A Thousand Kilometres from Antarctica: Chile is Home to the Southernmost Place on Earth

(Patria) - A thousand kilometres north of Antarctica, you will find the southernmost place on Earth that you can reach by car.

The Caleta Eugenia ranch is literally at the end of the road, that is, a gravel road that winds along the coast of the Beagle Channel and leads from the town of Puerto Williams, a little more than 20 kilometres away.

Approximately 2,000 people live in this small town, in the shadow of the Andean peaks.

Founded as a naval base in the 1950s, Puerto Williams is located on Isla Navarino in the southern part of Tierra del Fuego, an archipelago divided between Chile and Argentina.

The small port town is more than 2,400 kilometres south of the Chilean capital, Santiago - roughly the distance between London and Istanbul.

In a clever attempt to boost tourism, the Chilean government in 2019 proclaimed Puerto Williams the southernmost city in the world, thus taking the title from its much larger Argentine rival: Ushuaia is one of the better-known tourist destinations in southern Argentina.

Despite its new status, the capital of the Chilean Antarctic Province still lives like a small place. Residents leave their doors unlocked, and horses and cows roam the quiet streets.

Since there are no road connections to Chilean Patagonia, only true adventurers decide to board a ship or fly.

Puerto Williams truly exudes a sense of isolation from the world, just like the entire region, where you can walk for kilometres and not meet a living soul.

Nevertheless, despite its remoteness, Puerto Williams is developing rapidly - a modern port is being built to allow larger Antarctic cruise ships to dock, and a large socio-ecological research centre recently opened.

At the end of the world, reached via road Y-905, there is nothing beyond the Caleta Eugenia ranch. Only two people live on the ranch - a father and son, who work for the navy, raise livestock, and sell timber.

However, the ranch may not remain the end of the road forever. There are plans to extend the Y-905 by an additional 20 kilometres to the tiny fishing settlement of Puerto Toro, the southernmost village on Earth, which can currently only be reached by boat, reports Punkufer.hr.