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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Chile
Index
The Cuernos del Paine (Paine Horns) and Lago Pehoe in Torres
del Paine (Paine Towers) National Park, Chilean Patagonia
Courtesy Ramón Miró and Laura Mullahy
In the far south (Chile Austral), which extends from
between
43° south latitude and 44° south latitude to Cape Horn,
the Andes and
the South Pacific meet. The continental coastline features
numerous
inlets and fjords, from which the mountains seem to rise
straight
up to great elevations; this is, for example, the case
with the
Cerro Macá (2,960 meters) near Puerto Aisén. The rest of
the land
consists of literally thousands of islands forming
numerous
archipelagos interwoven with sometimes-narrow channels,
which
provide the main routes of navigation.
In the northern part of the far south, there is still
plenty of
rainfall. For instance, Puerto Aisén, at 45°24' south
latitude,
receives 2,973.3 millimeters of rain per year. However,
unlike in
Valdivia, the rain falls more or less evenly throughout
the year in
Puerto Aisén. The summer months average 206.1 millimeters,
whereas
the winter months average 300 millimeters. The
temperatures at sea
level in Puerto Aisén average 13.6° C in the summer months
and 4.7° C
in the winter months. Although the area generally is
chilly and
wet, the combination of channels, fjords, snowcapped
mountains, and
islands of all shapes and sizes within such a narrow space
makes
for breathtaking views. The area is still heavily
forested,
although some of the native species of trees that grow in
the
central and southern parts of the country have given way
to others
better adapted to a generally colder climate.
The southern part of the far south includes the city of
Punta
Arenas, which, with about 125,000 inhabitants, is the
southernmost
city of any appreciable size in the world. It receives
much less
precipitation; its annual total is only 438.5 millimeters,
or a
little more than what Valdivia receives in the month of
June alone.
This precipitation is distributed more or less evenly
throughout
the year, with the two main summer months receiving a
monthly
average of thirty-one millimeters and the winter months
38.9
millimeters, some of it in the form of snow. Temperatures
are
colder than in the rest of the country. The summer months
average
11.1° C, and the winter months average 2.5° C. The
virtually constant
wind from the South Pacific Ocean makes the air feel much
colder.
The far south contains large expanses of pastures that
are best
suited for raising sheep. The area's other main economic
activity
is oil and natural gas extraction from the areas around
the Strait
of Magellan. This strait is one of the world's important
sea-lanes
because it unites the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through
a channel
that avoids the rough open waters off Cape Horn. The
channel is
perilous, however, and Chilean pilots guide all vessels
through it.
Data as of March 1994
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