Villa Las Estrellas

The Office of the Civil Registry and Identification Service of Chile acts as official registry office with all the responsibilities inherent in this position.{{cite web |title=Villa las Estrellas - Boletín Nº 23 |url=https://www.fach.mil.cl/images/boletin/historico_abril18.pdf |website=Fuerza Aérea de Chile |publisher=Departamento Comunicacional de la Fuerza Aérea de Chile |access-date=7 August 2023 |date=April 2018}}

There is a Correos de Chile post office{{cite news |last1=Aradas |first1=Anahí |title=Antártica: ¿cómo se vive en una de las zonas más remotas del mundo? |trans-title=Antarctica: what is it like to live in one of the world's most remote areas? |url=https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias/2013/07/130423_sociedad_villa_estrellas_aa |access-date=7 August 2023 |work=BBC News Mundo |date=23 April 2013 |language=es}} staffed in the summer by a postal worker and by the command of the base in the winter. The office receives all its mail from Punta Arenas and is the mail depot and relay station for all mail addressed to any Chilean installation on Antarctica in addition to some other foreign facilities. From here it is delivered by hand, plane, or helicopter. The post office is also an attraction for tourists and philately enthusiasts that travel to the town to send postcards and letters with an Antarctic postmark.

The town is in the Piloto Pardo census district.

The people of Villa Las Estrellas live in a community that has fourteen{{cite journal |last1=Torres Bustillos |first1=Gonzalo |title=Base Antártica Chilena Glaciar Unión "Zona 79-45" |date=2022 |url=https://repositorio.uchile.cl/bitstream/handle/2250/191934/base-antartica-chilena-glaciar-union.pdf |access-date=7 August 2023 |language=es}} 90 m² (970 sq. ft.) homes. Juan Pablo Camacho, the first Chilean born in the Antarctic region, was born at Villa Las Estrellas in November 1984.

F-50 "Villa Las Estrellas" School, a 1st–8th grade primary school staffed by two teachers that are responsible for providing education for the community's children, operated for 33 years until 2018, during which it educated over 300 children.{{cite news |last1=Bartlett |first1=John |last2=Smith |first2=Sean |title=Island at the end of the world: Antarctic outpost faces uncertain times |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/05/island-at-the-end-of-the-world-antarctic-outpost-faces-uncertain-times |access-date=7 August 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=5 May 2023}}{{cite news |title=Chilenos cierran escuela en Antárctica después de 33 años |trans-title=Chileans close school in Antarctica after 33 years |url=https://es.mercopress.com/2018/11/07/chilenos-cierran-escuela-en-antarctica-despues-de-33-anos |access-date=7 August 2023 |work=MercoPress |date=7 November 2018 |language=es}} As of 2014, there were 6 students.{{cite journal |last1=Cariceo Yutronic |first1=Yanko |title=Certificación ambiental de la escuela más austral del mundo: escuela F50 Villa Las Estrellas, Antártica Chilena |trans-title=Environmental certification of the southernmost school in the world: F50 Villa Las Estrellas school, Chilean Antarctica. |date=2014 |url=http://antarticarepositorio.umag.cl/bitstream/handle/20.500.11894/933/Cariceo%20Yutronic%20Yanko_%202014.pdf |access-date=7 August 2023 |language=es}} Library No. 291 has a collection of books and magazines that are available upon request.

There is a Chilean Air Force Hospital staffed with one doctor and nurse and equipped with X-ray, laboratory, surgery, anesthesia machine, sterilizer, and pharmacy services in addition to limited emergency and surgery capabilities. Two hospital beds are available in addition to a dental clinic.{{cite web |title=Información básica para su viaje a la Antártida |url=https://www.gub.uy/ministerio-defensa-nacional/sites/ministerio-defensa-nacional/files/documentos/publicaciones/Informacion%20basica%20para%20el%20viaje%20a%20la%20Antartida_0.pdf |website=Sitio oficial de la República Oriental del Uruguay - GUB.UY |publisher=Instituto Antártico Uruguayo |access-date=7 August 2023 |page=11}} Through a partnership with the Chilean Antarctic Institute and the University of Chile, in emergencies, medical images can be outsourced to specialized health centers in South America and Europe for diagnosis.

