Villa Las Estrellas

Villa Las Estrellas
Village
Villa Las Estrellas

Villa Las Estrellas within Antarctica (politically part of Chile)

Coordinates: 62°12′S 58°57′W / 62.200°S 58.950°W / -62.200; -58.950
Country  Chile
Region  Magallanes y Antártica Chilena
Province Antártica Chilena
Commune Antártica
Location King George Island
Government
  Type Municipality
  Magistrate Responsibility of Puerto Williams Mayor and de facto Base Commander
  Municipal Council Responsibility of Puerto Williams Council
Population
  Total
Summer
150
Winter
80
Villa Las Estrellas in 2011.
Villa Las Estrellas. Night view.
Chilean Post office in Villa Las Estrellas.

Villa Las Estrellas (English: "The Stars Town") is a Chilean town and research station in Antártica Commune, Antártica Chilena Province, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. It is located on President Eduardo Frei Montalva Base, a military base, on King George Island. It is the larger and one of only two civilian settlements on Antarctica (the other being Argentina's Esperanza Base). It has a summer population of 150 and a winter population of 80.[1]

Community

The people of Villa Las Estrellas live in a community that has fourteen 90 m² (970 sq. ft.) homes.

Education

The populace's youth study at F-50 "Villa Las Estrellas" School, a 1st–8th grade primary school staffed by two teachers that are responsible for providing education for the community's approximately 15 children. Furthermore there is a separate Kindergarten with six students and one instructor. Library No. 291 has a collection of books and magazines that are available upon request.

Health care

There is a Chilean Air Force Hospital staffed with one doctor and nurse and equipped with: X-ray, laboratory, surgery, anesthesia machine, sterilizer, and pharmacy services in addition to limited emergency and surgery capabilities. Two hospital beds are available in addition to a dental clinic. Through a partnership with the Chilean Antarctic Institute and the University of Chile, in emergencies, medical images can be outsourced to specialized health centers in South America and Europe for diagnosis.

Government

The Office of the Civil Service Registry and Identification of Chile acts as official registry office with all the responsibilities inherent in this position.

There is a Correos de Chile post office staffed in the summer by a postal worker and by the command of the base in the winter. The office receives all its mail from Punta Arenas and is the mail depot and relay station for all mail addressed to any Chilean installation on Antarctica in addition to some other foreign facilities. From here it is delivered by hand, plane, or helicopter. The post office is also an attraction for tourists and philately enthusiasts that travel to the town to send postcards and letters with an Antarctic postmark.

The town is in the Piloto Pardo census district.

Business and recreation

A branch of the Bank of Credit and Investment operates throughout the year manned by a sole banker. Santa María Reina de la Paz is a Catholic chapel that attracts people from all over King George Island.

Transportation and Communication

Villa Las Estrellas. View from high up. Along the stream on the right is Bellingshausen Station.
Villa Las Estrellas. View to the bay from the rear.

Climate

Villa Las Estrellas has a marine polar climate in which winter temperatures are much milder than in many well-populated wintry areas such as in Canada and Siberia. Summer temperatures however are extremely subdued; in effect narrowly above freezing, causing the climate to be hostile to human population. Sunshine levels are also extremely low. The yearly mean temperature of −2.3 °C (27.9 °F) is still gentle for Antarctica and milder than many places with vegetation.

Climate data for Villa Las Estrellas
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 13.0
(55.4)
9.2
(48.6)
8.3
(46.9)
5.9
(42.6)
4.6
(40.3)
4.2
(39.6)
5.0
(41)
3.8
(38.8)
4.4
(39.9)
4.4
(39.9)
6.0
(42.8)
8.2
(46.8)
13.0
(55.4)
Average high °C (°F) 2.7
(36.9)
2.9
(37.2)
2.2
(36)
0.6
(33.1)
−0.8
(30.6)
−1.5
(29.3)
−0.9
(30.4)
−2.2
(28)
−1.3
(29.7)
−0.8
(30.6)
0.0
(32)
2.1
(35.8)
0.3
(32.5)
Daily mean °C (°F) 1.5
(34.7)
1.6
(34.9)
0.4
(32.7)
−1.7
(28.9)
−3.8
(25.2)
−5.5
(22.1)
−6.5
(20.3)
−6.5
(20.3)
−4.5
(23.9)
−2.6
(27.3)
−1.0
(30.2)
0.6
(33.1)
−2.3
(27.9)
Average low °C (°F) 0.3
(32.5)
0.6
(33.1)
−1.2
(29.8)
−4.8
(23.4)
−8.2
(17.2)
−9.4
(15.1)
−13.2
(8.2)
−11.3
(11.7)
−8.0
(17.6)
−5.6
(21.9)
−2.8
(27)
−0.3
(31.5)
−5.3
(22.5)
Record low °C (°F) −5.1
(22.8)
−5.8
(21.6)
−9.9
(14.2)
−16.8
(1.8)
−23.6
(−10.5)
−24.2
(−11.6)
−28.5
(−19.3)
−28.7
(−19.7)
−23.0
(−9.4)
−17.0
(1.4)
−10.7
(12.7)
−6.8
(19.8)
−28.7
(−19.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 53.8
(2.118)
52.3
(2.059)
52.5
(2.067)
46.6
(1.835)
31.0
(1.22)
29.2
(1.15)
32.2
(1.268)
34.5
(1.358)
42.0
(1.654)
47.7
(1.878)
41.0
(1.614)
30.1
(1.185)
492.9
(19.406)
Average relative humidity (%) 91 89 89 89 88 90 89 88 89 90 89 81 89
Mean monthly sunshine hours 83.8 71.2 57.3 23.6 8.3 1.2 3.9 15.8 44.2 93.2 104.5 98.1 605.1
Source: Dirección Meteorológica de Chile (temperature data:1970-2004, all other 1990-2000) [3]

See also

References

  1. (Spanish) Villa Las Estrellas
  2. Antarctica (United Kingdom v. Chile and Argentina)
  3. Cerda, Jorge; Zamora, Monica (2007). "CLIMATOLOGÍA DE LA PENINSULA ANTARTICA Y DE LA BASE PRESIDENTE EDUARDO FREI MONTALVA" (PDF). Climatologica Antartica (in Spanish). Dirección Meteorológica de Chile. Retrieved May 10, 2013.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Villa Las Estrellas.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Villa Las Estrellas.

Coordinates: 62°12′1.5″S 58°57′55″W / 62.200417°S 58.96528°W / -62.200417; -58.96528

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.