Antártica Chilena Province

Chilean Antarctic Territory

	Flag of the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region showing the southern cross.
Capital	Puerto Covadonga
Area	1 236,000 square kilometers
Political status	Province of Chile
Governor	Claudio Flores Flores, as Governor of the Antártica Chilena Province
Population	2,392
Currency	Chilean Peso

Map of the province

Provincia Antártica Chilena is one of four provinces in its southernmost region, Magallanes y Antártica Chilena Region. The capital is Puerto Williams. The province is nearly 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 communes:

1. • Commune of 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.^[1]

1. • Commune of Antártica

The two communes are administered by the Municipality of Cabo de Hornos and is the only instance of one municipality running more than one commune provided for in the Chilean constitution.

Territory recognition

The Commune of Cabo de Hornos is recognized as part of Chile, however, the Commune of Antártica, which encompasses most of the area of the province (1,236,000 km²), is disputed, as it forms the Chilean claim to Antarctica, stretching south of the 60th parallel to the South Pole, and generally recognized by other nations as part of Chile.^[2]

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 for the area as of the census 2002 is 130 (115 male, 15 female). This does not include the staff of non-Chilean bases in the area.^[3]

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

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.^[4] On the first organization of the new conquered territories, Carlos V, ruler of the Spanish Empire assigned to Pedro Sancho de la Hoz control over Terra Australis, which included the Southern part of South 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, of which Chile is an original member, the territorial claims of all members are suspended for the duration of their membership in the System and hence neither Chile nor any other nation is currently making efforts to establish, advance or dispute their sovereignty or that of any other country over any part the Antarctic continent.^[5]

References

See also

• XII Region of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica
• Comuna de Cabo de Hornos / Commune of Cabo de Hornos
• 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
Current	Adélie Land · Argentine Antarctica · Australian Antarctic Territory · British Antarctic Territory · Chilean Antarctica · Ross Dependency · Queen Maud Land · Peter I Island
Non-officialized	Brazilian Antarctica
Former	New Swabia

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