# Tierra del Fuego **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 2000, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tierra-del-fuego/36718 "2000-10-12T20:18:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mongrel\_8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@mongrel\_8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mongrel_8)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2000, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tierra-del-fuego/36718/1 "2000-10-12T20:18:32Z")
Why is Tierra del Fuego called named that? In Spanish it is “land of fire” but the aera brings the cold to my mind. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2000, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tierra-del-fuego/36718/2 "2000-10-12T20:21:10Z")
It gots its name IIRC because when Magellan sailed past it, he saw several fires lit alongside the shores of the region. Presumably, the people living there were cold. ---
**Author:** ![labradorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@labradorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labradorian)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tierra-del-fuego/36718/3 "2000-10-12T20:42:59Z")
Magellan called it the “Land of Smoke”. It was changed to “Land of Fire” to be more poetic. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tierra-del-fuego/36718/4 "2000-10-13T02:18:28Z")
I remember a Wall Street Journal article from about 10 years ago. IIRC, it said that the natives there never took to wearing clothes. Instead they built big fires to keep warm. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tierra-del-fuego/36718/5 "2000-10-13T02:25:18Z")
From the _Encyclopedia Americana_ > [@](#): > > Ferdinand Magellan discovered the strait that bears his name in 1520, during his momentous circumnavigation of the earth. He named the region Tierra del Fuego (“Land of Fire”) because local people were observed carrying fire from place to place, presumably for fear of having their hearth fires go out in such a chilly and sodden land. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tierra-del-fuego/36718/6 "2000-10-13T02:58:12Z")
This is really an MPSIMS post in a GQ thread, but the Magellan story is what inspired me to write [a screenplay called _Tierra del Fuego_](http://falstaff.net/scripts/tierra_del_fuego/index.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![TheThill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheThill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheThill)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tierra-del-fuego/36718/7 "2000-10-13T14:55:23Z")
Another question: Why do we say “Tierra del Fuego” in English? In German, for instance, it’s translated to be called “Feuerland”. Not that I expect an answer to it. Maybe I’m just musing again… ---
**Author:** ![labradorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@labradorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labradorian)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tierra-del-fuego/36718/8 "2000-10-13T15:09:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheThill \* > \*\*Another question: > Why do we say “Tierra del Fuego” in English? In German, for instance, it’s translated to be called “Feuerland”. > > Not that I expect an answer to it. Maybe I’m just musing again… \*\* You are just musing. English speakers say Ecuador, El Salvador, Venezuela. But at the same time, we say Finland instead of Suomi, Germany instead of Deutschland, Sweden instead of Sverige, India instead of Bharat. We translate some names or use ones with completely different etymologies than those used by people in the place being referred to. Or sometimes we use the local name of a place, untranslated. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![TheThill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheThill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheThill)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tierra-del-fuego/36718/9 "2000-10-13T15:24:56Z")
Yes, sorry about the musing. I was just thinking about the interesting German usuage. Even though they too say El Salvador, etc. One of my more pointless posts, I’m afraid… ---
**Author:** ![TheThill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheThill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheThill)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tierra-del-fuego/36718/10 "2000-10-13T15:28:11Z")
And off topic: That is in fact one phenomenon that has always interested me. The best case in point, in fact, are the many different names of Germany in different languages (Allemagne, Tyskland, Saksia, Germania, Vokiatija…) It would seem that each linguistic group named the Germans after the Germanic tribe closest to them, or the first one they came in contact with. Sorry about the hijack, I’m just in a scattered mood again… ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tierra-del-fuego/36718/11 "2000-10-13T16:58:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheThill \* > \*\*And off topic: > > […] > > Sorry about the hijack, I’m just in a scattered mood again… \*\* Off topic, and [answered by Cecil](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_162.html).