Punta Arenas
Punta Arenas, Chile - port code PUQ
Punta Arenas is strategically positioned almost midpoint between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, on a peninsula at the southern end of mainland Chile. Overlooking the Magellan Straits, Punta Arenas, is the capital of the Magallenes region and the bustling center of one of the world's largest sheep farming areas. As the largest port for thousands of miles, Punta Arenas provides a base for South Atlantic fishing boats and Antarctic bound research vessels. The city center is home to many impressive mansions built during the lucrative wool boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Punta Arenas was founded in 1848 as a military garrison and penal settlement. Its history is varied, from penal settlement to Gold Rush era locale for shipments to California to a prospering economy based on wild animal products such as sealskins, guanaco hides, and feathers from the rhea (American ostrich) to a flourishing sheep wool based economy at the turn of the century.
Today Punta Arenas has a population of approximately 100,000.
General Information
- Berthing – TBA
- Points of Interest: Patagonia, Penguin caves, Cathedral
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