File:Punta Arenas (3405820800).jpg

From up on the hill, looking out to sea.

From Wikipedia - Punta Arenas (English: "Sandy Point") is the most prominent settlement on the Strait of Magellan.

Punta Arenas is the capital of the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region, Chile. The city itself was officially renamed Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to Punta Arenas. It is regarded as the world's southernmost city.

Etymology The 17th century explorer John Byron is sometimes given credit for the naming. But it was not until much later than any sort of city was settled by the Chilean government (1843). The name Punta Arenas grew out of the Spanish term Punta Arenosa, which was a literal translation of the English name 'Sandy Point'.

The city has also been known as "Magallanes" though today that term is normally used to describe the administrative region which includes the city. Punta Arenas has also been called "the city of the red roofs" for the red-painted metal roofs that characterised the city for many years, although since about 1970 the availability of other colours in protective finishes for the characteristic metal roofing has resulted in greater variety.

Geography Located on the Brunswick Peninsula. Punta Arenas is the third largest city in the entire Patagonian Region, after the more northerly Argentine cities of Neuquén and Comodoro Rivadavia. In 2002, it had a population of 120,000. It is roughly 1418.4 km from the coast of Antarctica.

The Magallanes region is considered part of Chilean Patagonia. Magallanes is Spanish for Magellan, the Portuguese explorer who, while circumnavigating the earth for Spain, passed close to the present site of Punta Arenas in 1520. Early English navigational documents referred to its location as "Sandy Point".

The city proper is located on the northeastern shore of Brunswick Peninsula. Besides the eastern shore, with the settlements of Guairabo, Rio Amarillo and Punta San Juan, the peninsula is largely uninhabited.

The municipality (commune) of Punta Arenas includes all of Brunswick Peninsula, as well as all islands west of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and north of Cockburn Channel and Magdalena Channel. The largest of those are: Santa Inés Island Desolación Island Dawson Island Aracena Island Clarence Island Carlos Island Wickham Island