View source for Strait of Magellan

{{Short description|Strait in southern Chile between the Atlantic and Pacific}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=April 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name                   = Strait of Magellan
| image                  = StraitOfMagellan.jpg
| caption                = The Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of [[South America]]
| image_bathymetry       =
| caption_bathymetry     =
| depth                  =
| max-depth              =
| inflow                 =
| outflow                =
| catchment              =
| basin_countries        = Chile, Argentina
| length                 = {{cvt|570|km}}
| width                  =
| min_width              = {{cvt|2|km}}
| islands                =
| etymology              =
| location               = [[Magallanes Region]], Chile
| pushpin_map            = Chile
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_alt        =
| pushpin_map_caption    =
| coordinates            = {{coord|54|S|71|W|type:waterbody_scale:2500000|display=inline,title}}
| coor_pinpoint          =
| part_of                =
| alt                    =
| type                   = [[Strait]]
| cities                 =
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}}
[[File:Chile.estrechodemagallanes.png|thumb|upright=1.55|The Strait of Magellan]]

The '''Strait of Magellan''' ({{Langx|es|Estrecho de Magallanes}}), also called the '''Straits of Magellan''', is a [[navigable]] sea route in southern [[Chile]] separating mainland [[South America]] to the north and the [[Tierra del Fuego]] archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natural passage between the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] oceans, the [[strait]] is approximately {{cvt|570|km|nmi mi}} long and {{cvt|2|km|nmi mi}} wide at its narrowest point. In 1520, the [[Hapsburg Spain|Spanish]] expedition of the Portuguese navigator [[Ferdinand Magellan]], after whom the strait is named, became the first Europeans to discover it.

Magellan's original name for the strait was ''Estrecho de Todos los Santos'' ("'''Strait of All Saints'''"). The King of Spain, Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], who had sponsored the [[Timeline of the Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation|Magellan-Elcano]] expedition, changed the name to the Strait of Magellan in honor of Magellan.<ref name="SM">{{cite web |last1=Crum |first1=Haley |title=The Man Who Sailed the World |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-man-who-sailed-the-world-155994800/ |website=Smithsonianmag.com |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |access-date=23 October 2019 |archive-date=October 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023171759/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-man-who-sailed-the-world-155994800/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The route is difficult to navigate due to frequent [[narrows]] and unpredictable winds and currents. [[Maritime pilot]]ing is now compulsory. The strait is shorter and more sheltered than the [[Drake Passage]] (the open sea route around [[Cape Horn]]), which is beset by frequent [[gale]]-force winds and [[iceberg]]s.<ref name="world"/> Along with the [[Beagle Channel]], the strait was one of the few sea routes between the Atlantic and Pacific before the construction of the [[Panama Canal]].

==History==
===Indigenous navigation===
Land adjacent to the Strait of Magellan has been inhabited by indigenous Americans for at least 13,000 years. Upon their arrival in the region, they would have encountered native equines (''[[Hippidion]]''), the large ground sloth ''[[Mylodon]],'' saber-toothed cats (''[[Smilodon]]'') the extinct jaguar subspecies ''[[Panthera onca mesembrina]],'' the bear ''[[Arctotherium]]'', the superficially camel-like ''[[Macrauchenia]],'' the fox-like canid ''[[Dusicyon avus]]'' and [[Lamini|lamine]] camelids, including the extant [[vicuña]] and [[guanaco]]. Evidence that ''Mylodon'', ''Hippidion'' and the lamines were hunted has been found at some sites, such as Cueva del Medio.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Villavicencio |first1=Natalia A. |last2=Lindsey |first2=Emily L. |last3=Martin |first3=Fabiana M. |last4=Borrero |first4=Luis A. |last5=Moreno |first5=Patricio I. |last6=Marshall |first6=Charles R. |last7=Barnosky |first7=Anthony D. |date=February 2016 |title=Combination of humans, climate, and vegetation change triggered Late Quaternary megafauna extinction in the Última Esperanza region, southern Patagonia, Chile |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecog.01606 |journal=Ecography |language=en |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=125–140 |doi=10.1111/ecog.01606 |bibcode=2016Ecogr..39..125V |issn=0906-7590}}</ref>

Historically identifiable indigenous ethnic groups around the strait are the [[Kawésqar]], the [[Tehuelche people|Tehuelche]], the [[Selkʼnam people|Selkʼnam]] and the [[Yaghan people]]. The [[Kawésqar]] lived on the western part of the strait's northern coast. To the east of the Kawésqar were the [[Tehuelche people|Tehuelche]], whose territory extended to the north in [[Patagonia]]. To the south of the Tehuelche across the strait lived the Selkʼnam, who inhabited the majority of the eastern portion of [[Tierra del Fuego]]. To the west of the Selkʼnam were the [[Yaghan people]], who inhabited the southernmost part of Tierra del Fuego.<ref name="MST">{{cite web |title=Strait of Magellan, a voyage throughout History XVI-XXI centuries |url=https://magellanstraittravel.blogspot.com/ |website=magellanstraittravel |publisher=Magellan Strait Travel |access-date=23 October 2019 |archive-date=October 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022084800/http://magellanstraittravel.blogspot.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ncbi">{{cite journal |title=Genomic insights into the origin and diversification of late maritime hunter-gatherers from the Chilean Patagonia |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=115 |issue=17 |pages=E4006–E4012 |pmc=5924884 |year=2018 |last1=de la Fuente |first1=C. |last2=Ávila-Arcos |first2=M. C. |last3=Galimany |first3=J. |last4=Carpenter |first4=M. L. |last5=Homburger |first5=J. R. |last6=Blanco |first6=A. |last7=Contreras |first7=P. |last8=Cruz Dávalos |first8=D. |last9=Reyes |first9=O. |last10=San Roman |first10=M. |last11=Moreno-Estrada |first11=A. |last12=Campos |first12=P. F. |last13=Eng |first13=C. |last14=Huntsman |first14=S. |last15=Burchard |first15=E. G. |last16=Malaspinas |first16=A. S. |last17=Bustamante |first17=C. D. |last18=Willerslev |first18=E. |last19=Llop |first19=E. |last20=Verdugo |first20=R. A. |last21=Moraga |first21=M. |pmid=29632188 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1715688115 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115E4006D |doi-access=free}}</ref>

All tribes in the area were nomadic [[hunter-gatherer]]s. The Tehuelche were the only non-maritime culture in the area;{{dubious|date=December 2020}} they fished and gathered shellfish along the coast during the winter and moved into the southern [[Andes]] in the summer to hunt.<ref name="ipsnews">{{cite web |last1=Espinoza |first1=María Cecilia |title=RIGHTS-CHILE: A 'New Deal' for Indigenous Groups |url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2003/11/rights-chile-a-new-deal-for-indigenous-groups/ |website=ipsnews |date=November 27, 2003 |publisher=Inter Press Service |access-date=23 October 2019 |archive-date=October 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023204040/http://www.ipsnews.net/2003/11/rights-chile-a-new-deal-for-indigenous-groups/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The tribes of the region saw little European contact until the late 19th century. Later, European-introduced diseases decimated portions of the indigenous population.{{sfn|Aeberhard|Benson|O'Brien|Phillips|2010|p=501}}

It is possible that Tierra del Fuego was connected to the mainland in the [[Holocene|Early Holocene]] (c. 9000 years [[Before present|BP]]) much in the same way that [[Riesco Island]] was back then.{{sfn|Mostny|2011|p=21}} A Selkʼnam tradition recorded by the [[Salesians of Don Bosco|Salesian]] missionary [[Giuseppe María Beauvoir]] relates that the Selkʼnam arrived in Tierra del Fuego by land and that the Selkʼnam were later unable to return north as the sea had flooded their crossing.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Selkʼnam |date=December 1, 2013 |encyclopedia=La enciclopedia de ciencias y tecnologías en Argentina |url=https://cyt-ar.com.ar/cyt-ar/index.php/Selk%27nam |access-date=December 23, 2020 |language=Spanish |archive-date=April 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428163410/https://cyt-ar.com.ar/cyt-ar/index.php/Selk%27nam |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Selkʼnam people|Selkʼnam]] migration to Tierra del Fuego is generally thought to have displaced a related non-seafaring people, the [[Haush]] that once occupied most of the main island.<ref name=chap1973>{{Cite journal |title=New data on the archaeology of the Haush: Tierra del Fuego |journal=Journal de la Société des Américaniste |last1=Chapman |first1=Anne |volume=62 |pages=185–208 |last2=Hester |first2=Thomas R. |year=1973 |doi=10.3406/jsa.1973.2088}}</ref> The Selkʼnam, Haush, and Tehuelche are generally thought to be culturally and linguistically related peoples [[physical anthropology|physically distinct]] from the sea-faring peoples.<ref name=chap1973/>

According to a [[Selkʼnam people|Selkʼnam]] [[myth]] the strait was created along with the [[Beagle Channel]] and [[Fagnano Lake]] by slingshots falling on Earth during the fight of [[Taiyín]] with a witch who was said to have "retained the waters and the foods".{{sfn|Montecino Aguirre|2015|p=125}}

