Antártica Chilena Province

Flag of the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region showing the southern cross.

Chilean Antarctic Territory map in Spanish, Chilean names. It shows the Chilean research stations

Antártica Chilena Province is a province of Chile in the southernmost region, Magallanes, being one of four provinces in that region. The capital is Puerto Williams. The province is about 1,250,000 km² in area, which makes it almost twice as large as all other provinces of Chile combined. The province is divided into two municipalities (comunas):

• comuna de Cabo de Hornos (until 2001 called Navarino, capital Puerto Williams), area 14,146 km², population as of census 2002: 2,262, of which 1,952 are in the capital

• comuna de la Antártica (capital Puerto Covadonga, which is the civilian name for the Base General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme, the main Antarctic base of Chile), area 1,236,000 km², population: see below.

Only the "comuna de Cabo de Hornos", consisting of a few islands in the North of province, North of the Drake Strait, South of Tierra del Fuego, including the island of Navarino where the provincial capital Puerto Williams is located on the Beagle Channel 15 km across from Ushuaia, is undisputedly recognised as part of Chile.

The "comuna de la Antártica", which encompasses most of the area of the province, is disputed, as it forms the Chilean sector of Antarctica, stretching to the South Pole, which is generally unrecognised as part of Chile. It is practically uninhabited except for research stations of various countries, although Chile attempts to give the appearance of permanent habitation at Villa Las Estrellas (near Eduardo Frei Montalva Station), by the presence of women and children, a small school, and even a bank, in order to support its territorial claim of the area. The official population figure for the area as of the census 2002 is given as 130 (115 male, 15 female). This does not include the staff of non-Chilean bases in the area.

According to the Chilean argument, its claim to the Antártica Chilena Province is as old as Chile itself. The Tordesilhas Line established a west/east division of colonial territories between Portugal and Spain. On the first organisation of the new conquered territories, Charles V, ruller of the Spanish Empire assigned to Pero Sancho de la Hoz control over Terra Australis, which included the Southern part of America, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, and all southern undiscovered territories (Terra Australis Ignota). This gobernation eventually merged with other territories in the Captaincy General of Chile. Under the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty System, the territorial claims of Chile and all of the other signatories with claims to any part of the Antarctic continent proper are suspended for the duration of their membership in the System and hence neither Chile nor any other power is currently making efforts to establish true national sovereignty over any part of Antarctica proper.

See also

• XII Region of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica
• Argentine Antarctica and Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands
• British Antarctic Territory
• Antarctic Treaty System
• Antarctic Peninsula
• Diego Ramirez Islands
• Ildefonso Islands

Antarctic territorial claims
Adélie Land Argentine Antarctica Australian Antarctic Territory British Antarctic Territory Antarctic Chilean Territory Ross Dependency Queen Maud Land · Peter I Island Former claim: New Swabia  (1939–1945)

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