oil and the claim of Antarctic sovereignty accelerated the contention for Tierra del Fuego

In fact, Argentina went back on its word 23 years after the signing of the Border Treaty between Chile and Argentina in 1881.

in p>194, the Argentine government demanded to redefine the border near beagle channel with Chile, and put forward a new proposition.

In Argentina's new proposal, the sea mouth on the east side of beagle channel was redrawn, and several islands belonging to Chile in the original treaty, such as picton, Nueva and lenox, were included in Argentina's scope.

naturally, Argentina's new idea has not been recognized by Chile, which continues to actually control these islands.

in the 194s, the discovery of oil in Tierra del Fuego and the proposal of Antarctic sovereignty strategy intensified the competition between Chile and Argentina in Tierra del Fuego.

in p>1945, after the discovery of oil in the northern part of Tierra del Fuego, Chile established the national oil company, and started a lot of exploration and exploitation. The oil exploitation in Tierra del Fuego once became the most important source of oil exploitation in Chile.

At the same time, many countries in the world successively claimed sovereignty over parts of Antarctica.

the governments of Chile and Argentina have further realized the importance of Tierra del Fuego's geographical location in the fight for Antarctic sovereignty, and both countries have successively formulated Antarctic sovereignty strategies.

In 195s, the Chilean military established the port of Williams in the west of Tierra del Fuego to break the monopoly of the port of ushuaia in the east of Argentina on the supply of Antarctic bases.

in p>1971, at Argentina's repeated request, the governments of Argentina and Chile signed an arbitration agreement to submit the dispute between the two countries in beagle channel to an arbitration court presided over by Queen Elizabeth II.

in may p>1977, the arbitration court ruled that these disputed islands (picton, Nueva and lenox) belonged to Chile. Argentina, which lost the case, rejected the ruling and tried to compete for these islands through military force.

▲ The boundary between the two countries in the p>▲1977 arbitration award (red)

When Chile and Argentina fought fiercely and war was imminent, the Pope stood up.

As Argentina and Chile are both countries dominated by Catholicism, the intervention of the Pope is extremely important.

However, in 1881, Chile and Argentina signed the Border Treaty, and in 1977, there was an arbitration result. At this time, the Pope came out to mediate, and it was really difficult to avoid offending people.

So, the Pope tactfully put forward the proposition that I will not get involved in the areas previously decided by British arbitration, and I respect the results of British arbitration, so I will divide the maritime boundaries for you.

thus came the 198 papal agreement.

▲ Schematic diagram of the agreement proposed by the Pope

After the Pope proposed a new agreement in 198, Chile approved it, but Argentina did not agree to this new proposal at first.

▲ Chile and Argentina signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship in the Vatican, and the old man in white in the picture is the Pope

After a long period of coordination and mutual compromise, Chile and Argentina finally signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship in the Vatican in 1984, and the demarcation of the two countries in the treaty basically followed the previous proposal of the Pope.

▲ Delimitation in the Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1984

At this point, the ownership of Tierra del Fuego finally settled.

Today, this archipelago, which is closest to the South Pole, is world-famous for its unique natural scenery and special geographical location, and welcomes people who are eager to explore the wonderful trip to the South Pole.