===Magellan===
[[File:NaoVictoria.JPG|thumb|upright=0.9|A replica of [[Victoria (ship)|''Victoria'']], one of Magellan's ships, in the [[Museo Nao Victoria]], [[Punta Arenas]], Chile]]

The first European contact in this area was the voyage of [[Ferdinand Magellan]].<ref name="Richardson"/> (A report by [[António Galvão]] in 1563 that mentions early charts showing the strait as "[[Dragon's Tail (peninsula)|Dragon's Tail]]" has led to speculation that there might have been earlier contact, but this is generally discounted.)<ref name="Richardson">{{cite journal |last=Richardson |first=William A.R. |title=South America on Maps before Columbus? Martellus's 'Dragon's Tail' Peninsula |journal=[[Imago Mundi]] |volume=55 |date=2003 |pages=25–37 |doi=10.1080/0308569032000097477 |s2cid=129171245 |quote=For some decades a group of scholars in Latin America has been claiming that this so-called 'Dragon's Tail' peninsula is really a pre-Columbian map of South America. In this paper, the cartographical and place-name evidence is examined, showing that the identification has not been proved, and that perceived similarities between the river and coastal outlines on this 'Dragon's Tail' peninsula and those of South America are fortuitous.}}</ref>{{sfn|de Zurara|Prestage|Beazley|2010|page=cxiv}}{{efn|See also: [[Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories]], [[Exploration of North America]], [[Waldseemüller map]], [[Madoc]], and [[Norse colonization of North America]]
}}

Magellan led an expedition in the service of the Spanish King, Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], to reach the [[Maluku Islands|Spice Islands]]. His ships became the first to navigate the strait in 1520.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-Magellan/Discovery-of-the-Strait-of-Magellan#ref186919 |title=Ferdinand Magellan, Discovery of the Strait of Magellan |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=October 18, 2019 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807153747/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-Magellan/Discovery-of-the-Strait-of-Magellan#ref186919 |url-status=live }}</ref> The five ships included ''[[Trinidad (ship)|La Trinidad]]'' (110 tons, 55 crew members), under the command of Magellan; ''La San Antonio'' (120 tons, 60 crew members) under the command of [[Juan de Cartagena]]; ''La Concepción'' (90 tons,&nbsp;45 crew members) under the command of [[Gaspar de Quesada]] ([[Juan Sebastián Elcano]] served as boatswain); [[Victoria (ship)|''La Victoria'']] (85 tons, 42 crew members) under the command of [[Luis de Mendoza (explorer)|Luis de Mendoza]]; and ''La Santiago'' (75 tons, 32 crew members), under command of Juan Rodríguez Serrano ([[João Serrão|João Rodrigues Serrão]]).{{citation needed|date=October 2019}} Before the passage of the strait (and after the mutiny in [[Puerto San Julián]]), Álvaro de Mesquita became captain of the ''San Antonio'', and [[Duarte Barbosa]] of the ''Victoria''. Later, Serrão became captain of the ''Concepcion'' (the ''Santiago'', sent on a mission to find the passage, was caught in a storm and [[Shipwrecking|wrecked]]). ''San Antonio'' charged to explore Magdalen Sound, failed to return to the fleet, instead sailing back to Spain under [[Estêvão Gomes]], who imprisoned the captain Mesquita.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

Magellan's ships entered the strait on [[All Saints' Day]], 1 November 1520. Magellan named the Strait ''Estrecho de Todos los Santos'' ("Strait of All Saints") and 
planted a flag to claim the land on behalf of the King of Spain.<ref name="Memoria" /> Magellan's chronicler, [[Antonio Pigafetta]], called it the ''Patagonian Strait'', and others ''Victoria Strait'', commemorating the first ship that entered.<ref name="vaycay" />{{sfn|Murphy|Coye|2013}}{{sfn|Bergreen|2003|page=194}} Within seven years, it was being called ''Estrecho de Magallanes'' in honor of Magellan.{{sfn|Murphy|Coye|2013}}{{sfn|Bergreen|2003|page=194}} The [[Spanish Empire]] and the [[Captaincy General of Chile]] considered the strait the southern boundary of their territory.{{Citation needed|date=March 2016}}

===16th century explorations after Magellan===
[[File:Mapa de América del Sur (Gobernaciones 1534-1539).svg|thumb|upright=0.9|View of the capitulaciones granted by [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]] in 1534]]

In the 1530s [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] divided South America and whatever was to be south of it into a series of grants to different [[conquistador]]s. The strait of Magellan and the area south of it went to [[Pedro Sánchez de la Hoz]].<ref name=Prieto2004>{{cite journal |last=Prieto Larrain |first=M. Cristina |date=2004 |title=El Tratado Antártico, vehículo de paz en un campo minado |url=http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-23762004000100008 |journal=[[Revista Universum]] |publisher=[[University of Talca]] |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=138–147 |language=es |access-date=31 December 2015 |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920212804/https://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-23762004000100008 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|Later this has served Chilean and Argentine governments to claim [[Terra Australis]], and [[Tierra del Fuego]] and by extension the continent of Antarctica was in effect claimed by Spain and that an ''[[Acquisition of sovereignty|animus occupandi]]'' existed on the part of Spain in the lands south of the strait.<ref name=Prieto2004/> Spain's sovereignty claim over this territory was internationally recognized with the ''[[Inter caetera]]'' bull of 1493 and the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]] of 1494.<ref name=Prieto2004/>}}

In 1530 and 1531 [[Fugger family|the Fuggers]] held rights to trade through the Strait of Magellan. While  European trade with Asia through this route was thought to be possible, the Fuggers never developed this route.<ref name=onetto>{{Cite journal |title=Geopolítica americana a escala global. El estrecho de Magallanes y su condición de "pasaje-mundo" en el siglo XVI |journal=[[Historia (history of the Americas journal)|Historia]] |last=Onetto Pavez |first=Mauricio |doi=10.4067/S0717-71942020000200521 |volume=53 |issue=2 |year=2020 |pages=521–559 |language=Spanish|doi-access=free }}</ref> 

[[Andrés de Urdaneta]] who had first-hand experience of the strait by his participation in the [[Loaísa expedition]], argued before viceroy [[Antonio de Mendoza]] in the 1550s for the establishment of an Asia–Mexico trade route and presented arguments against the establishment of a rival route of direct trade between Spain and Asia through the strait of Magellan. According to Urdaneta, the climate would make passage through the strait possible only during summer and therefore ships would need to [[overwinter|stay the winter]] in a more northern port. Urdaneta's preference for Mexico may have also been influenced by his links to the [[Pedro de Alvarado]].<ref name=onetto/> Following Urdaneta's plans in 1565, the first [[Manila galleon]] inaugurated European trade with Asia across the Pacific.<ref name=onetto/>

[[Pedro de Valdivia]], the [[conquistador]] of Chile, managed to have Charles V extend his governorship to the northern shores of the strait. Meanwhile, Sánchez de la Hoz was executed in Chile by [[Francisco de Villagra]], one of Valdivia's men.

The first map of the [[Pacific Ocean]], [[Maris Pacifici]] from 1589, depicts the strait as the only route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

====The strait and the conquest of Chile====
{{further|Conquest of Chile}}
Contemporaries differed in their estimation of the strait's significance. In Europe, it was viewed by some as an opportunity and a strategic location to facilitate long-range trade, though [[Antonio Pigafetta]] seemed to have understood his voyage through the area as an unrepeatable feat.<ref name=PerezVersiones2020/> By contrast, conquistador [[Pedro de Valdivia]], in a [[First relation letter from Pedro de Valdivia to emperor Charles V|letter to Charles V]], considered the strait a threat through which rival conquistadors could arrive to challenge his claims.<ref name=PerezVersiones2020/>

In 1544 Valdivia commissioned Captain [[Juan Bautista Pastene]] to explore the coast from [[Valparaiso]] to the Strait of Magellan,<ref name=PerezVersiones2020/> and installed his secretary [[Juan de Cárdenas]] in the expedition to produce a written account of the lands discovered to solidify his claims before the King.<ref name=PerezVersiones2020/> Although Pastene's expedition reached only the [[41st parallel south]], well short of the strait, it discovered [[San Pedro Bay (Chile)|San Pedro Bay]] and the mouth of [[Valdivia River]], where Valdivia would later find [[Valdivia|the city that bears his name]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Expedición al estrecho de Magallanes en 1553: Gerónimo de Vivar y Hernando Gallego |journal=[[Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia]] |url=http://www.bibliotecadigital.umag.cl/bitstream/handle/20.500.11893/795/Barros_Anales_1981_vol12_pp31-40.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |last=Barros |first=José Miguel |volume=12 |pages=31–40 |year=1981 |access-date=March 7, 2021 |archive-date=November 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119232818/http://www.bibliotecadigital.umag.cl/bitstream/handle/20.500.11893/795/Barros_Anales_1981_vol12_pp31-40.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Juan Bautista Pastene: Primer almirande del mar chileno |journal=[[Revista de Marina]] |url=https://revistamarina.cl/revistas/1994/6/barria.pdf |last=Barría González |first=Juan |year=1994 |access-date=March 7, 2021 |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://revistamarina.cl/revistas/1994/6/barria.pdf }}</ref> As Valdivia consolidated his claims, he mentioned in a 1548 letter to the [[Council of the Indies]] the possibility of establishing contacts between Chile and Seville through the strait.<ref name=PerezVersiones2020/>

