The town was later named after John Williams Wilson, a British man who founded Fuerte Bulnes, the first settlement in the Strait of Magellan.

Chilean and Argentine media, a bilateral agreement between Chile and Argentina, and the Puerto Williams administration identify it as the southernmost city in the world.

[2][4][3] Puerto Williams is the port of entry and major hub for scientific activity linked to Antarctica and the islands south of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego.

The Yahgan people, indigenous to southern Chile, are believed to have migrated to this area more than 10,000 years ago and established their traditional hunter-gatherer culture.

[7] According to the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina, Puerto Williams is the start point for vessels of all nations in traffic between the Straits of Magellan and Argentine ports in the Beagle Channel.

Several trails for multi-day hikes and back-packing trips have been developed in the Dientes de Navarino mountains south of Puerto Williams.

The trail passes peaks known as Cerro Clem and Montes Lindenmayer, named in 2001 by the Chilean Ministry of Natural Resources for the author of the Lonely Planet guide.

Puerto Williams is home to the Martin Gusinde Anthropological Museum, which depicts the lives of both the Yahgan (or Yámana) and Selk'nam peoples, who were indigenous to Tierra del Fuego.

Access is by daily air service from Guardiamarina Zañartu Airport provided by Aerovías DAP or by the weekly vehicle ferry, Yaghan, from Punta Arenas, 350 kilometres (220 mi) to the north.

[17] There is no formal public transport service, but an expensive transfer is possible using smaller boats to Ushuaia on the main island of Tierra del Fuego, in Argentina.

The base is used as start point for patrol, reconnaissance missions, and rescues in the areas of Beagle Channel, Cape Horn, Drake Passage and the Antarctic Peninsula.

The following patrol boats and ships are stationed at Puerto Williams:[19] The bow section of the Yelcho, the tug used by Luis Pardo on 30 August 1916 to rescue Ernest Shackleton's men stranded on Elephant Island, has been installed at the front of the Naval headquarters.

The communal council has the following members: Daniel Fernando Valdebenito Contreras (PS) Ángela Barría Barrientos (RN) Juan Velásquez (PS) Carolina Guenel González (DC) Francis Delgado Ibaceta (RN) Paola Speake Ojeda (DC) Media related to Puerto Williams at Wikimedia Commons