Villa Las Estrellas

In this article, Garrison Gove will inform readers about Villa Las Estrellas, a Chilean settlement on the most inhospitable continent on Earth.

Living at the bottom of the world

By Garrison Gove

When you think of Antarctica, one word probably comes to mind: inhospitable. Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent on Earth. On average, Antarctica receives about 8 in. (200 mm) of precipitation, and holds the record for the lowest recorded temperature on Earth, -89.2 ℃ (-128.6 ℉). Antarctica’s climate is so extreme that it can only support one terrestrial life form, a flightless insect known as the Belgica Antarctica, or the Antarctic midge. This raises the following question: why would anyone want to live here?

During the summer, Antarctica has a total population of 5,000 people. This number dwindles to 1,000 during the winter. Most of them are scientists who temporarily reside in research bases. However, a geopolitical struggle between Argentina and Chile, the two countries geographically closest to Antarctica, has resulted in a civilian settlement emerging on the desolate continent.

Villa Las Estrellas (a.k.a. “The Stars Village” in English) is located on King George Island, about 120 km (75 miles) off the coast of mainland Antarctica. The settlement consists of 14 homes, which house the town’s summer population of 150 and winter population of 80. Many of the town’s residents are family members of scientists or Chilean air force members stationed at Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva, on which the town resides. The town’s 15 children attend a 1st-8th grade schoolhouse staffed by two teachers. The town also consists of a hostel capable of accommodating 20 guests, a souvenir shop run by the women of the town, a gymnasium, a bank, a library, a radio station, and a post office where letters are marked with an Antarctic postmark.

The town also contains a Chilean air force hospital, staffed by one doctor and one nurse. However, the facilities are very spartan, and serious cases require evacuation. Because there are no specialist surgeons in the town, and the nearest hospital is more than 1,600 km away, on the other side of the Southern Ocean, all of the town’s residents - including the children - are required to have their appendix removed before arriving, as stated by BBC News.

Villa Las Estrellas. Photo credit: Daniel Berehulak, New York Times

The town's children celebrating Halloween. Photo credit: Sergio Cubillos, base commander

Villa Las Estrellas is not the only civilian settlement in Antarctica. According to The Guardian, Argentina’s Esperanza Base, located on mainland Antarctica, houses 55 inhabitants, including 10 families and 2 school teachers.According to Atlas Obscura, the base also houses the southernmost scout troop in the world. The base was also the site of the only shots fired in aggression in Antarctica, when an Argentinian naval party fired a machine gun over the heads of a British landing party, who were attempting to repair their own nearby base in 1952, according to the British Antarctic Survey.

So why did civilian settlements originate in Antarctica in the first place? The answer lies in a game of geopolitical one-upmanship between Argentina and Chile that lasted for two decades. The Argentine government made the first move by flying Silvia Morella de Palma, who was seven months pregnant, to Esperanza Base in order to bolster their territorial claim. Palma would later give birth to Emilio Palma, the first human born in Antarctica. Not to be outdone, Jaun Pablo Comacho was born in Villa Las Estrellas in 1984. Nicknamed “the penguin”, the Chilean government emphasized that while Argentina could claim the first human being born in Antarctica, Comacho was the first human being born and conceived in Antarctica.

Esperanza Base: Photo credit: Rachel, Atlas Obscura

While one cannot help feeling slightly cynical knowing that both nations essentially used newborn infants as pawns in their geopolitical competition, one can also not deny that those children, and for that matter, anyone living in these two locations, have experienced nothing like anything else on Earth. Despite the isolation and harsh climate, many Chileans long for a chance to reside in Villa Las Estrellas. “This is one of the world’s last frontiers”, said Macarena Marcotti Murúa, who works at the town’s post office. “I approach this like a vacation,” said Robinson Montejo, the town’s banker. “This is the right place for a little peace and quiet.”

Villa Las Estrellas

Living at the bottom of the world

By Garrison Gove

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