ABSTRACT
The Magellan Strait is located near the southern tip of South America, to the north of the Beagle Channel. It lies between the South American mainland and Tierra del Fuego and, apart from its entrance, is wholly within the territory of Chile. Since 1847 Argentina has claimed historical and judicial rights to the Magellan oceanic connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The dispute with Chile was apparently settled by the Boundary Treaty of 23 July 1881, as a result of which Chile maintained control over the Magellan Strait, but the strait itself remained international for shipping. The Magellan Strait is of great importance for maritime boundaries and thereby control over resources, but it is also significant geopolitically. There is a strong Argentinian perception that Chilean ownership of territory on the Atlantic seaboard would threaten Patagonia, the southern islands of South America and Argentina's claims to Antarctica.