{{As of|2018}}, all residents, including children, are required to have their appendixes removed before coming to Villa Las Estrellas as a safety precaution; this is because healthcare services are limited.{{cite web|author=Fisher, Richard|url=http://www.bbc.com/future/gallery/20180810-villas-las-estrellas-antarctica-base-residents-surgery|title=The icy village where you must remove your appendix|publisher=BBC|date=2018-08-10|access-date=2018-09-21}}

A branch of Banco de Crédito e Inversiones operates throughout the year staffed by a sole banker. Santa María Reina de la Paz (St. Mary Queen of Peace) is a Catholic chapel that attracts people from all over King George Island.

• Hostel: From 1980 to 2019, there was a small hostel named Estrella Polar{{cite book |last1=Gorostegui Obanoz |first1=José Javier |last2=Waghorn Gallegos |first2=Rodrigo |title=Chile en la Antártica: nuevos desafíos y perspectivas |date=2012 |publisher=Magíster en Política Exterior IDEA/ACADE; USACH; ADICA |location=Santiago, Chile |isbn=9568416307 |page=279 |url=https://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/9705/Chile%20en%20la%20ant%C3%A1rtica.pdf |access-date=7 August 2023}} capable of holding a maximum occupancy of 20 guests.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
• Souvenir shop: There is a small souvenir shop in town to sell to tourists and staff returning to the continent. It is run by the women of the town.
• The sports center is the main community hub, in which a lot of activity takes place. Tennis practice, babyfútbol, basketball and volleyball. There are exercise machines, ping pong tables, dressing rooms and a sauna. It is also used for cultural activities and scientific talks, and has been used as a voting center.

• Telephones: Telephones for the base and their airfield operate via satellite telephone and, for the inhabitants of the sector, there is a coin-operated pay phone and prepaid cards.
• Internet: There are computers at the school that have internet access.
• Radio: {{ill|Radio Soberanía|es}} (Sovereignty) broadcasts on the frequency of 90.5 MHz{{cite web |title=Radio History - Antarctic Radio Melts |url=http://www.radioheritage.net/story135.asp |website=Radio Heritage Foundation |access-date=7 August 2023}} during the day, providing music and information to all the bases in the area. Certain cultural and entertainment programs made by staff and their families are also disseminated.
• Television: The town has a fixed dish of 2.5 meters in diameter, which allows reception of live signals from the main television channels in the country, broadcasting from Santiago. Residents can also receive two broadcast stations. These are Televisión Nacional and Universidad Católica Television.
• Mobile phone: Since 2005, there is an antenna belonging to the Chilean company Entel PCS.{{cite news |last1=Romero |first1=Simon |title=Antarctic Life: No Dogs, Few Vegetables and ‘a Little Intense’ in the Winter |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/world/americas/chile-antarctica-villa-las-estrellas.html |access-date=7 August 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=6 January 2016}}

The nearest airport is the Teniente R. Marsh Airport, the only airport in Antarctica that has an IATA code. There is no regular scheduled public service to the airport, although Aerovías DAP has some charter flights from Punta Arenas.{{Cite web |url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=3&k=cc&case=26&code=uka&p3=0 |title=Antarctica (United Kingdom v. Chile and Argentina) |website=International Court of Justice |access-date=2010-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909211103/http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=3&code=uka&case=26&k=cc&p3=0 |archive-date=2015-09-09 |url-status=dead }}

{{wide image|Villa Las Estrellas. View to the bay.jpg|800px|align-cap=center|Villa Las Estrellas. View to the bay from the rear.}}

According to Köppen ET, Villa Las Estrellas has a marine polar climate; i.e., winter temperatures are typically milder than other, comparably well-populated, arctic or near-polar regions (especially inland areas), such as parts of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Russia and Siberia, or northern Norway, Finland, or Sweden. However, the summertime conditions of the aforementioned locales are generally known to be muggy, warm, humid and wet, with millions of biting flies and mosquitoes swarming; by comparison, during the brief summer season, conditions in Villa Las Estrellas are considerably more tolerable and forgiving. However, during summer, the area is, in effect, just barely above freezing, which causes the climate to be hostile to the human inhabitants. Sunshine levels also become extremely low, leading to potential vitamin D deficiencies or depression. The yearly mean temperature of {{convert|-2.3|C|F}} is, still, quite gentle for the Antarctic, and milder than many places with vegetation.

