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Beagle Channel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beagle Channel is a strait separating islands of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, in extreme southern South America. It separates Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego from several smaller islands to the south. Its eastern portion is part of the border between Chile and Argentina, but the western part is completely within Chile. Beagle Channel is about 150 miles long and is about three miles wide at its narrowest point. To the west the Darwin Sound connects it to the Pacific Ocean. Although it is navigable by large ships, there are safer waters to the south (Drake Passage) and to the north (Strait of Magellan). Several small islands (Picton, Lennox and Nueva) near the eastern end were the subject of a long-running territorial dispute between Chile and Argentina; by the terms of a 1984 treaty they are now part of Chile whilest Argentina has most maritime rights.
The biggest settlement on the channel is Ushuaia in Argentina followed by Puerto Williams in Chile.
The channel is named after the ship HMS Beagle which was involved in two hydrographic surveys of the coasts of the southern part of South America in the early 19th century. During the first, under the overall command of the Australian Commander Philip Parker King, the Beagle's captain Pringle Stokes committed suicide and was replaced by captain Robert FitzRoy. The second is better known as the Voyage of the Beagle and is famous because captain FitzRoy took Charles Darwin along as a gentleman's companion, giving him opportunities as an amateur naturalist.