The southernmost mainland city in Chile on the Strait of Magellan is Punta Arenas.
Punta Arenas stands on the Brunswick Peninsula, on the strait’s northern shore. It is the capital of Chile’s Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica Region and the largest urban centre in southern Patagonia. The city was founded in 1848 as a Chilean settlement intended partly to reinforce control over the strategically important waterway.
Its location explains a common quiz mix-up. Ushuaia lies farther south, but it is in Argentina and on Tierra del Fuego, not on the South American mainland. Puerto Natales is another important Chilean Patagonian town, but it lies farther north beside the Última Esperanza Sound.
Punta Arenas grew as a port and became a major stopping point for ships using the Strait of Magellan before the Panama Canal opened in 1914. Today it remains a gateway to Antarctica, Tierra del Fuego and Chile’s southern national parks.