{{Weather box

|location = Villa Las Estrellas

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|open = yes

|Jan record high C = 13.0

|Feb record high C = 9.2

|Mar record high C = 8.3

|Apr record high C = 5.9

|May record high C = 4.6

|Jun record high C = 4.2

|Jul record high C = 5.0

|Aug record high C = 3.8

|Sep record high C = 4.4

|Oct record high C = 4.4

|Nov record high C = 6.0

|Dec record high C = 8.2

|year record high C = 13.0

|Jan high C = 2.7

|Feb high C = 2.9

|Mar high C = 2.2

|Apr high C = 0.6

|May high C = -0.8

|Jun high C = -1.5

|Jul high C = -0.9

|Aug high C = -2.2

|Sep high C = -1.3

|Oct high C = -0.8

|Nov high C = 0.0

|Dec high C = 2.1

|year high C = 0.3

|Jan mean C = 1.5

|Feb mean C = 1.6

|Mar mean C = 0.4

|Apr mean C = -1.7

|May mean C = -3.8

|Jun mean C = -5.5

|Jul mean C = -6.5

|Aug mean C = -6.5

|Sep mean C = -4.5

|Oct mean C = -2.6

|Nov mean C = -1.0

|Dec mean C = 0.6

|year mean C = -2.3

|Jan low C = 0.3

|Feb low C = 0.6

|Mar low C = -1.2

|Apr low C = -4.8

|May low C = -8.2

|Jun low C = -9.4

|Jul low C = -13.2

|Aug low C = -11.3

|Sep low C = -8.0

|Oct low C = -5.6

|Nov low C = -2.8

|Dec low C = -0.3

|year low C = -5.3

|Jan record low C = -5.1

|Feb record low C = -5.8

|Mar record low C = -9.9

|Apr record low C = -16.8

|May record low C = -23.6

|Jun record low C = -24.2

|Jul record low C = -28.5

|Aug record low C = -28.7

|Sep record low C = -23.0

|Oct record low C = -17.0

|Nov record low C = -10.7

|Dec record low C = -6.8

|year record low C = -28.7

|Jan precipitation mm = 53.8

|Feb precipitation mm = 52.3

|Mar precipitation mm = 52.5

|Apr precipitation mm = 46.6

|May precipitation mm = 31.0

|Jun precipitation mm = 29.2

|Jul precipitation mm = 32.2

|Aug precipitation mm = 34.5

|Sep precipitation mm = 42.0

|Oct precipitation mm = 47.7

|Nov precipitation mm = 41.0

|Dec precipitation mm = 30.1

|year precipitation mm = 492.9

|Jan humidity = 91

|Feb humidity = 89

|Mar humidity = 89

|Apr humidity = 89

|May humidity = 88

|Jun humidity = 90

|Jul humidity = 89

|Aug humidity = 88

|Sep humidity = 89

|Oct humidity = 90

|Nov humidity = 89

|Dec humidity = 81

|year humidity = 89

|Jan sun = 83.8

|Feb sun = 71.2

|Mar sun = 57.3

|Apr sun = 23.6

|May sun = 8.3

|Jun sun = 1.2

|Jul sun = 3.9

|Aug sun = 15.8

|Sep sun = 44.2

|Oct sun = 93.2

|Nov sun = 104.5

|Dec sun = 98.1

|year sun = 605.1

|source 1 = Dirección Meteorológica de Chile (temperature data:1970-2004, all other 1990-2000){{cite web

|last1 = Cerda

|first1 = Jorge

|last2 = Zamora

|first2 = Monica

|url = http://164.77.222.61/climatologia/publicaciones/Climatologia_Frei.pdf

|title = Climatología de la Península Antártica y de la Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva

|publisher = Dirección Meteorológica de Chile

|work = Climatologica Antartica

|language = es

|date = 2007

|access-date = May 10, 2013

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120417150031/http://164.77.222.61/climatologia/publicaciones/Climatologia_Frei.pdf

|archive-date = April 17, 2012

|url-status = dead

|df = mdy-all

}}

|date=October 2012

}}

• List of Antarctic research stations
• List of Antarctic field camps
• Puerto Toro
• Puerto Williams
• Chilean Antarctic Territory
• Antártica Chilena Province
• Antártica (Commune)

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040306054435/http://edenvalleychurch.net/antarctica.html Details of the expeditions in Antarctica]

{{Wikivoyage}}

{{Commons category|position=left|Villa Las Estrellas}}

{{Portal bar|Geography|Chile}}

{{Antarctic research stations}}

{{Antarctica}}

Category:Outposts of Antarctica

Category:Populated places established in 1984

Category:Chilean Antarctic Territory

Category:Argentine Antarctica

Category:British Antarctic Territory

Category:1984 establishments in Antarctica

Category:1984 establishments in Chile