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Through Antarctica, Telephone and Internet
The Chilean government considers it to be in the commune of Antártica, in the province of Antártica Chilena, in the región of Magallanes and Chilean Antartica.
It is located on President Eduardo Frei Montalva Base, a research station. It is the larger one of only two civilian settlements on Antarctica (the other being Argentina's Esperanza Base). It has a summer population of 150 and a winter population of 80.
History
The town was populated on February 15, 1984, and founded on April 9, 1984. The Villa Las Estrellas F-50 Antarctic School was inaugurated the same day. Over time a civil registry, post office, bank, library, church, pier and hospital were inaugurated.
Juan Pablo Camacho, born in the town in 1984, was the first Chilean born in Antarctic territory. In a ceremony at La Moneda on November 24, he was awarded with life insurance and financial support for his studies by Augusto Pinochet.
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Government
The Office of the Civil Registry and Identification Service of Chile acts as official registry office with all the responsibilities inherent in this position.
There is a Correos de Chile post office 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.
Community
The people of Villa Las Estrellas live in a community that has fourteen 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.
Education
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. As of 2014, there were six students. Library No. 291 has a collection of books and magazines that are available upon request.
Healthcare
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. 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 due to limited access to healthcare services.
Business and recreation
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 capable of holding a maximum occupancy of 20 guests.
- 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.
Communication
- 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: Radio Soberanía (Sovereignty) broadcasts on the frequency of 90.5 MHz 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.
Transportation
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.
Climate
Villa Las Estrellas has a marine tundra climate (Köppen: ET, Trewartha: Ftko). 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 −2.3 °C (27.9 °F) is, still, quite gentle for the Antarctic, and milder than many places with vegetation.