Patagonia, the most southern region of the South American continent, extending from S. lat. 39° southwards to the Strait of Magellan, which, for a distance of 375 miles, separates it from the desolate archipelago of Tierra del Fuego. Length, upwards of 1000 miles; greatest breadth, about 480 miles; area, about 322,550 sq. m.; population, doubtfully estimated at about 20,000. Like the rest of the continent, Patagonia is divided by the Andes into two very unequal and dissimilar territories. Since 1881 nearly the whole country east of the watershed has been formally recognised as part of the Argentine Republic; while Chili, which previously claimed a considerable share of that area, has contented herself with the country to the west and a strip along the southern coast. Thus the political in the main agrees with the physical partition.
Western or Chilian Patagonia (63,000 sq. m.), comprising the territory of Magellan, is rugged and mountainous. Along the coast, and stretch- ing from 42° S. to the Strait of Magellan, are numerous islands, with precipitous shores, belonging apparently to the system of the Cordilleras; the principal being the Chonos Archipelago (q.v.), Wellington Island, the Archipelago of Madre de Dios, Queen Adelaide's Archipelago, and Desolation Island. These islands, together with several peninsulas, notably Taytao, form a coast almost as rugged as that of Norway; but in none of them do the mountains rise to the snow-line. Even in the Cordilleras proper the summits are less lofty towards the south; but the following are worthy of note—the volcanoes of Minchinnavida and Corcovado (respectively 8000 and 7510 feet high), Monte San Valentin (12,697), Chalten or Fitzroy volcano (7120), and Mount Stokes. From the Andes to the Pacific the strip of shore is so narrow that the longest river of this district has its origin only about 13 miles from the coast. In the Island of Chiloé (q.v.), to the north of Western Patagonia, the mean temperature of winter is about 40°, that of summer rather above 50°; while at Port Famine, 800 miles nearer antarctic latitudes, the mean temperature is in winter about 33°, and in summer about 50°. This unusually small difference in the mean temperature of the extremes of Western Patagonia is due to the great dampness of the atmosphere all along the coast. The prevailing winds blow from the west; heavily charged with moisture from the Pacific Ocean, they strike against the Andes, and cause almost perpetual precipitation from Chiloé to the Strait of Magellan. South of 47° S. lat. hardly a day passes without rain, snow, or sleet. This continual dampness has produced forests of almost tropical luxuriance, which yield valuable timber. Coal is mined in the neighbourhood of Punta Arenas (Sandy Point); and here the Chilian government has, since 1851, a colony and penal settlement (pop. in 1882, 1291).
Eastern or Argentine Patagonia consists mainly of high undulating plains or plateaus rising in successive terraces, and frequently intersected by valleys and ravines. These plateaus are occasionally covered with coarse grass, but more frequently with a sparse vegetation of stunted bushes and herbs; elsewhere the surface is strewn with huge boulders, and again rugged with heaps or ridges of bare, sharp-edged rocks. Keen and often piercing blasts sweep chiefly from the west; and as this wind has already parted with its moisture on the other side of the mountains, hardly any rain falls in Argentine Patagonia during seven or eight months of the year. The soil in many places is strongly impregnated with saltpetre, and salt-lakes and lagoons are numerous. North of the Rio Chico, and towards the seacoast, there is a wild, weird, desolate region called by the Indians 'The Devil's Country.' Several wastes of this kind fringe the Atlantic, and formerly induced the belief that Patagonia was a barren and waterless desert; but the interior, though not fertile, really abounds in lagoons, springs, and streams, and the banks of the rivers are capable of cultivation. Along the eastern base of the Andes, also, there is a great tract of territory which is astonishingly picturesque and fertile, with great forests to which the Indians retire for shelter from the freezing winds of winter. The principal rivers of Argentine Patagonia are the Rio Negro (q.v.), which forms its northern boundary, the Chubut (q.v.), Desado, Chico, Santa Cruz, and Gallegos. All these rivers rise in the Andes. To the west of San Martin and Moreno appears the smoking summit of Chalten; and the whole scenery of the district, with rugged mountains rising sheer from the water, with glaciers, snows, and floating icebergs, is unspeakably grand and terrible. The whole of Eastern Patagonia has probably been raised above the sea-level in the Tertiary period, and its most characteristic geological feature is its boundless expanses of shingle. The flora is in consequence exceptionally poor, and appears to be mainly derived from the lower slopes of the Andes. Herds of horses and, in the more favoured regions, cattle are bred; pumas and foxes, armadillos, skunks, and tucutucos (a peculiar rodent) are met with; and among the birds are condors, hawks, partridges, and flamingoes, ducks, and other water-fowl. But by far the most important animals are the guanaco or Huanaca (q.v.), sometimes in herds of two hundred or more, and two species of Rhea (q.v.).
