Beagle Channel

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Beagle Channel
Partial aerial view of Beagle Channel. The Chilean Navarino Island is seen in the top-right while the Argentine part of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego is seen at the bottom-left. Beagle Channel, from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.
Beagle Channel Show map of Chile Beagle Channel Show map of Argentina Beagle Channel Show map of South America
Location	Pacific Oceans–Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates	54°52′32″S 68°8′11″W / 54.87556°S 68.13639°W / -54.87556; -68.13639
Type	Strait
Basin countries	Chile Argentina
Max. length	150 miles (240 km)
Min. width	3 miles (4.8 km)
Settlements	Ushuaia, Argentina Puerto Williams, Chile

Beagle Channel (Spanish: Canal del Beagle; Yahgan: Onašaga^[1]) is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina.^[2] The channel separates the larger main island of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego from various smaller islands including the islands of Picton, Lennox and Nueva; Navarino; Hoste; Londonderry; and Stewart. The channel's eastern area forms part of the border between Chile and Argentina and the western area is entirely within Chile.

The Beagle Channel, the Straits of Magellan to the north, and the open-ocean Drake Passage to the south are the three navigable passages around South America between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Most commercial shipping uses the open-ocean Drake Passage.

The Beagle Channel is about 240 kilometres (130 nmi; 150 mi) long and 5 kilometres (3 nmi; 3 mi) wide at its narrowest point. It extends from Nueva Island in the east to Darwin Sound and Cook Bay in the Pacific Ocean in the west. Some 50 kilometres (27 nmi; 31 mi) from its western end, it divides into two branches, north and south of Gordon Island. The southwest branch between Hoste Island and Gordon Island enters Cook Bay. The northwest branch between Gordon Island and Isla Grande enters Darwin Sound, which connects to the Pacific Ocean by the O'Brien and Ballenero channels. The biggest settlement on the channel is Ushuaia in Argentina followed by Puerto Williams in Chile. These are amongst the southernmost settlements in the world.

According to a Selk'nam myth the channel was created alongside the Strait of Magellan and Fagnano Lake in places where slingshots fell on earth during Taiyín's fight with a witch who was said to have "retained the waters and the foods".^[3]