Punta Arenas(redirected from Punta Arenas, Chile)
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Punta Arenas(po͞on`tä ärā`näs), city (1990 est. pop. 120,000), capital of Magallanes y La Antartica Chilena region, S Chile, on the Strait of MagellanMagellan, Strait of,
c.330 mi (530 km) long and 2 1-2 to 15 mi (4–24 km) wide, separating South America from Tierra del Fuego and other islands south of the continent. Except for a few miles at its eastern end in Argentina, it passes through Chile.
..... Click the link for more information. , the world's southernmost major city. Punta Arenas was founded in 1849 to maintain Chile's claim to the strait. Until the building of the Panama Canal, Punta Arenas was a busy coaling station. It has been an important center for export of Patagonian wool and mutton and, since the mid-20th cent., for the export of oil from nearby oil fields. More recently it has become a gateway for research on the Antarctic Peninsula. Punta Arenas, which is popular with tourists in spite of a long rainy season, has a notable museum. From 1927 to 1938 the city was renamed Magallanes.
a city in southern Chile. Population, 70,000 (1967). Port on the Strait of Magellan. There is export of sheep, wool, alpaca fleece, hides, meat, and lumber. Punta Arenas is a trade and distribution center.
a port in S Chile, on the Strait of Magellan: the southernmost city in the world. Pop.: 118 000 (2005 est.)