[[García Jofré de Loaiza]] was the second captain to navigate the strait and the first to discover that [[Tierra del Fuego]] was an island. Valdivia then dispatched [[Francisco de Ulloa]] to survey and explore the strait, facilitating navigation from Spain to Chile. In October 1553, Ulloa sailed from the city of Valdivia in the first expedition to enter the strait from the west. Ulloa reached [[Woods Bay]], but faced with the steep coastline and lack of provisions and fearing entrapment in the strait during the winter, he turned around, returning to Chilean ports in February 1554.<ref name="Memoria"/>

Valdivia himself never actually reached the strait, as he was killed in 1553 attempting to conquer [[Araucanía (historic region)|Araucanía]], about 1600&nbsp;km (994 miles) north of the strait.<ref name=PerezVersiones2020/><ref>{{Cite book |title=Historia militar de Chile |last1=Pinochet Ugarte |first1=Augusto |publisher=Biblioteca Militar |year=1997 |last2=Villaroel Carmona |first2=Rafael |last3=Lepe Orellana |first3=Jaime |last4=Fuente-Alba Poblete |first4=J. Miguel |author-link4=Juan Miguel Fuente-Alba |last5=Fuenzalida Helms |first5=Eduardo |orig-date=1984 |volume=I |edition=3rd |language=es |author-link=Augusto Pinochet |page=25}}</ref>

In October 1557, Governor [[García Hurtado de Mendoza]] sent another exploratory squad of 70 men under the command of [[Juan Ladrillero]]. They were charged with mapping the coastline and surveying the region's flora, fauna, and ethnography. On August 16, 1558, Ladrillero arrived in the [[Atlantic Ocean]], becoming the first navigator to cross the Strait of Magellan in both directions.<ref name="Memoria"/>

Colonization by the Spanish southward in Chile halted after the conquest of the [[Chiloé Archipelago]] in 1567. The Spanish are thought to have lacked incentives for further conquests south.<ref name=Urbina2016/> The indigenous populations were sparse and did not engage in the sedentary agricultural life of the Spanish.<ref name=Urbina2016>{{cite journal |last1=Urbina Carrasco |first1=Ximena |author-link=Ximena Urbina |date=2016 |title=Interacciones entre españoles de Chiloé y Chonos en los siglos XVII y XVIII: Pedro y Francisco Delco, Ignacio y Cristóbal Talcapillán y Martín Olleta |language=es |trans-title=Interactions between Spaniards of Chiloé and Chonos in the XVII and XVII centuries: Pedro and Francisco Delco, Ignacio and Cristóbal Talcapillán and Martín Olleta |url=http://www.chungara.cl/Vols/2016/48-1/07-URBINA.pdf |journal=[[Chungara (journal)|Chungara]] |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=103–114 |access-date=December 21, 2019 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224182815/http://www.chungara.cl/Vols/2016/48-1/07-URBINA.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The harsh climate in the [[fjords and channels of Chile|fjords and channels of Patagonia]] may also have deterred further expansion.<ref name=Urbina2016/> Even in Chiloé the Spanish encountered difficulties, having to abandon their initial economic model based on [[gold mining]] and "hispanic-mediterranean" agriculture.<ref name=torrejon>Torrejón, Fernando; Cisternas, Marco; Alvial, Ingrid and Torres, Laura. 2011. [http://www.scielo.cl/pdf/magallania/v39n2/art06.pdf Consecuencias de la tala maderera colonial en los bosques de alece de Chiloé, sur de Chile (Siglos XVI-XIX)*] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203030801/http://www.scielo.cl/pdf/magallania/v39n2/art06.pdf |date=December 3, 2013 }}. ''[[Magallania]]''. Vol. 39(2):75–95.</ref>

====Spanish attempt to colonise the strait====
{{main|Spanish colonization attempt of the Strait of Magellan}}
In 1578 English navigator [[Francis Drake]] crossed the strait, creating fear on the Pacific coast that an attack was imminent. To seal the passage, the Viceroy of Peru, [[Francisco de Toledo]], sent a squadron with two ships under [[Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa]]. They carefully explored the strait, trying to ferret out English invaders, while surveying locations for future fortifications.<ref name="Memoria" />

Pigafetta had described the strait as a hospitable area with many good ports, "[[Cedrus|cedar]]" wood, and abundant shellfish and fish.<ref name=PerezVersiones2020>{{Cite journal |title=Versiones del Estrecho de Magallanes. El paso interoceánico desde la primera circunnavegación del mundo hasta la conquista del reino de Chile (1520-1552) |journal=[[Magallania]] |url=https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-22442020000300029&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=es |last=Pérez |first=Ezequiel |volume=48 |issue=especial |doi=10.4067/S0718-22442020000300029 |year=2020 |pages=29–44 |language=Spanish |trans-title=Versions of the strait of Magellan. The interoceanic passage from the first circumnavigation of the world to the conquest of the kingdom of Chile (1519-1520-1552) |doi-access=free |access-date=February 12, 2021 |archive-date=December 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215183412/https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-22442020000300029&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=es |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1584, Sarmiento de Gamboa [[Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa#Strait of Magellan|founded]] two colonies in the strait: [[Nombre de Jesús (Patagonia)|Nombre de Jesús]] and Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe. The latter was established on the north shore of the strait with 300 settlers.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/cronicas/contextos/10105.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309194723/http://www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/cronicas/contextos/10105.htm |archive-date=2008-03-09 |title=Relación y derrotero del viaje y descubrimiento del Estrecho de la Madre de Dios - antes llamado de Magallanes |language=es |quote=Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, según Amancio Landín, uno de sus más reputados biógrafos, nació en Pontevedra, hacia 1532. Julio Guillén --el marino-académico--, por su parte, dice que es posible fuera Colegial Mayor en la Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, ciudad que fue --asegura-- cuna del gran marino español. Este, no ha dejado aclarada la duda sobre su origen geográfico, pues afirmó ser natural de ambos lugares.}}</ref>{{sfn|Markham|2016}} That winter, it became known as [[Puerto del Hambre]], or "Port Famine", as most of the settlers died of cold or starvation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blogpatagonia.australis.com/history-strait-of-magellan/ |title=History of the Strait of Magellan |access-date=October 25, 2019 |date=April 7, 2017 |archive-date=October 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026010408/https://blogpatagonia.australis.com/history-strait-of-magellan/ |url-status=live }}</ref> When Sir [[Thomas Cavendish]] landed at the site of Rey Don Felipe in 1587, he found only ruins of the settlement.

The Spanish failure to colonize the Strait of Magellan made the [[Chiloé Archipelago]] key in protecting western Patagonia from foreign intrusions.<ref name=Urbina2013>{{cite journal |last=Urbina C. |first=M. Ximena |author-link=Ximena Urbina |date=2013 |title=Expediciones a las costas de la Patagonia Occidental en el periodo colonial |language=es |journal=[[Magallania]] |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=51–84 |doi=10.4067/S0718-22442013000200002 |doi-access=free |hdl=10533/140447 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Valdivia, [[Dutch expedition to Valdivia#Spanish response|reestablished in 1645]], and Chiloé acted as sentries, and hubs where the Spanish collected intelligence from all over Patagonia.<ref name=Urbina2017>{{cite journal |last1=Urbina C. |first1=María Ximena |author-link=Ximena Urbina |date=2017 |title=La expedición de John Narborough a Chile, 1670: Defensa de Valdivia, rumeros de indios, informaciones de los prisioneros y la creencia en la Ciudad de los Césares |trans-title=John Narborough expedition to Chile, 1670: Defense of Valdivia, indian rumors, information on prisoners, and the belief in the City of the Césares |url=https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-22442017000200011&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=es |journal=[[Magallania]] |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=11–36 |doi=10.4067/S0718-22442017000200011 |access-date=December 27, 2019 |doi-access=free |archive-date=May 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516145116/https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-22442017000200011&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=es |url-status=live |hdl=10533/232318 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

In 1599 it took five ships under [[Simon de Cordes]] and his pilot [[William Adams (pilot)|William Adams]] four months to traverse the strait; [[Sebalt de Weert]] returned before reaching the end.

