Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego

Río Grande is with 52 681 inhabitants (2001, INDEC ) in front of Ushuaia, the largest city on the island of Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. It is the capital of the department in the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego.

The name of the town goes back to the same river, on whose banks to 1893, the first white men settled with the founding of the Salesian mission into the heart of the tribal territory of the Selk'nam. Major impetus went out for the settlement by the incipient sheep farming and gold mining by Julio Popper.

The city was officially founded in 1921 by decree and developed soon became the trading center and port for the surrounding ranches. Río Grande long remained a minor town until the 1970s, the island of Tierra del Fuego was declared a special economic zone. Subsequently, the city experienced a rapid growth: oil, electronics and media industry moved into the area.

In the 1990s, the industry of the city underwent a serious crisis, many companies were forced to close. Only after the devaluation of the Argentine peso (2002 ) managed to revive some of the farms.

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