"The southernmost in the world" is a slogan used to attract tourists, including those bound for Antarctica, to various southern cities. Currently, three cities or towns use this slogan. Though there are several settlements further south than the three, none are considered to be large enough to be classified as a city. The three contending cities are from north to south:
- Punta Arenas (, pop:130,136), literally in Spanish: "Sandy Point", is the oldest and largest city in Southern Patagonia, at the Strait of Magellan and the capital of the Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. It is the largest of the three contenders with around 130,000 permanent residents and it is called the southernmost city by some media outlets. The basis of its claim to be the southernmost city rests on it being larger than Ushuaia, Río Grande (Argentina), and Puerto Williams, all of which are further south.
- Ushuaia (; , (, pop:71,000), the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, is more commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world due to its large population, 71,000, its infrastructure and its accepted classification as a city. Ushuaia is located in a wide bay on the southern coast of the island of Tierra del Fuego, on the northern shore of the Beagle Channel; hence, it is further north than Puerto Williams.
- Puerto Williams (, pop:2874) located on Isla Navarino, is the southernmost town in the world on the southern shore of the Beagle Channel. It is the capital of the Antártica Chilena Province, one of four provinces located in the Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. It has a population of 2,874 people. Puerto Williams is sometimes considered the southernmost city in the world by Chilean media and some large media international organisations, although it promotes with the slogan Puerto Williams, the southernmost town in the world in its tourism campaigns. It has a Naval Hospital of Puerto Williams, the Martin Gusinde Anthropological Museum, the Guardiamarina Zañartu Airport and a university campus and it is a naval base of the Chilean Navy.