===17th century explorations===
{{further|Garcia de Nodal expedition}}
In 1616, Dutch travelers, including [[Willem Schouten]] and [[Jacob Le Maire]], discovered [[Cape Horn]] and recognized the southern end of Tierra del Fuego. Years later, [[Garcia de Nodal expedition|a Spanish expedition]] commanded by brothers [[Bartolomé Nodal|Bartolomé]] and [[Gonzalo Nodal]] verified this discovery<ref name="Memoria" /> making in the way also the first circumnavigation of Tierra del Fuego.{{sfn|Martinic|1977|page=76}} After this, there would be 150 years before the next ship from Spain would traverse the strait.{{sfn|Martinic|1977|page=76}} By 1620, one hundred years after European discovery, at least 55 ships had traversed the strait including 23 Spanish, 17 English and 15 Dutch.{{sfn|Martinic|1977|page=76}}

[[John Narborough]]'s 1670 explorations in Patagonia caused the Spanish to launch various maritime expeditions to western Patagonia from 1674 to 1676.<ref name=MartMoor1982>{{Cite journal |last1=Martinic B. |first1=Mateo |author-link1=Mateo Martinic |last2=Moore |first2=David M. |date=1982 |title=Las exploraciones inglesas en el estrecho de Magallanes. El mapa manuscrito de John Narborough |url=http://bibliotecadigital.umag.cl/bitstream/handle/20.500.11893/850/Martinic_Anales_1982_vol13_pp7-20.pdf?sequence=1 |language=es |journal=[[Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia]] |volume=13 |pages=7–20 |access-date=December 21, 2019 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224092452/http://bibliotecadigital.umag.cl/bitstream/handle/20.500.11893/850/Martinic_Anales_1982_vol13_pp7-20.pdf?sequence=1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Anuario Hidrográfico de la Marina de Chile |year=1886 |location=Santiago | publisher=Imprenta Nacional |pages=525–537 |chapter=Expedición de Bartolomé Gallardo |author-last=Gallardo |author-first=Bartolomé |chapter-url=http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0018315.pdf |language=es |access-date=January 27, 2020 |archive-date=January 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112081011/http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0018315.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In the [[Antonio de Vea expedition|last and largest one]], Pascual de Iriate led a party to [[Evangelistas Islets]] at the western entrance to the strait. At Evangelistas sixteen men of the party disappeared on February 17 including the son of Pascual de Iriarte.{{sfn|de Vea|1886|p=587}}{{sfn|de Vea|1886|p=590}} The ill-fated men had attempted to reach one of the islets to install a metal plaque indicating the King of Spain's ownership of the territory.{{sfn|de Vea|1886|p=590}} Viceroy of Peru [[Baltasar de la Cueva, Count of Castellar|Baltasar de la Cueva]] issued orders to the governments of [[Captaincy General of Chile|Chile]], [[Governorate of Chiloé|Chiloé]] and [[Governorate of the Río de la Plata|Río de la Plata]] to inquire about the men who disappeared at Evangelistas Islets.{{sfn|Barros Arana|2000|p=120}} However, no information about their fate came forth and it is presumed that the boat [[shipwreck|wrecked]] in the same storm that forced the remaining party to leave the area.{{sfn|Barros Arana|2000|p=120}}{{sfn|Barros Arana|2000|p=119}} Overall a total of 16–17 men perished in it.<ref name=Urbina2016/>{{sfn|Barros Arana|2000|p=119}}{{sfn|de Vea|1886|p=590}} While by 1676 rumours about English bases in Western Patagonia had been dispelled, that year new rumours appeared claiming that England was preparing an expedition to settle the Straits of Magellan.<ref name=Urbina2016acti>{{cite journal |last1=Urbina C. |first1=María Ximena |author-link=Ximena Urbina |trans-title=Suspicion of English at the southern end of Chile, 1669-1683: Imperial and local attitudes as a result of John Narborough's expedition |date=2016 |title=La sospecha de ingleses en el extremo sur de Chile, 1669-1683: Actitudes imperiales y locales como consecuencia de la expedición de John Narborough |url=https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-22442016000100002&script=sci_arttext |journal=[[Magallania]] |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=15–40 |doi=10.4067/S0718-22442016000100002 |language=es |access-date=December 22, 2019 |doi-access=free |archive-date=November 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130235259/https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-22442016000100002&script=sci_arttext |url-status=live |hdl=10533/232319 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The focus of Spanish attention to repel tentative English settlements shifted from the Pacific coast of Patagonia to the Straits of Magellan and [[Tierra del Fuego]].<ref name=Urbina2016acti/> Such a change, from the western archipelagoes to the strait, meant that any English settlement could be approached by Spain by land from the north, which was not the case for the islands in western Patagonia.<ref name=Urbina2016acti/>

In February 1696, the first French expedition under the command of M. de Gennes reached the Strait of Magellan. The expedition is described by the French explorer, engineer, and [[hydrographer]] {{ill|François Froger|fr}} in his ''[[A Relation of a Voyage]]'' (1699).

===18th century explorations===
[[File:Mapa Marítimo del Estrecho de Magallanes. Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla, 1769.png|thumb|350px|Map of the Strait made by [[Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla]], 1769.]]
In the 18th century, further explorations were done by English explorers [[John Byron]] and [[James Cook]]. The French sent [[Louis Antoine de Bougainville]] and [[Jules Dumont d'Urville]].<ref name="Memoria" /> By 1770 the focus of [[Falklands Crisis (1770)|a potential conflict]] between Spain and Britain had shifted from the strait to the [[Falkland Islands]].

===19th century===
====Explorations====
From 1826 to 1830, the strait was explored and thoroughly charted by [[Phillip Parker King]], who commanded the British survey vessel [[HMS Aid (1809)|HMS ''Adventure'']]. In consort with [[HMS Beagle|HMS ''Beagle'']], King surveyed the complex coasts around the strait. A report on the survey was presented at two meetings of the [[Royal Geographical Society|Geographical Society of London]] in 1831.<ref name="vaycay" /><ref>{{Citation |last=King |first=P. P. |year=1839 |editor-last=FitzRoy |editor-first=Robert |editor-link=Robert FitzRoy |title=Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. Proceedings of the first expedition, 1826–30, under the command of Captain P. Parker King, R.N., F.R.S. |location=London |publisher=Henry Colburn |volume=I |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F10.1&viewtype=text&pageseq=1 |access-date=August 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505172837/http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F10.1&viewtype=text&pageseq=1 |archive-date=May 5, 2011 |url-status=live}}. – [http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=670&itemID=F10.1&viewtype=text p. 563] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915200320/http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=670&itemID=F10.1&viewtype=text |date=September 15, 2016 }}: Some Observations relating to the Southern Extremity of South America, Tierra del Fuego, and the Strait of Magalhaens; made during the Survey of those Coasts in his Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1830. By Captain Phillip Parker King, F.R.S., Commander of the Expedition; "read before the Geographical Society of London on the 25th of April and 9th of May 1831; and ... printed in the Journal of that Society for the same year."</ref> In connection with these explorations, [[Robert FitzRoy]] came to suggest the establishment of a British base in the strait to aid travel between the [[British Isles]] and [[Australia]].{{sfn|Talbott|1974|p=75}}

The 1837 French expedition of [[Dumont D'Urville]] surveyed the area of [[Puerto del Hambre]] and the navigational conditions in the Strait of Magellan.{{sfn|Morris|1989|pp=22, ff}} In a report, the expedition recommended that a [[French colony]] be established at the strait to support future traffic along the route.{{sfn|Morris|1989|pp=22, ff}}

[[Richard Charles Mayne]] commanded [[HMS Nassau (1866)|HMS ''Nassau'']] on a survey expedition to the strait from 1866 to 1869.<ref>''[[Dictionary of national biography]]''. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. 63 vols. and 2 supplements (6 vols.). London: [[Smith, Elder & Co.]] 1885--1912</ref> The naturalist on the voyage was [[Robert Oliver Cunningham]].{{sfn|Cunningham|2012}} [[Charles Darwin]] requested the Lords of the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] to ask Mayne to collect several boatloads of fossils of extinct [[quadruped]] species. Admiral Sulivan had previously discovered an astonishingly rich accumulation of fossil bones not far from the strait. These remains belonged to a more ancient period than collections made by Darwin on [[HMS Beagle|HMS ''Beagle'']] and other naturalists, and therefore were of great scientific interest. Many of these fossils were collected with the aid of hydrographer Richards R. N. and deposited in the [[British Museum]].<ref>Letter from B.J. Sulivan, 27 June 1866 and nn. 6 and 7 in the Darwin Letters. See:[http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwinletters/calendar/entry-5142.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211084348/https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-5142.xml|date=February 11, 2023}}, [http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwinletters/calendar/entry-5144.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211084349/https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-5144.xml|date=February 11, 2023}}</ref> The Admiralty compiled advice to mariners of the strait in 1871.{{sfn|Mayne|1871|pages=37-84}}

====Takeover during Republican Chile====
{{see also|Chilean takeover of the Strait of Magellan|East Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and Strait of Magellan Dispute
|Patagonian sheep farming boom|Tierra del Fuego gold rush}}
Chile took possession of the Strait of Magellan on May 23, 1843. President [[Manuel Bulnes]] ordered this expedition after consulting the Chilean [[Libertadores|libertador]] [[Bernardo O'Higgins]], who feared an occupation by Great Britain or France. The first Chilean settlement, [[Fuerte Bulnes]], was situated in a forested zone on the north side of the strait and was later abandoned. In 1848, [[Punta Arenas]] was founded farther north, where the [[Magellanic subpolar forests|Magellanic forests]] meet the Patagonian plains. In Tierra del Fuego, across the strait from Punta Arenas, the village of [[Porvenir, Chile|Porvenir]] emerged during the [[Tierra del Fuego gold rush]] in the late 19th century. Until the opening of the [[Panama Canal]], the town was an important supply stop for mariners.<ref name="world">{{cite web |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/magellan.htm |title=Straight Of Magellan – Map & Description |publisher=worldatlas.com |access-date=October 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019104743/https://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/magellan.htm |archive-date=October 19, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> It has been claimed that Chile's annexation of the area originated from a fear of occupation by Great Britain or France.<ref name="vaycay"/><ref>{{cite journal |title=The Chilean Boundary in the Strait of Magellan |first1=Robert D. |last1=Talbott |journal=[[The Hispanic American Historical Review]] |volume=47 |number=4 |date=November 1967 |pages=519–531 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |doi=10.2307/2510673 |jstor=2510673}}</ref>

In the [[Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina|Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina]], Argentina effectively recognized Chilean [[sovereignty]] over the Strait of Magellan. Argentina had previously claimed all of the straits, or at least the eastern third of it.

