Punta Arenas is the main city in the Strait of Magellan and the capital of the Región de Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena, Chile, and depending on the definition of "city," makes a claim for the world's southernmost city.
The site, which was identified in early English navigational documents, was known as "Sandy Point." The 17th century explorer John Byron is sometimes given credit for the naming. But it was not until much later than any sort of city was settled by the Chilean government (1849). The name Punta Arenas grew out of the Spanish term 'Punta Arenosa', which was a literal translation of the English name 'Sandy Point'.

The province presents attractions offered by nature itself in the Strait of Magellan, Cerro de la Cruz, the penguin colony in Seno de Otway, the Forest Reserve Ferdinand Magellan, the National Park Pali Aike, and many other sites like museums and institutes at the end of the continent.

3.090 km. south of Santiago, the capital, Punta Arenas presents a population of around 115.000 inhabitants, with a commercial, cultural and social development that covers the Magellan territory.

Among its main attractions are Museo Salesiano Mayorino Borgatello; the monument to the shepperd with his dog, his horse, and his sheep; the cementery; Instituto de la Patagonia, a regional history and resources center with the memory museum in the garden; the town theatre; square Muñoz Gamero with the sculpture in memory of the discovery of the Strait of Magellan by Ferdinand Magellan; and magnificent works conserving their traditions like the Gran Hotel Cabo de Hornos, public buildings, local companies, and the free tax area.

The climate is cold steppe, with an average year-round temperature of 6.5º C and winds of up to 150 km/h.