Welcome to Porvenir!
Porvenir is the capital of both the homonymous commune and the Chilean Province of Tierra del Fuego of the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region. It is one of Chile's southernmost towns and has 4,734 inhabitants, including several thousand soldiers. It is the largest settlement in the Chilean half of the island of Tierra del Fuego.
Porvenir (Spanish for "hereafter" – literally "yet to come") was founded in 1883 by immigrants from Croatia and Chiloé during a minor nineteenth-century gold rush.
The main sources of income are sheep farming and small-scale fishing (wrecks in Porvenir bay prevent larger vessels from mooring). In addition, there is a regiment of the Chilean army and a high-security prison. An abattoir operates for only short periods of the year.
Some gold deposits remain and are commercially mined. Porvenir also gives access to Cerro Sombrero, an oil town, 125 km (78 mi) north-east of Porvenir.