In the [[Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina]] the conflicts between two countries were settled and Argentina ratified the strait as Chilean.<ref name=scielo>{{cite journal |language=es |author1=John Ranson García |title=CONDICIÓN JURÍDICA DEL ESTRECHO DE MAGALLANES |url=https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-34372011000300003#a19 |journal=Revista Chilena de Derecho |volume=38 |issue=3 |date=December 2011 |pages=457–485 |doi=10.4067/S0718-34372011000300003 |quote=Chile succeeded in making Argentina's claim to the existence of an "Argentine Strait of Magellan" disappear, which that country postulated in a small triangle to the east of the Dungeness - Espiritu Santo line, enclosing Espiritu Santo with Cape Virgins, when Argentina recognized that the eastern end of the Strait of Magellan is that straight line, but at a high price, since it generated Argentina's jurisdiction over all waters, soils and subsoils to the east of the Dungeness - Espiritu Santo line, in Atlantic waters |doi-access=free |access-date=March 11, 2020 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807130445/https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-34372011000300003#a19 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Steamship navigation====
In 1840, the [[Pacific Steam Navigation Company]] became the first to use [[steamship]]s for commercial traffic in the strait.<ref name="vaycay"/> Until the Panama Canal opened in 1914, the Strait of Magellan was the main route for steamships traveling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. It was often considered safer than the Drake Passage separating Cape Horn from [[Antarctica]], as the Drake Passage is notorious for turbulent and unpredictable weather, and is frequented by [[iceberg]]s and [[sea ice]]. Ships in the strait, protected by Tierra del Fuego to the south and the coast of continental [[South America]] to the north, crossed with relative ease, and Punta Arenas became a primary refueling port that provided coal for steamships in transit. The Strait's curving channel, with widths varying between 1.9 and 22 miles (3 to 35&nbsp;km), experiences unpredictable winds and tidal currents,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://landedtravel.com/strait-of-magellan-everything-you-need-to-know/ |title=The Strait Of Magellan: Everything You Need To Know |work=Landed Travel |date=April 18, 2019 |access-date=October 8, 2022 |archive-date=October 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008063414/https://landedtravel.com/strait-of-magellan-everything-you-need-to-know/ |url-status=live |last1=Montgomery |first1=John }}</ref> leading sailing ships to prefer the Drake Passage, where they had more room to maneuver.{{sfn|Whipple|1980|p=}}{{page missing|date=October 2024}})

=== 20th century to present ===
In 1900, [[Joshua Slocum]] was the first documented person to have [[Single-handed sailing|single-handedly sail]]ed the strait. He experienced a 40-day hiatus in the strait due to storms and adverse weather,{{efn|In [[Port Angosto]], Strait of Magellan, the ''Spray'' was re-rigged as a [[yawl]] by adding a jigger. {{harvnb|Slocum|2006|p=127}}: "I also mended the sloop's sails and rigging, and fitted a jigger, which changed the rig to a yawl [...]"}} while piloting the [[gaff-rigged]] [[sloop]] [[Skipjack (boat)|oyster boat]] ''[[Spray (sailing vessel)|Spray]]'' in the first solo global [[circumnavigation]]. He wrote about his experience in ''[[Sailing Alone Around the World]]''.{{sfn|Slocum|2006|pp=89-90}}{{sfn|Slocum|2009}}{{page missing|date=October 2024}}

In 1976, American [[open water swimmer]] [[Lynne Cox]] became the first person to swim across the strait. Almost 40 years later, on January 17, 2014, Hunter Wright became the youngest person to swim across the strait, at age 17.<ref name="vaycay" />

In June 2004, the [[USS Ronald Reagan|USS ''Ronald Reagan'']] was the first [[nuclear-powered aircraft carrier]] to navigate the strait.<ref name="vaycay" />

==Features==
[[image:Magellanglaciacion.jpg|thumb|right|Map showing the extent of the [[Patagonian Ice Sheet]] in the Strait of Magellan area during the [[Last Glacial Period]]. Selected modern settlements are shown with yellow dots.]]
[[File:Magallanes.Ost.png|thumb|East mouth of the strait, Punta Dungenes on the north and Cabo del Espíritu Santo in the south mark the strait border.]]

The strait is approximately {{cvt|570|km|nmi mi}} long and {{cvt|2|km|nmi mi}} wide at its narrowest point ([[Carlos III Island]], west of [[Cape Froward]]).<ref name="cnr">{{cite web |url=http://projects.bo.ismar.cnr.it/OCEANS/CHILE/SCPM04_REP/node10.html |title=The Straits of Magellan and Oceanographical Setting Chile |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306030249/http://projects.bo.ismar.cnr.it/OCEANS/CHILE/SCPM04_REP/node10.html |archive-date=2008-03-06}}</ref> The northwestern portion of the strait is connected with other sheltered waterways via the [[Smyth Channel]]. This area is similar to the [[Inside Passage]] of [[Alaska]]. South of Cape Froward, the principal shipping route follows the [[Magdalena Channel]]. The climate is generally foggy and cold, and the course is convoluted with several narrow passages. It is several hundred miles shorter than the [[Drake Passage]], but [[sailing ship]]s, particularly [[clipper ships]], prefer the latter. Its major port is [[Punta Arenas]], a transshipment point for Chilean [[mutton]] situated on the [[Brunswick Peninsula]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Strait-of-Magellan |title=Strait of Magellan |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |first1=Jeff |last1=Wallenfeldt |access-date=October 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711072352/https://www.britannica.com/place/Strait-of-Magellan |archive-date=July 11, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Exemplifying the difficulty of the passage, it took Magellan 38 days to complete the crossing.<ref name="vaycay">{{cite web |url=https://vacayholics.com/facts-about-strait-of-magellan |title=Little-known Facts About the Hazardous Strait of Magellan |date=January 22, 2015 |publisher=Vacayholics |access-date=October 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018170737/https://vacayholics.com/facts-about-strait-of-magellan |archive-date=October 18, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The eastern opening is a wide bay on the border of Chile and Argentina between [[Punta Dúngeness]] on the mainland and [[Cabo del Espíritu Santo]] ("Cape of the Holy Spirit") on Tierra del Fuego, the border as defined in the [[Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina]]. Immediately west are [[Primera Angostura]] and [[Segunda Angostura]], narrows formed by two [[terminal moraine]]s of different ages.<ref name="usgs">{{cite web |title=P 1386-I Chile and Argentina – Wet Andes: Past Glaciation |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/prof/p1386i/chile-arg/wet/past.html |author=USGS |access-date=2008-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511200839/http://pubs.usgs.gov/prof/p1386i/chile-arg/wet/past.html |archive-date=May 11, 2008 |url-status=live |author-link=USGS}}</ref> The Primera Angostura is the closest approach of [[Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego]] to mainland South America. Farther west lies [[Magdalena Island, Magallanes, Chile|Magdalena Island]], part of [[Los Pingüinos Natural Monument]]. The strait's southern boundary in the east follows first the shoreline of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, then the northern end of the [[Canal Whiteside]] and the shoreline of [[Dawson Island]].

