Located on the Island of Tierra del Fuego, Porvenir is part of the XII Region of Magellan and Antarctica and it lies right opposite Punta Arenas, across the Strait of Magellan at the southern end of Chile.
Porvenir emerged as a police station in 1883, though it was officially founded in 1894 during the administration of Jorge Montt Álvarez, along with the Districts of Primavera, Bahía Inútil and Navarino.
Those were the days of the “gold rush” due to the discovery of several gold deposits in the area. No wonder, then that the site should attract European immigrants (especially Croatian and Yugoslavian) who began to settle down in the area.
The inhabitants of Porvenir started to raise cattle. Wool production and –after the arrival of the slaughter houses- frozen meat enabled the local cattle raisers to make very important business transactions.
Just like what happened in other southern cities in Chile, oil activities began in Porvenir in 1945. This ensured a new social and economic boom.
At present, Porvenir is the capital of the Chilean Province of Tierra del Fuego and according to the census carried out in 2002, it has over five thousand inhabitants.