Inhabitants.—The population of Western Patagonia, estimated at 3200 (or, including Ticira del Fuego, 4000), consists of a number of small indigenous nomadic tribes of Araucanian stock who live by fishing and hunting, and the settlers at Punta Arenas or Magellan's colony, mainly immigrants from Chile and other parts of Chili. In Eastern Patagonia the Argentine herdsmen are beginning to pasture their cattle in the northern valleys, and Chilian immigrants are moving eastwards. The Patagonians proper or Tehuelche Indians, who are confined to Eastern Patagonia, are perhaps about 7000 strong. They are generally divided into two great tribes, the northern and the southern, which speak the same language, but are distinguishable by difference of accent. The northern range chiefly over the district between the Cordilleras and the Atlantic, from the Rio Negro to the Clubut, and even the Santa Cruz River. The southern, who appear to be on an average taller and finer, and are more expert hunters, occupy the rest of Patagonia as far south as the Strait of Magellan. The two divisions are much intermixed. Magellan described the Patagonians as 'so tall that the tallest of us came up only to their waists;' and, though such extravagant statements have led others to deny the claim of the Patagonians to be considered exceptional, there is no doubt that they are one of the tallest races on the globe. The average height of the male members of Musters' party was rather over 5 feet 10 inches; two others, measured at Santa Cruz, stood 6 feet 4 inches each; Pikchoche, who was in Berlin in 1879, was 5 feet 9 inches high, and stretched 5 feet 11 inches with his arms. The muscular development of the arms and chest is extraordinary, and in general the body is well proportioned. The Patagonians are splendid swimmers, can walk great distances and for two and even three days on end without being tired. Their cranial characteristics are somewhat disguised by the fact that the hinder part of the skull is artificially flattened, the custom being to strap the child's head back to a board to prevent it 'wagging' when carried about the country on horseback. This process, however, appears only to exaggerate a natural tendency; and it is asserted by the most scientific investigators that the Patagonian skull is, next to that of the Lapps, the shortest in the world. The jaws are powerful, though with no trace of prognathism. The expression of their face is ordinarily good-humoured though serious; their eyes are dark brown, bright and intelligent, their noses aquiline and well-formed, their foreheads open and prominent. The complexion of the men, when cleansed from paint, is a reddish or rather yellowish brown. Thick flowing masses of long coarse, black, glossy hair cover their heads. The scanty natural growth of beard, moustaches, and even eyebrows, is carefully eradicated. The young women are frequently good-looking, displaying healthy, ruddy cheeks when not disguised with paint. The dress of the men consists of an under-garment round the loins, a long mantle of hide with the fur inside, and boots or buskins of skin. The dress of the women is very similar. Both sexes are fond of ornaments. Besides mantles of guanaco hide, their only manufactures are saddles, bridles, stirrups, and lassos, which often evince wonderful ingenuity and nicety of execution.
The Patagonians believe in a great and good spirit who created the Indians and animals. Idols are unknown, and whatever religious acts the natives perform are prompted by dread of demons. Kindly, good-tempered, impulsive children of nature, the Tehuelche take great likes or dislikes, becoming firm friends or equally confirmed enemies. Protestant missions have been established amongst them. They are steadily decreasing through disease and bad liquor supplied by traders, and before long will be extinct. The language is quite different from either Pampa or Araucanian. Of European settlements there are few in Argentine Patagonia. The oldest, Patagones (formerly El Carmen), on the Rio Negro, about 18 miles from its mouth, has a population of about 2000, composed of Spanish and other settlers (negroes), and convicts from Buenos Ayres. There are also the Welsh colony on the Clubut (q.v.), and a petty station at the mouth of the Santa Cruz.
History.—Magellan, before passing through the strait, had in 1520 sailed along the whole of the Patagonian coast; and it is commonly believed that it was from the large footsteps (patagones) observed near his winter-quarters at S. Julian that the country derived its name. Another suggested etymology is the Quichua word patacuna, 'terraces,' the rule of the Incas having extended hither. The great plain was traversed by Rodrigo de Isla in 1535. Sarmiento de Gambo (commemorated by the mountain in Ticira del Fuego) added greatly to the knowledge of the west and south (1579-80), and founded Spanish settlements, doomed to early extinction, at Nombre de Dios and San Felipe (Port Famine). English interest in the country, aroused by Drake's voyage in 1577, was kept up by Davis, Narborough, Byron, Wallis, and the Jesuit Falkner, and at last the beginning of a real scientific acquaintance with the interior was made by King, Fitzroy, Darwin, and Musters. Since 1870 careful explorations have been carried out by Argentine travellers.
English works on Patagonia are Falkner's (1774), Snow's (1857), Musters' (1871), Beerbohm's (1878), Lady Florence Dixie's (1880), Coan's (1880); and see Fossarieu (French, 1884), Burmeister (Spanish, 1891), and Fouck (Spanish, 1896).