Patagonia
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Patagonia. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the name applied to that extreme portion of South America which is bounded E. by the Atlantic, W. by the Pacific, S. by the Strait of Magellan, and N. by the Rio Negro. Sin Since 1881 this large territory has been, by treaty, divided between Chile and the Argentine Republic, so that the portion W. of the Andes (63,000 square miles) belongs now to the former (called Magallones), and the part E. of the Andes ( 360,000) belong to the latter ( Rio Negro, Chubut, Sa Santa Cruz districts). The Straits of Magellan form a S. boundary of 360 miles, and separate the mainland from the numerous islands of Tierra del Fuego. Here the Chilean Government established the settlement of Punta Arenas, with stations along the coast. Patagonia E. of the Andes consists mainly of vast, undulating plains, frequently covered with shingle and broken up by ridges of volcanic rock. The vegetation is scanty, except adjoining the Andes, and there are shallow salt lakes and lagoons. The chief rivers are the Rio Negro, the Chupat, the Rio Desire, and the Rio Chico, which have their sources in the Andes. The Patagonians are a tall, muscular race averaging fully six feet in height, with black hair, thick lips, and skin of a dark brown color. They are a nomad race, divided into numerous tribes, whose chief occupation is in hunting and cattle breeding. The country was first discovered by Magellan in 1520.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a region at the southern extremity of South America . It is no longer a political division. It was discovered by Magellan in 1520. Darwin brought home interesting notes of the fauna and flora in 1839. It is a region of rocks and scanty vegetation. The climate is cold. The cactus is a characteristic plant of the uplands. The willow is found along the streams. Travelers have called attention to the fact that birds accustomed to nest in trees elsewhere are here compelled to nest and perch on the ground. The Patagonians, now few in number, are noted for their stature. The average height of the man is five feet, nine inches. The region has been divided between Chile and Argentina. See Penguin ; Seal ; Chile ; Argentina ; Height
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both entries treat Patagonia as an emptying waste of shingle and scanty scrub whose "tall, muscular race" of nomads was, as Aiton's put it in 1910, "now few in number". Those peoples — chiefly the Tehuelche, whose height had fed European giant-legends since Magellan — were devastated by the Argentine and Chilean campaigns of the 1870s-80s and by disease; the Tehuelche language is now effectively extinct, though descendants and Mapuche communities remain and press land claims. The 1881 treaty Collier's cites did not end the argument: the Andean line went to British arbitration in 1902, the Beagle Channel islands nearly brought Argentina and Chile to war in 1978 before Vatican mediation produced the 1984 treaty, and a stretch of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field is still undelimited. Economically the region was remade by sheep, then by oil struck at Comodoro Rivadavia in 1907, and latterly by tourism to Torres del Paine and the Perito Moreno glacier — while its badlands have become the world's richest ground for giant dinosaurs, including Argentinosaurus and Patagotitan.
Written for this edition, 2026.