The western part of the strait leads northwest from the northern end of the Magdalena Channel to the strait's Pacific entrance. This is flanked on the south by [[Capitán Aracena Island]], [[Clarence Island, Chile|Clarence Island]], [[Santa Inés Island]], [[Desolación Island]] (Cabo Pilar), and other smaller islands, and on the north by [[Brunswick Peninsula]], [[Riesco Island]], [[Muñoz Gamero Peninsula]], [[Manuel Rodriguez Island]], and other minor islands of the [[Queen Adelaide Archipelago]]. Two narrow channels connect the strait with [[Seno Otway]] and [[Seno Skyring]]. A broader channel, [[Smyth Channel]], leads north from the strait between Muñoz Gamero Peninsula and Manuel Rodriguez Island. [[Francisco Coloane Marine and Coastal Protected Area]], a sanctuary for [[humpback whale]]s, is located in this area. This part of the strait lies on the elongated [[Magallanes-Fagnano Fault]], which marks a plate boundary between the [[South American Plate]] and the [[Scotia Plate]]. This fault continues southward under [[Almirantazgo Fjord]] and then below [[Fagnano Lake]].<ref name="Lod">{{cite journal |last=Lodolo |first=Emanuele |author2=Menichetti, Marco |author3=Bartole, Roberto |author4=Ben-Avraham, Zvi |author4-link=Zvi Ben-Avraham |author5=Tassone, Alejandro |author6=Lippai, Horacio |title=Magallanes-Fagnano continental transform fault (Tierra del Fuego, southernmost South America) |journal=[[Tectonics (journal)|Tectonics]] |volume=22 |issue=6 |page=1076 |year=2003 |doi=10.1029/2003TC001500 |bibcode=2003Tecto..22.1076L |doi-access=free}}</ref> Possibly, new tourism industries could be established in the eastern part of the strait for watching [[southern right whale]]s,<ref>{{cite web |author=El Mercurio |url=http://mardechile.cl/wordpress/?p=2439 |title=Ballena franca retorna a Estrecho de Magallanes y abre nueva opción de avistamientos turísticos |publisher=[[WordPress]] |date=July 13, 2009 |language=es |access-date=December 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209000013/http://mardechile.cl/wordpress/?p=2439 |archive-date=December 9, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> as the number of observations in the area has increased in recent years.<ref>The Patagon Journal. 2009. [http://www.patagonjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=282:southern-right-whale-spotted-in-chilean-waters-&catid=89:environment&Itemid=85&lang=en Southern Right Whale Spotted in Chilean Waters] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502045256/http://www.patagonjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=282:southern-right-whale-spotted-in-chilean-waters-&catid=89:environment&Itemid=85&lang=en |date=May 2, 2015 }}. Retrieved on October 16, 2014</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=South-West Atlantic Right Whales Eubalaena Australis (Desmoulins, 1822) Distribution Nearby the Magellan Strait |first1=Jimena |last1=Belgrano |first2=Miguel |last2=Iñíguez |first3=Jorge |last3=Gibbons |first4=Cristian |last4=García |first5=Carlos |last5=Olavarría |journal=[[Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia]] |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=69–74 |doi=10.4067/S0718-686X2008000200007 |year=2008 |doi-access=free}}{{Dead link |date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In the more well-defined northeastern course of the strait, various bays stand out in its geography. Pecket Bay ({{langx|es|bahía Pecket}}) is a shallow and somewhat closed bay in the strait located near where [[Brunswick Peninsula]] is as narrowest. San Gregorio Bay ({{langx|es|bahía San Gregorio}}) is an open bay located on the north coast of the strait.<ref name=sealevel84>{{Cite journal |title=Holocene sea-level changes along the Strait of Magellan and Beagle Channel, southernmost South America |journal=[[Quaternary Research]] |last1=Porter |first1=Stephen C.|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0033589484900061 |volume=22|issue=1 |pages=59–67 |last2=Stuiver |first2=Minze |last3=Heusser |first3=Calvin J.|date=1984 |doi=10.1016/0033-5894(84)90006-1 |bibcode=1984QuRes..22...59P |s2cid=129886766 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Opposite Pecket Bay is Gente Grande Bay ({{langx|es|bahía Gente Grande}}) in Tierra del Fuego.<ref name=sealevel84/>

==Tides and weather==
On the Atlantic side, the strait is characterized by semidiurnal macrotides with mean and spring tide ranges of 7.1 and 9.0 m, respectively. On the Pacific side, tides are mixed and mainly semidiurnal, with mean and spring tide ranges of 1.1 and 1.2 m, respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://geotest.tamu.edu/userfiles/167/77.pdf |work=Continental Shelf Research |volume=8 |number=8 |pages=947–960 |year=1988 |location=Great Britain |publisher=[[Pergamon Press]] plc |title=Tidal characteristics of the Strait of Magellan |first1=Carmen |last1=Medeiros |first2=Bjorn |last2=Kjerfve |access-date=July 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104135922/http://geotest.tamu.edu/userfiles/167/77.pdf |archive-date=November 4, 2013 }}</ref> There is enormous [[tidal energy]] potential in the strait.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.mercopress.com/2009/08/17/chile-ponders-tidal-energy-potential-in-magellan-strait |first1=Antonia |last1=Wynne-Hughes |title=Chile ponders tidal energy potential in Magellan Strait — MercoPress |publisher=En.mercopress.com |date=2009-08-17 |access-date=2013-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053655/http://en.mercopress.com/2009/08/17/chile-ponders-tidal-energy-potential-in-magellan-strait |archive-date=September 21, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> The strait is prone to [[Williwaw]]s, "a sudden violent, cold, [[Katabatic wind|katabatic]] gust of wind descending from a mountainous coast of high latitudes to the sea".<ref name="weather">{{cite web |url=https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/wind/The-Williwaw.htm |title=Williwaw |publisher=Weather on line |access-date=October 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514131213/https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/wind/The-Williwaw.htm |archive-date=May 14, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|The [[Aleutian Islands]] exhibit the same phenomenon.<ref name="weather"/>}}

==Place names==
The place names of the area around the strait come from a variety of languages. Many are from Spanish and English, and several are from the [[Selkʼnam language]], adapted to Spanish phonology and spelling.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Guillermo |last1=Latorre |url=http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0071-17131998003300004&lng=en&nrm=iso |title=Sustrato y superestrato multilingües en la toponimia del extremo sur de Chile [Multilingual substratum and superstratum in the toponymy of the south of Chile] |journal=Philological Studies |number=33 |year=1998 |pages=55–67 |doi=10.4067/S0071-17131998003300004 |language=es |access-date=September 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421064657/http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0071-17131998003300004&lng=en&nrm=iso |archive-date=April 21, 2014 |url-status=live |doi-access=free}}</ref> Examples include ''[[Timaukel]]'' (a [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] on the east side of Tierra del Fuego), ''Carukinka'' (the end of the Almirantazgo Fjord), ''Anika'' (a channel located at 54° 7' S and 70° 30' W), and ''Arska'' (the north side of the Dawson Island).

Magellan named the strait ''Todos los Santos'',<ref name="Memoria">{{cite web |work=[[Memoria Chilena]] |url=http://www.memoriachilena.cl/temas/index.asp?id_ut=hernandodemagallanes%281480-1521%29yeldescubrimientodelestrecho |title=Navegantes europeos en el estrecho de Magallanes [Discovery and recognition of the territory: European navigators in the Strait of Magellan] |language=es |access-date=October 20, 2019 |archive-date=January 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121050907/http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-641.html |url-status=live }}</ref> as he began his voyage through the strait on November 1, 1520, the day of "All Saints" (''Todos los Santos'' in Spanish). Charles V renamed it ''Estrecho de Magallanes''.{{Citation needed|reason=The citation for "Todos los Santos" does not cover the strait being renamed by Charles V|date=February 2017}} Magellan named the island on the south side of the strait ''Tierra del Fuego'', which the Yaghan people called ''Onaisín'' in the [[Yaghan language]]. Magellan also gave the name ''[[Patagones]]'' to the mainland Indians, and their land was subsequently known as Patagonia.{{Citation needed|reason=The citation for "Todos los Santos" does not cover the strait being renamed by Charles V|date=February 2017}}

''Bahía Cordes'' is named for the Dutch pirate [[Baltazar de Cordes]].{{sfn|Martinic|1977}}

The [[Strait of Magellan Park]], {{cvt|52|km|mi}} south of Punta Arenas, is a {{cvt|250|ha|acre|adj=on}} protected area.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://straitofmagellanpark.cl |title=Strait of Magellan Park |access-date=October 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422094054/https://straitofmagellanpark.cl/ |archive-date=April 22, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Lighthouses in the strait==
{{main|List of lighthouses and lightvessels in Chile|List of lighthouses in Chile: NGA2328–NGA2718#Strait of Magellan (71°-68°W)}}
[[File:Vista Sur.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The ''[[County of Peebles (ship)|County of Peebles]]'' and ''Cavenga'' are used as a [[breakwater (structure)|breakwater]] for the harbour at [[Punta Arenas]].]]

