Huinay facts for kids

Huinay is a special piece of land in Chile. It belongs to the San Ignacio del Huinay Foundation. This area covers about 350 square kilometers (135 square miles). It is located in the Hualaihué area of the Los Lagos Region. Huinay sits between the Comau or Leptepu fjord and the border with Argentina. Its exact location is 42°22′S 72°24′W.

Huinay also divides a large private nature area called Pumalín Park into two parts. This park was started by an American named Douglas Tompkins. He wanted to buy Huinay to connect his park. However, people living in the small village (or hamlet) of Huinay did not agree with this plan. They strongly opposed the sale.

Geography of Huinay

The Leptepu fjord is a long, narrow arm of the sea. It is part of a 68-kilometer (42-mile) crack in the Earth's surface. This crack runs from north to south. Huge sheets of ice, called glaciers, moved through this area a long time ago. This happened during the Quaternary period, which was a time of many ice ages. The glaciers deeply shaped the land.

How Glaciers Shaped the Land

The ice field moved through the fjord, trapped between tall mountains. It carved out very deep valleys. Over time, these valleys have been partly filled with sand and mud, called sediment. Even with the sediment, some parts of the fjord are still very deep. They can be up to 500 meters (1,640 feet) below the current sea level.

You can still see signs of how the land bounced back after the heavy ice melted. This is called glacio-isostatic structure. These signs have lasted through the last 15,000 years. During this time, sea levels changed as the ice melted and expanded.

Climate and Nature

Huinay has a cool and wet climate. The amount of rain changes a lot throughout the year. In the fjord area, summer usually has two or three drier months. But as you go closer to the Andes mountains, the rain increases a lot. Huinay can get almost 6,000 millimeters (236 inches) of rain each year.

The average temperature for the year is about 11.5 °C (52.7 °F). This cool temperature and the heavy rainfall help a thick, green forest grow. This forest is a mix of different trees and plants. It is called a mild jungle and grows right down to the water's edge along the fjord walls.

See also

In Spanish: Huinay para niños