Magellan Straits

The Strait of Magellan (Spanish: Estrecho de Magallanes), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is the most important natural passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

It is considered a difficult route to navigate due to the narrowness of the passage and unpredictable winds and currents. It is shorter and more sheltered than the often stormy Drake Passage. Along with the narrow and sometimes treacherous Beagle Channel, these were the only three sea routes between these two oceans until the construction of the Panama Canal.

It was reported by António Galvão in 1563 that the position of the Strait of Magellan was previously mentioned in old charts as Dragon's Tail (Draco Cola):

he [Pedro] brought a map which had all the circuit of the world described. The Strait of Magellan was called the Dragon's Tail; and there were also the Cape of Good Hope and the coast of Africa. ... Francisco de Sousa Tavares told me that in the year 1528, the Infant D. Fernando showed him a map which had been found in the Cartorio of Alcobaça, which had been made more than 120 years before, the which contained all the navigation of India with the Cape of Good Hope.

Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese: Fernão de Magalhães), a Portuguese explorer and navigator in the service of Charles I of Spain, became the first European to navigate the strait in 1520 during his global circumnavigation voyage.

On March 22, 1518, the expedition was organized in Valladolid, naming Magellan captain general of the fleet and governor of all the lands discovered, and establishing the privileges of Magellan and his business associate Rui Faleiro. The fleet would become known as the "Armada de las Molucas" or "Fleet of the Moluccas". The expeditionary fleet of five ships set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda on September 20, 1519.

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