The [[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]] lists 41 lighthouses in the waterway. Some of them are more than a century old, and some are declared ''Monumento Nacional'' ("national monument"). Among the most notable lighthouses are: the ''[[County of Peebles (ship)|County of Peebles]]'' hulk, the world's first four-masted, iron-hulled "full-rig ship",{{sfn|Cumming|2009}} used now as a [[Breakwater (structure)|breakwater]] for the harbour at Punta Arenas; the ''San Isidro'' lighthouse, restored in 2004 and is now a museum and lodge;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hosteriafarosanisidro.cl/ |title=Hostería Faro san Isidro |work=hosteriafarosanisidro.cl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916120632/http://www.hosteriafarosanisidro.cl/ |archive-date=2013-09-16}}</ref> and the [[Evangelistas Lighthouse]], located at the western mouth of the strait and built by [[George Slight]], who wrote on his arrival in 1934:
{{blockquote|I never imagined seeing something so wild and desolate as those emerging dark rocks in the middle of the raging waves. To see these stormy, craggy rocks was frightening. With a dim light on the horizon, we could see large waves crashing heavily in the western part of the islands: a vision that hardly anyone can imagine&nbsp;...<ref>Quoted at {{cite web |url=http://200.bellrock.org.uk/biographies.htm |title=Bell Rock Bicentennial: Biographies |publisher=200.bellrock.org.uk |date=1934-06-26 |access-date=2013-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021205534/http://200.bellrock.org.uk/biographies.htm |archive-date=October 21, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

This strait is one of the region's most popular tourist destinations. Several cruise companies ply its waters, and the lighthouses, including [[Magdalena Island, Magallanes Region|Magdalena Island Light]], are popular attractions.<ref name="vaycay"/>

==Environment==
{{see also|VLCC Metula oil spill|Los Pingüinos Natural Monument|Francisco Coloane Marine and Coastal Protected Area|Alacalufes National Reserve|Magallanes National Reserve|Magellanic subpolar forests}}
Numerous protected systems are located around the strait (S.P.: ''Sistema Protegido''; B.N.P: ''Bienes Nacionales Protegidos''):<ref>[http://www.mapas.mop.cl/mapas_ambientales.html Mapas ambientales de Ministerio de Obras Públicas] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130519071153/http://www.mapas.mop.cl/mapas_ambientales.html |date=May 19, 2013 }}, retrieved on 26 August 2013</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*B.N.P. Isla Carlos III
*B.N.P. Islote Rupert
*S.P. Cabo Espíritu Santo
*S.P. Cabo Froward
*S.P. Cabo Posesión
*S.P. Estepa Húmeda Kampenaiken Tres Chorrillos
*S.P. Isla Dawson
*S.P. Península Muñoz Gamero
*S.P. Reservas Biológicas de Río Cóndor
*S.P. San Gregorio
*S.P. San Juan
*S.P. Timaukel
{{div col end}}

Collisions with ships are a major threat to whales in the strait, and it has therefore been suggested that speed limits should be imposed in the area around [[Francisco Coloane Marine and Coastal Protected Area]].<ref name=highrate>{{Cite journal |title=High rate of ship strike to large whales off Chile: Historical data and proposed actions to reduce risk |journal=[[Marine Policy]] |year=2025| last1=Toro | first1=Frederick | last2=Buchan | first2=Susannah J. | last3=Alvarado-Rybak | first3=Mario | last4=Bedriñana-Romano | first4=Luis | last5=Garcia-Cegarra | first5=Ana M. | last6=Hucke-Gaete | first6=Rodrigo | last7=Olavarria | first7=Carlos | last8=Sepúlveda | first8=Maritza | last9=Galletti-Vernazzani | first9=Barbara | last10=Sielfeld | first10=Walter | last11=Aguayo | first11=Anelio | last12=Capella | first12=Juan | last13=Perez-Alvarez | first13=Maria José | last14=Viddi | first14=Francisco | last15=Caceres | first15=Benjamin | last16=Gibbons | first16=Jorge | last17=Acevedo | first17=Jorge | last18=Guzman |volume=174 |article-number=106577 | url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0308597X24005773 |doi=10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106577 |bibcode=2025MarPo.17406577T | url-access=subscription }}</ref> Since monitoring began in 2013, most reported ship-whale collisions in the area have involved [[humpback whale]]s.<ref name=highrate/>

==Traffic==
[[File:Punta Arenas con nieve.jpeg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|Port of [[Punta Arenas]] in winter]]

The strait provides a well-protected inland waterway sheltered from rough weather and high seas, allowing for safe navigation. Ships sail through the strait from the Pacific to the Atlantic and back, from the oceans to the [[Beagle Channel]] through the [[Magdalena Channel]], [[Cockburn Channel]], Paso Brecknock or Canal Ocasión, [[Ballenero Channel]], [[O'Brien Channel]], Paso Timbales, northwest arm of the Beagle Channel and the Beagle Channel and back, and also to cross the strait from north to south and back.{{Clarify|reason= |date=November 2019}} This is the case for all traffic between Chile and Argentina and the cities in Tierra del Fuego, [[Porvenir, Chile|Porvenir]], [[Cerro Sombrero]], [[Timaukel]], [[Ushuaia]], and [[Río Grande, Argentina|Río Grande]].

In 2008, 571 Chilean ships and 1,681 non-Chilean ships sailed through the strait.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.directemar.cl/pilotaje/PaginaB.html |title=Estrecho De Magallanes |publisher=Web.directemar.cl |access-date=2013-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002101954/http://web.directemar.cl/pilotaje/PaginaB.html |archive-date=October 2, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Maritime pilot|Piloting]] is compulsory for sailing the strait. As one authority notes, "The Pilotage Regulations of the Chilean Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service ('the Regulations") provide that pilotage through the Magellan Strait is compulsory", with limited exceptions for local traffic. Who pays the fees for the pilot is subject to interpretation, however.<ref>{{cite web |title=Web alert: Magellan Strait Pilotage - is it compulsory and who should pay the fees? |url=https://www.standard-club.com/news-and-knowledge/latest-updates/2015/02/web-alert-magellan-strait-pilotage-is-it-compulsory-or-not-and-who-pays-for-the-pilotage-fees.aspx |access-date=October 18, 2019 |date=23 February 2015 |work=The Standard Club |publisher=Charles Taylor, P.L.C. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018232054/https://www.standard-club.com/news-and-knowledge/latest-updates/2015/02/web-alert-magellan-strait-pilotage-is-it-compulsory-or-not-and-who-pays-for-the-pilotage-fees.aspx |archive-date=October 18, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |author=Chilean Navy |author-link=Chilean Navy |title=Strait of Magellan, Chilean Channels and Fiords; Regulations and information for Piloting. Routes |chapter=General piloting regulations and information |publisher=Chilean Navy |language=es |chapter-url=http://web.directemar.cl/pilotaje/pageA.html |access-date=16 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008025907/http://web.directemar.cl/pilotaje/pageA.html |archive-date=8 October 2012 |quote=Pilotage is compulsory for navigating inner waters, between Canal de Chacao and Cabo de Hornos.}}</ref>

==Navigation status==
{{see also|Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina}}
Article 35 of the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]] states that "Nothing in this Part affects:&nbsp;... the legal regime in straits in which passage is regulated in whole or in part by long-standing international conventions in force specifically relating to such straits". Article V of the Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina established a legal regime for the Strait of Magellan, and in a diplomatic letter to major shipping nations in 1873, Chile promised freedom of navigation through and neutrality within the strait.{{sfn|Morris|1989|pages=68, 104}}<ref>See also Chilean note to the {{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/Depts/los/doalos_publications/LOSBulletins/bulletinsp/bulsp35.pdf |title=UN Law of Sea, Declaración formulada al momento de la ratificación |page=9 |language=es |access-date=June 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183245/http://www.un.org/Depts/los/doalos_publications/LOSBulletins/bulletinsp/bulsp35.pdf |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" caption="Strait of Magellan">
File:BarcazaMelinka.jpg|Barcaza ''Melinka'' at Porvenir port, providing a [[ferry]] service across the strait between Punta Arenas and Porvenir
File:Strait of magellan dawn.jpg|The Strait of Magellan at dawn
File:StraitOfMagellan.jpg|A true-color [[MODIS]] satellite image of the strait
File:USSRONALDREAGANgoodshot.jpg|[[U.S. Navy]] carrier [[USS Ronald Reagan|USS ''Ronald Reagan'']] in the strait
</gallery>

==See also==
{{portal|Geography}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Agostini Fjord]]
*[[Archipelagoes of Patagonia]]
*[[Bahía Posesión]]
*[[Beaver eradication in Tierra del Fuego]]
*[[Cape Route]]
*[[Continental Divide of the Americas]]
*[[Exploration of the Pacific]]
*[[Fjords and channels of Chile]]
*[[Geography of Chile]]
*[[Islands of Chile]]
*[[List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands]]
*[[List of fjords, channels, sounds and straits of Chile]]
*[[List of islands of Chile]]
*[[List of things named after Ferdinand Magellan]]
*[[Magallanes Region]]
*[[Monte Sarmiento]]
*[[Punta Arenas]]
*[[Timeline of the Magellan–Elcano circumnavigation]]
*[[Transit passage]]
{{div col end}}

