That's almost certainly why the world's northernmost town, Longyearbyen, is considerably further to the north than its southern equivalent, Puerto Williams is to the south. To be specific Longyearbyen is in Svalbard, an archipelago belonging to Norway, while Puerto Williams is on Navarino Island, in the Chilean part of Tierra del Fuego. Longyearbyen looks to be a little more picturesque, and almost certainly anticipates more tourism. Puerto Williams appears to be more functional. It's home to a small number of Yaghan natives, and much of its population otherwise is made up of military and scientists. Both seem like interesting places to visit, though.
If it seems strange to have a town in Chile with "Williams" in its name, there's a story behind that. It's named after John Williams Wilson, an English-born officer in the Chilean navy. A number of Chilean sailors had British backgrounds. Some started out as mercenaries but essentially went native. Or acclimated, if you prefer.
2 comments:
It's interesting to learn new things no matter our age. I certainly can't remember when I first learned that Antarctica existed, never mind that it's actually colder there than at the North Pole, and that's because it's a continent rather than frozen sea water. Since it's a landmass it's at a higher elevation than the arctic, thus more frigid, or should I say it can hold more cold far longer. You've likely found all this out by now.
Longyearbyen does look a lot prettier than Puerto Williams; I liked that bit about the residents being advised to carry guns in case of polar bears. I imagine the inhabitants of Puerto Williams don't have to defend themselves against penguins very often. In fact, they likely make a tasty entree at dinner.
As far as the town being named after an officer called Williams, I couldn't help but be reminded once again of the novels of Patrick O'Brian. Aubrey was sent to Chile to help build up their Navy's strength in their fight for independence from Spain. Lord Cochrane, who was O'Brian's model for Aubrey, was the English officer who undertook that mission, and Williams was one of Lord Cochrane's officers.
Probably most kids learn about Antarctica after all the other continents because--outside of a few scientists who've taken temporary residence--no one lives there. And most of it has no wildlife, as the penguins live only on the coast. But yeah, the relative coldness is because it's a solid block of land. Which means that this could all change with continental drift, not that we'll ever see it.
Another interesting thing about Longyearbyen is that no cats are allowed, in order to preserve the arctic birds. Somehow I don't think any cats would want to be outdoor cats there anyway. As to penguins, according to Captain James Cook they taste like "a piece of beef, odiferous cod fish and a canvas-backed duck roasted together in a pot, with blood and cod-liver oil for sauce.” So not to everyone's taste.
When I wrote this entry I wasn't aware that John Williams Wilson had an indirect connection to the Aubrey & Maturin books. That's an interesting fact to pick up. Goes to show how much the competition between empires could drive things.
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