Neuquén Province
( Details)
( Details)
- Total - Percentage of Argentina
94,078 km ² 3.4
- Total 2001 - Density
474 155 inhabitants 5.0 inhabitants / km ²
Neuquén is a province in the west of Argentina at the northern edge of Patagonia. The capital of the province is the same Neuquén. It was only on 27 July 1955, the territory of the province was charged.
Geography
The province borders the province of Mendoza in the north, to the province of Río Negro in the southeast, Chile to the west. In addition, the province has a point of contact with the La Pampa Province in the northeast.
Population
Until the conquest by the troops of General Julio Argentino Roca during the desert campaign in the years 1877-79 was mainly Neuquén Mapuche inhabited (the name derives from the word Neuquén Nehuenken, that means something in their language, the Mapudungun as " the Snapping " and originally referred to the Río Neuquén ). Today ( 2006) exist in the province about 50 Mapuche communities together with almost 10,000 inhabitants. An estimated 40 percent of the population have indigenous roots Neuquén. In February 2006, the Constituent Assembly of the Province has the Mapuche accorded the status of indigenous people.
More than half of the population ( about 260,000 inhabitants ) lives in the department Confluencia, where the capital city of Neuquen is located. Thus, the population density is about four people per square kilometer in the province and about 36 inhabitants per square kilometer in the department Confluencia.
The population of the province increased from 243 850 (1980 ) on 550 344 inhabitants in 2010 at 5.85 inhabitants per km ². The population growth after 1980 it went back continuously ( 1980-1990 59.46 % 1990-2000 21.49 % 2000-2010 16.07% ).
Major cities
- Neuquén, capital, industrial and commercial center of the province, as agglomeration approximately 450,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area includes the city of Cipolletti in the neighboring province of Río Negro, with a.
- Zapala in the center of the province, dominated by oil production, about 40,000 inhabitants
- Cutral - Có in the west of the province, dominated by oil and Erdgasfürderung, about 35,000 inhabitants
- San Martín de los Andes in the Southwest, located on Lake LACAR, popular tourist resort with about 25,000 inhabitants
Policy
The governor of the province since December 2007, Jorge Sapag. His predecessor Jorge Sobisch came in April 2007 in the criticism than in a crackdown by the police against demonstrators, a teacher was killed, what a national scandal.
Administrative divisions
The administrative divisions of the province of Neuquén based on the provisions of the provincial constitution of 1957, which was modified in 1994 and 2006. Then it is divided into 16 departments. These are in turn divided into municipalities ( municipios ) that were divided into three categories according to their population. In addition, as a fourth category, the so-called 'Commissions de Fomento, in which the communities are summarized to 500 inhabitants.
Economy
With a per capita GNP of U.S. $ 8,200 Neuquen is one of the richest provinces of Argentina.
The production of oil and natural gas form the pillars of the economy of the province, which clenches the bulk of the extractive industry together with Argentina's Chubut. Furthermore, the production of electricity by means of three large hydroelectric power plants ( Piedra del Águila with 1.4 GW, El Chocón 1.34 GW and 1.04 GW with Alicura is a major industry. Agriculture is only regional importance, especially in the valley of the rivers Limay and Neuquén, where particular fruit is produced. Tourism focuses on the towns of San Martín de los Andes and Villa La Angostura and to the thermal baths Copahue with the connected ski area Caviahue, all three areas are located in the Andean region.