==Footnotes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|25em}}

===Works cited===
*{{cite book |last1=Aeberhard |first1=Danny |last2=Benson |first2=Andrew |last3=O'Brien |first3=Rosalba |last4=Phillips |first4=Lucy |title=The Rough Guide to Argentina |date=October 2010 |publisher=Rough Guides Limited |isbn=978-1-84836-521-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISBN9781848365216}}
*{{cite book |last=Barros Arana |first=Diego |author-link=Diego Barros Arana |title=Historia General de Chile |volume=|url=http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-7989.html |year=2000 |orig-date=1884 |edition=2 |publisher=[[Editorial Universitaria]] |location=Santiago, Chile |isbn=978-956-11-1535-4 |language=es |chapter=Capítulo VI}}
*{{cite book |first1=Laurence |last1=Bergreen |author-link1=Laurence Bergreen |title=Over the Edge of the World |publisher=[[Harper Perennial]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/overedgeofworl00berg/page/194 194] |isbn=978-0-06-621173-2 |date=October 14, 2003 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/overedgeofworl00berg/page/194}}
*{{cite book |first1=Gomes Eanes |last1=de Zurara |first2=Edgar |last2=Prestage |first3=C.R. |last3=Beazley |year=2010 |title=The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea |volume=2 |publisher=Hayklut Society; [[Cambridge University Press]] |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-1-108-01390-1}}
*{{Cite book |first=Bill |last=Cumming |year=2009 |title=Gone: A chronicle of the seafarers & fabulous clipper ships of R. & J. Craig of Glasgow: Craig's "Counties" |publisher=Brown, Son, and Ferguson |location=Glasgow |isbn=978-1-84927-013-7}}
*{{cite book |first1=Robert Oliver |last1=Cunningham |orig-date=1871 |date=26 January 2012 |title=Notes on the Natural History of the Strait of Magellan and West Coast of Patagonia Made During the Voyage of H.M.S. Nassau in the Years 1866, 67, 68, & 69 |publisher=Printed by R. Clark for Edmonson & Douglas, Hamilton, Adams & Co., MacMillan & Co., M'Glashan & Gill, James Macalhose, [[Cambridge University Press]] |location=London, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Dublin, Glasgow, Cambridge |isbn=978-1-108-04185-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQgLAQAAIAAJ}}
*{{cite book |editor-first1=Clements R. |editor-last=Markham |translator-first=Clements R. |translator-last=Markham |orig-date=1895 |year=2016 |title=Narratives of the voyages of Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa to the Straits of Magellan |publisher=[[Hakluyt Society]]}}
*{{cite book |first=Mateo |last=Martinic |year=1977 |title=Historia del Estrecho de Magallines |language=es |publisher=Andres Bello |location=Santiago |isbn=978-956-16-0402-5 |url=http://www.memoriachilena.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0054341.pdf |access-date=October 16, 2019}}
*{{cite book |first=Richard C. |last=Mayne |author-link1=Richard Mayne (explorer) |year=1871 |title=Sailing Directions for Magellan Strait, and Channels Leading to the Gulf of Peñas |publisher=Hydrographic Office, Admiralty |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U1MBAAAAYAAJ}}
*{{Cite book |title=Mitos de Chile: Enciclopedia de seres, apariciones y encantos |last=Montecino Aguirre |first=Sonia |publisher=[[Catalonia (publisher)|Catalonia]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-956-324-375-8 |chapter=Canal de Beagle |language=es}}
*{{cite book |first1=Michael |last1=Morris |date=27 July 1989 |title=The Strait of Magellan |pages=68–104 |location=Dordrecht, Boston, Norwell, MA |publisher=M. Nijhoff (sold and distributed in the U.S. and Canada by [[Kluwer Academic Publishers]]) |isbn=978-0-7923-0181-3 |series=International Straits of the World}}
* {{Cite book |title=Prehistoria de Chile |last=Mostny |first=Grete |publisher=[[Editorial Universitaria]] |year=2011 |edition=17th |location=Santiago |language=Spanish |author-link=Grete Mostny |orig-date=1981}}
*{{cite book |first1=Patrick J. |last1=Murphy |first2=Ray W. |last2=Coye |year=2013 |title=Mutiny and Its Bounty: Leadership Lessons from the Age of Discovery |location=New Haven, CT; London, UK |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-17028-3}}
*{{cite book |last1=Slocum |first1=Joshua |title=Sailing Alone Around the World |date=11 August 2006 |orig-date=1900 |publisher=Applewood Books |location=Bedford, MA |isbn=978-1-55709-917-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnJyw3g9PXUC&q=mended}}
*{{cite book |first=Joshua |last=Slocum |author-link=Joshua Slocum |editor-first=Rod |editor-last=Scher |date=March 1, 2009 |orig-date=1900 |title=The Annotated Sailing Alone Around the World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQpKaBT-4OQC|location=Dobbs Ferry, NY |publisher=Sheridan House |isbn=978-1-57409-275-2}}
*{{Cite book |title=A history of the Chilean boundaries |last=Talbott |first=Robert D. |publisher=The Iowa State University Press |year=1974 |isbn=0-8138-0305-5 |edition=A Replica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MoIaAAAAYAAJ |location= }}
*{{cite book |last=de Vea |first=Antonio |year=1886 |chapter=Expedición de Antonio de Vea |title=Anuario Hidrográfico de la Marina de Chile |location=Santiago, Chile | publisher=Imprenta Nacional |language=es |chapter-url=http://www.bibliotecanacionaldigital.gob.cl/visor/BND:74532}}
*{{cite book |last1=Whipple |first1=Addison Beecher Colvin |title=The Clipper Ships |date=1980 |publisher=Time-Life Books |isbn=978-0-8094-2679-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PvlTAAAAMAAJ}}

===General references===
*{{cite book |last1=Galvão |first1=António |title=The discoveries of the world, from their first original unto the year of Our Lord 1555 |date=1862 | location=London | publisher=Printed for the Hakluyt Society  | url=https://archive.org/details/discoveriesofwor0000galv_j7c7/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater}} {{ISBN|978-0-7661-9022-1}}.
*{{cite book |editor-last1=Markham |editor-first1=Clements R. |orig-date=1911 |date=2017 |title=Early Spanish Voyages to the Strait of Magellan |series=Hakluyt Society second series |volume=XXVII |location=London, U.K. |publisher=Routledge, Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-1-317-14670-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OAkkDwAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite book |first1=Jose Vargas |last1=Ponce |author-link1=José de Vargas Ponce |last2=de Córdoba |first2=Antonio |author-link2=Antonio Fernández de Córdoba y Cardona |first3=Dionisio |last3=Alcalá-Galiano |author-link3=Dionisio Alcalá Galiano |first4=Alejandro |last4=Belmonte |orig-date=1760–1821 |year=1820 |title=A Voyage of Discovery to the Strait of Magellan: With an account of the manners and customs of the inhabitants; and of the natural productions of Patagonia; undertaken, by order of the King of Spain |publisher=Neele & Son, Biblio Bazaar |edition=illustrated, reprint  |url=https://archive.org/details/avoyagediscover00belmgoog}} {{ISBN|978-1-371-28632-3}}.

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |isbn=978-0-8195-6409-2 |title=Voyaging: Southward from the Strait of Magellan |first1=Rockwell |last1=Kent |date=March 10, 2000 |type=Hardcover |location=Hanover, New Hampshire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IYj9-o9-DFMC |publisher=[[University Press of New England]]}}
*{{cite book |last1=Parr |first1=Charles McKew |title=So Noble a Captain: The Life and Times of Ferdinand Magellan |date=1953 |location=New York |publisher=[[Thomas Y. Crowell]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sip_AAAAMAAJ}}
*{{cite book |title=Magellan's Voyage Around the World |date=August 8, 2015 |first1=James Alexander |last1=Robertson |first2=Antonio |last2=Pigafetta |type=Hardcover |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8kljgEACAAJ |publisher=Andesite Press |isbn=978-1-298-53871-0}}

==External links==
*{{Commons-inline}}
*{{Commons-inline|Category:Lonsdale (ship, 1889)|Ship Lord Londsdale, a wreckship}}
*[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3972 The First Map of the Strait of Magellan, 1520] from 1800 {{in lang|en|la}}
*[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/52 Map of the Strait of Magellan and Part of the Land of Fire, Prepared in 1786] {{in lang|en|es}} via [[World Digital Library|World Digital Archive]]
*{{Citation |author=Ministerio de Obras Públicas de Chile |author-link=Ministry of Public Works (Chile) |year=2012 |title=Cartas camineras 2010 in 200 dpi and 70 dpi resolution available |chapter=Maps of all regions of Chile |chapter-url=http://www.mapas.mop.cl/CARTAS%20CAMINERAS.htm |type=Maps |publisher=Government of Chile |language=es |access-date=20 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904060553/http://www.mapas.mop.cl/CARTAS%20CAMINERAS.htm |archive-date=September 4, 2012 |title-link=Dots per inch |url-status=live}}
*[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Strait+of+Magellan/@-53.0825315,-76.0931187,1378051m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0xbdad5ffe81e44c75:0xa9099702e9f8ce57!8m2!3d-53.5888172!4d-70.759749 Satellite image, Strait of Magellan] via [[Google Maps]]
*[[United States Hydrographic Office]], [https://archive.org/details/southamericapil01offigoog South America Pilot] (1916)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Strait Of Magellan}}
[[Category:Strait of Magellan| ]]
[[Category:Straits of Chile|Magellan]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Magallanes Region]]