Río Negro Province

Río Negro (, Black River) is a province of Argentina, located in northern Patagonia. Neighboring provinces are from the south clockwise Chubut, Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. To the east lies the Atlantic Ocean.

Its capital is Viedma near the Atlantic outlet of the province's namesake river in the eastern extreme. The largest city is Bariloche in the far west in the Andean foothills. Other important cities include General Roca and Cipolletti.

History

thumb|left|140px|[[Francisco Moreno, a prominent explorer and academic.]]

Ferdinand Magellan was the first European explorer to visit the coasts of the provinces in 1520. Italian priest Nicolás Mascardi founded the Jesuit mission Nuestra Señora de Nahuel Huapi in 1670 at the shore of the Nahuel Huapi Lake, at the feet of the Andes range.

Originally part of the Argentine territory called Patagonia (in 1878 the Gobernación de la Patagonia), in 1884 it was organised into the Territorio Nacional del Río Negro and General Lorenzo Vintter was appointed as the territory's first governor. It was only in 1957, that Río Negro acquired status of a province; its first provincial governor was Edgardo Castello of the Radical Civic Union (UCR).

Geography

thumb|left|The Somuncurá Plateau.

Río Negro is one of the five provinces that make up Argentine Patagonia (together with the most southern partido of Buenos Aires Province - Patagones Partido). It is bounded to the north by the Colorado River which separates it from La Pampa Province, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean and to the west by the Andes and the Limay River (serves as the natural border with Neuquén Province).

Climate

thumb|left|260px|Roadside scenery along the Upper Valley of the Río Negro ("Black River").

The climate of the province is temperate at low elevations, and very cold in the higher Andean peaks.

Temperature

The mean annual temperatures in the province are relatively cold for its latitude owing to the marine currents to the east and higher altitude to the west. Mean annual temperatures in the province can vary, depending on altitude and distance from the sea. The northern parts of the province are the warmest, with a mean annual temperature of more than while the coldest areas are found in the Cordillera where the mean annual temperatures are less than . At the highest peaks, the mean annual temperature is less than freezing. Summer temperatures can exceed although the mean January temperatures range from . In contrast, the Andean region has milder summers with mean January temperatures of or less, depending on the altitude. In July, mean temperatures range from on the coast in the north to around in the central plateau.

Humidity and precipitation

thumb|Snow in [[Villa Cerro Catedral.]]

thumb|[[Köppen classification map for the province of Río Negro]]

Relative humidity is lower in the central plateau where they average 50%.

|1895 |9,241

|1914 |42,242

|1947 |134,350

|1960 |193,292

|1970 |262,622

|1980 |383,354

|1991 |506,772

|2001 |552,822

|2010 |638,645

|2022 |750,768

According to the results from the , the province had a population of 638,645 with 316,774 males and 321,871 females. This represented a 15.5% increase in the population compared to which had 552,822 inhabitants. The province's population rose to 750,768 at the 2022 Census.

The province is home to four indigenous groups: The Tehuelches, the Puelches, the Pehuenches, and the Mapuches. Almost all of the indigenous population in the province are the Mapuches with the rest being small in number where their few descendants live in the neighbouring provinces. Originally agricultural people, the Mapuches became nomadic upon arrival in the province due to the utilization of horses.

The Constitution of Río Negro Province forms the formal law of the province.

In Argentina, the most important law enforcement organization is the Argentine Federal Police but the additional work is carried out by the Río Negro Provincial Police.

Political division

thumb|right|370px|Political division of the northern Patagonia; capital cities and heads of departments labeled, national roads and main rivers.

The province is divided into 13 departments (Spanish: departamentos), listed below with their areas and populations at the Censuses of 15 May 1991, 17 November 2000, 27 October 2010 and 16 May 2022:

{| class="sortable wikitable"

! Name || Capital || Area (km<sup>2</sup>) || Census 1991 || Census 2000 || Census 2010 || Census 2022

| Adolfo Alsina || Viedma ||align="right"|8,813||align="right"|44,465||align="right"|50,701||align="right"|57,678||align="right"|64,482

| Avellaneda || Choele Choel ||align="right"|20,379||align="right"|27,324||align="right"|32,308||align="right"|35,323||align="right"|41,352

| Bariloche || San Carlos de Bariloche ||align="right"|5,415||align="right"|94,640||align="right"|109,826||align="right"|133,500||align="right"|162,088

| Conesa || General Conesa ||align="right"|9,765||align="right"|6,187||align="right"|6,291||align="right"|7,069||align="right"|7,429

| El Cuy || El Cuy ||align="right"|22,475||align="right"|3,486||align="right"|4,252||align="right"|5,280||align="right"|6,960

| General Roca || General Roca ||align="right"|14,655||align="right"|264,582||align="right"|281,653||align="right"|320,921||align="right"|380,525

| Ñorquincó || Ñorquincó ||align="right"|8,413||align="right"|2,356||align="right"|2,079||align="right"|1,736||align="right"|1,452

| Nueve de Julio || Sierra Colorada ||align="right"|25,597||align="right"|3,474||align="right"|3,501||align="right"|3,475||align="right"|3,719

| Pichi Mahuida || Río Colorado ||align="right"|15,378||align="right"|13,351||align="right"|14,026||align="right"|14,017||align="right"|16,551

| Pilcaniyeu || Pilcaniyeu ||align="right"|10,545||align="right"|4,963||align="right"|6,114||align="right"|7,428||align="right"|9,373

| San Antonio || San Antonio Oeste ||align="right"|14,015||align="right"|24,216||align="right"|23,972||align="right"|29,284||align="right"|35,800

| Valcheta || Valcheta ||align="right"|20,457||align="right"|5,091||align="right"|4,946||align="right"|7,101||align="right"|4,319

| Veinticinco de Mayo || Maquinchao ||align="right"|27,106||align="right"|12,637||align="right"|13,153||align="right"|15,743||align="right"|16,718

| Río Negro Totals|| Viedma ||align="right"|203,013||align="right"|506,772||align="right"|552,822||align="right"|638,645||align="right"|750,768

Source for department names:

thumb|center|770px|View of Lake Nahuel Huapi and the city of [[Bariloche.]]

Economy

thumb|[[Llao Llao Hotel, on Lake Nahuel Huapi. Tourism adds at least 10% to Rio Negro's economy.]]

Argentina's ninth-largest, Rio Negro's economy is a diversified service-based one with vigorous agricultural and light manufacturing sectors. Its 2006 output was an estimated US$5.420 billion, or a per capita income of US$9,805. In 2013, its output increased to $43.349 billion Pesos (about US$7.939 billion) at current market prices.

There is a gold mine located at Calcatreu, near Ingeniero Jacobacci, owned by Pan American Silver. in December 2011 the provincial government repealed a law banning the use of cyanide in mineral processing, and the mine's owners regarded this as a positive development which is likely to bring increased investment.

Tourism

thumb|[[Lake Nahuel Huapi, the most famous among the Andes range's many lakes.]]

There are two main areas of tourism in the province; the Andes and the Atlantic coast.

:The Andean Area

The most visited area is that of the lake district near San Carlos de Bariloche

inside the Nahuel Huapi National Park, and neighbouring Neuquén Province. This includes the Isla Victoria, Camino de los Siete Lagos, Los Arrayanes National Park, and many trekking paths among lakes.

:The Atlantic Coast

thumb|[[Las Grutas beach]]

Returns of southern right whales are possibly the biggest of tourism attractions. They swim and rest very close to shore, and the San Matías Gulf is the only place in the world where swimming with this kind is commercially permitted.

Villages