One territory, two countries
Argentine Patagonia covers about 880,000 km² and is divided into three parts: the Andean Patagonia, the Pampas and the Atlantic coast. Chilean Patagonia covers about 256,093 km² and runs from Puerto Montt to Cape Horn. Wedged between the Andean mountains and the Pacific Ocean, Chilean Patagonia is concentrated in a narrow strip of green land to the north, and is characterized by a series of islands, archipelagos and fjords to the south. Although it has no official boundaries, it is estimated that it covers all the territory between 42° south parallel and Cape Horn, located at 56° parallel. 5,000 kilometers of borders separate Argentina from Chile: this backbone, characterized by the Andes Cordillera, reaches up to 4,058 m in altitude and has the largest continental glaciers. In Chile, Patagonia begins for the majority at the level of the island of Chiloé and Puerto Montt, where nature becomes wilder and the islands are covered with dense forests, where the jagged lands merge with the fjords and virgin forests. For others, Chilean Patagonia is limited to the Magallanes region, which includes part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. But the Bío Bío and Araucania regions have also recently claimed the designation of Patagonia, mainly for reasons related to tourism. For its part, Argentine Patagonia includes the continental provinces south of the Colorado River and its part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. But according to geographer Carlos Reboratti of the University of Buenos Aires, Patagonia would even include the province of La Pampa and a sector of the southern province of Buenos Aires (because of their similarities with the Argentine coastal steppe)
Still vague, the borders of the Deep South are limited only by the horizon and the immensity of the sky: opinions differ and the limits of Patagonia have never been formalized. Historically and politically, Patagonia does not have the same definition for all and the configuration of the territory changes according to the points of view. Its division, a source of geopolitical ambitions, has generated many conflicts: the period marking the independence of the two countries, at the beginning of the 19th century, did not solve the problem, quite the contrary. Argentine Patagonia was not integrated into the state territories until after the "Conquest of the Desert" (1869-1888). At the end of this campaign, which was devastating for the indigenous peoples, the Conquistadors shared these wild lands without, however, reaching a clear and definitive agreement. First settled in 1881, the border issue has continued to plague relations between the two countries ever since. Despite the intervention of the British crown in 1902, the twentieth century has been dotted with tensions between the two countries. The most recent conflict refers to the sovereignty over the Lennox, Picton and Nueva islets located at the Atlantic outlet of the Beagle Channel, awarded to Chile in May 1977 after the decision of a tribunal made up of members of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. But it took the mediation of the Holy See to avoid an armed conflict and to make Argentina accept this decision.
Andean Cordillera: Queen Patagonia
White queen resting on the blue of the sky, the Andes Cordillera deserves all the attention. Rising from a meeting between the Pacific and South American tectonic plates, the Andes Cordillera is a land still in formation, alive and ready to roar at any moment. Its craters, thermal springs and earthquakes are testimony to the unparalleled dynamism of the region's seismic and volcanic activity. Its varied 7,100 km-long relief originates in the north of Venezuela and plunges into the icy waters of the ocean in the far south of America. In Patagonia, it proves to be sumptuous and confusing, so much so that it blends perfectly with the wilderness of the south. The Andes mountain range does not form an unbroken chain: isolated mountain ranges are connected by vast, deep valleys and are bathed by lakes and rivers. But how is it that water can be found in this windswept desert? The Ice Ages drew a strange geography, crazy and tortured, and as the Pacific winds bump against the Cordillera, rainfall is abundant on the western slope, as well as on the summits; thus, a great number of lakes and lagoons have formed, giving rise to the important Patagonian rivers, such as the Negro, the Chubut or the Santa Cruz. During the Ice Age, the beds were enlarged, giving rise to the lakes that can be seen today. The importance of the glaciation is certain in this region: the Andean summits are covered with glaciers, and the massifs present very steep peaks (these rocks, embedded in the sediments, have resisted glacial erosion due to their hardness, appearing in the open air in fanciful silhouettes). The Pacific winds carrying their rain stream crash into the Cordillera. In Tierra del Fuego, the backbone changes direction and plunges into the sea: however, the Andes Cordillera does not disappear and continues its course, under water, as far as Antarctica. The Andes are not so high in Patagonie ; the further south you go, generally speaking, the lower the peaks are. Three large ice fields follow one another along the Andes. The Hielo Patagonico Norte, which covers 4,400 square kilometres. The Hielo Patagonico Sur, which covers 13,000 square kilometres and has some glaciers calving in the Pacific fjords and others in the Argentinian lakes Viedma and Argentino. Finally, on the southern edge of Tierra del Fuego, the ice fields of the Darwin Cordillera, 3,000 square kilometres descend to the shore of the Beagle Channel. The Hielo Patagónico is an immense mass of ice, a legacy of the ice ages: it is larger than the city of Buenos Aires!
