Place · region

Cape Horn

Also known as Cabo de Hornos

Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in Chile, rounded by Dutch navigators in 1616. The sea route around it became the main passage between the Atlantic and Pacific for sailing ships until the Panama Canal opened in 1914. Its use reduced the importance of the Panama isthmus to Spain and supported ports such as Stanley.

Cape Horn
Image: CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 state histories

Real Audiencia of PanamaFalkland Islands

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Cape Horn. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/cape-horn
MLA
“Cape Horn.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/cape-horn. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Cape Horn.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/cape-horn.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Cape Horn’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/cape-horn (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