[citation needed] European immigration followed due to a gold rush and rapid expansion of sheep farming on large ranches in the area.

When the first Europeans arrived, they encountered a population of about 10,000 indigenous people belonging to four tribes: Yámana, Alakaluf (now known by their autonym of Kawésqar), Selk'nam (Ona) and Manek'enk (Haush).

Neither was successful, however, due to the region's harsh weather and constant attacks by British pirates, who took Sarmiento de Gamboa prisoner.

[citation needed] Between the 16th and 19th centuries Spanish, Dutch, British and French explorers visited Tierra del Fuego and the nearby seas.

The southern part of the Beagle Channel was an issue of conflict between both states, which competed for control of three small islands, Picton, Lennox and Nueva.

Finally in 1977, these were awarded to Chile by decision of the mediating British Crown, revised by Pope John Paul II and ratified by treaty in 1985.

When the crews of sailing-ships told of the notoriously dangerous voyage round the tip of South America, Tierra del Fuego became a byword in Europe for an inhospitable land, where life would be impossibly harsh for settlers.

Croatian, Scottish, Basque, Italian, Galician and Chilean immigrants arrived to work on the estancias, with the hope of eventually buying their own land and stock.

The Amerindians suffered high fatalities from diseases (including measles and smallpox) and the outright warfare waged by ranchers and bounty hunters; by 1916 their population on the island had dropped to only 900.

[citation needed] With the creation of the Gobernación Marítima de Tierra del Fuego in 1943, construction of naval bases began in Ushuaia and Río Grande.

In 1990 the "National Territory of Tierra del Fuego, the Antarctic and the South Atlantic Islands" was declared a province, with its first governor appointed two years later.

[12] Per Argentine census data, the province's population has grown substantially in recent decades, with an average annual growth rate of 3.3% between 2010 and 2022.

[14] Manufacturing, despite the province's remoteness, contributes about 20% to output owing partly to generous certain tax incentives to local industry, a policy Buenos Aires has pursued to encourage immigration to less populated areas.

A number of sizable factories have opened on Tierra del Fuego Island to take advantage of the tax benefits legislated in 1972, mainly home appliance and electronics manufacturers.

As in Patagonia to the north, petroleum and natural gas extraction are important to Tierra del Fuego's economy, generating over 20% of total output.

The region offers mountains, glaciers, forests, fast rivers, waterfalls, ski centres (the most important is Cerro Castor), and the sea, all within short distances.