The contrasting splendors of a living nature
"There is only Patagonia that suits my immense sadness", wrote Blaise Cendrars. There are few places on Earth where one feels alone in the world among the grandeur and diversity of landscapes. Between the arid steppes of Argentina, swept by the winds, and the green Chilean hills, pierced by volcanoes, the contrast can be striking as the Patagonian scenery displays colors and reliefs as unusual as surprising. Its crystalline lakes with multiple shades of blue, its thousand-year-old forests of coigue, beech and larch compete in beauty with the splendor of the glaciers, remnants of the ice cap that covered Patagonia in the Pleistocene. The Chilean side presents an exuberant vegetation and an impenetrable forest in many places favored by very abundant rainfall (up to 4,000 mm/year). The Pacific coast is a vast network of fjords and canals, a jagged and shocking landscape, an image of the end of the world accentuated by a terrifying climate most of the time. The Route Austral slips painfully through the thin piece of land that belongs to Chile, but ends at Villa O'Higgins, without being able to reach the city of Puerto Natales, far to the south. Volcanoes and lakes cover the Chilean lands from north to south and give the landscape a mystical and dizzying splendor. With its 2,000 volcanoes, it is the second country, after Indonesia, to have the largest chain of volcanoes in the world. Fortunately, the vast majority of them are extinct or dormant, but today 500 volcanoes are considered active (a volcano is considered active if it has had an eruption in the last 10,000 years). Some are more closely monitored than others. Among them: Lanín (3 740 meters), Tronador (3 460 meters), Hudson (2 600 meters), Villarrica (2 840 meters). The latter erupted in March 2015 causing the evacuation of several thousand people. From the top of its 2,847 meters, it is often considered the most dangerous volcano in the country. However, it would seem that Chileans are used to the jolts of these giants of fire: they admire them as much as they fear them! Argentine Patagonia, on the other hand, is characterized more by a large beige and brown steppe. Aeric (without any watercourse) or endoreic (the watercourse does not reach the sea), the Argentine Patagonia counts nevertheless some rivers: Colorado, Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Gallegos, sufficiently supplied with water by the Andes Mountain Range. Some of these rivers flow into the Atlantic Ocean, defined by imposing cliffs, occasionally interspersed with beaches, gulfs, roadsteads and estuaries. Further north, on the Andes side, Bariloche and the Lakes region represent for many the gateway to Patagonia for the simple reason that in the collective imagination, the region corresponds well to the films that tourists make in their heads: majestic landscapes, lakes, mountains or forests. However, as you will have understood, Patagonia cannot be defined only by its environmental aspect and other political and geographical factors must also be taken into account.
National parks at the end of the world
Hiking enthusiasts, lovers of the great outdoors, budding biologists or photographic hunters of the Patagonian fauna, all pretexts are good for surveying the infinite solitude of the southern routes. National reserves, natural monuments, national parks... nature is queen among the fifty or so protected areas that Patagonia has. Of ecological, biological and tourist interest, they enjoy exceptional panoramas that can be enjoyed at will. Wearing crampons, sitting in a kayak, driving a car on the mountain laces or boarding a cruise ship, the options for discovery are numerous: canyoning, andism, kayaking, climbing, via ferrata, skiing, rock climbing, horseback riding, mountain biking, diving... Everything is experienced more strongly, as close to the elements as possible! From a few hours to several days, the discovery trails will satisfy contemplative minds as well as great sportsmen and women. With its 37 protected areas, Chile offers unexpected destinations between seas of ice and volcanic ascents. In May 2019, the country inaugurated its two new national parks Pumalin and Patagonia. This initiative, undertaken by the Tompkins Foundation, was financed by the couple of the same name. Douglas Tompkins has dedicated his wealth and his life to the preservation of the country's nature reserves. Upon his death in 2017, he donated 407,625 hectares to Chile: the largest donation of private land in history to date. Argentina's first national park was created in 1934, the Nahuel Huapí National Park, the same place where Francisco Moreno (1852-1919) had generously donated land to the government of the Republic in 1903. Only two other countries had already established national parks on the continent américain : the United States (Yellowstone in 1872) and Canada (Banff in 1885).
