Santa Cruz Province, Argentina

( Details)

( Details)

- Total - Percentage of Argentina

243,943 km ² 8.81

- Total 2001 - Density

196 958 inhabitants 0.8 inhabitants / km ²

Santa Cruz (Spanish for " Holy Cross " ) is one of the four provinces in the Argentine Patagonia. It has its name from the river Santa Cruz, which forms the outflow of Lake Argentino and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. In the north, the straight border of the province of Chubut runs, in the east bordering Santa Cruz to the Atlantic Ocean. The boundary to the west and south is the one with Chile. It is the second largest province in the country to Buenos Aires.

Geography and climate

The landscape is typical of Patagonia. The Andean limit the Province towards the west. It follows to the east a chain of glacier fields and lakes in the immediate Vorandenregion, the largest of the Lago Argentino is. However, the best part is occupied by the dry escarpment country of the Patagonian Mesetas, which extends up to the Atlantic Ocean.

The climate is kühlgemäßigt, with moderately warm summers ( 11 ° C in the south to 18 ° C in the north- east) and cold winters with little snowfall (0 ° C in the south-west, 6 ° C in the north- east). The rainfall is between 150 mm and 450 mm in the east to the west, where the winter in the Andean region is particularly more humid than the summer.

Population

Santa Cruz is the most sparsely populated province of Argentina. The population is concentrated in a few urban settlements, large parts are almost uninhabited. In the West, there are isolated reserves, which are inhabited by natives of the Tehuelche ethnic group. However, their number is now low.

Major cities

There are few significant cities or places in Santa Cruz:

  • Río Gallegos ( 85,000 pop. ), The provincial capital, Airport ( IATA code RGL )
  • Caleta Olivia ( 45,000 pop. ), The center of the petroleum Promotion
  • Pico Truncado (20,000 inhabitants)., Center of natural gas production
  • El Calafate ( 18,000 pop. ), Airport ( IATA code FTE), especially tourism, starting point for trips to the Los Glaciares National Park
  • Río Turbio (10,000 inhabitants)., Center of coal mining in the southern Andes, with winter sports center
  • Perito Moreno ( 4,000 inhabitants ), a local center of animal husbandry
  • Comandante Luis Piedra Buena ( 5000 Ew. )
  • Puerto San Julián ( 5000 Ew. )

Administrative divisions

The Santa Cruz Province is divided into seven departments:

Economy and infrastructure

The province lives mainly from agriculture ( esp. cattle ) and of the oil and natural gas production in the north of the province, but in addition, fisheries, mining and tourism. In the southwest, near the town of Río Turbio, are the most important coal deposits in Argentina. The reduction, however, has declined in recent decades due to lack of investments by the operator in importance.

A road connection (via ferry) from the province of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, the southernmost Tierra del Fuego is only about Punta Delgada in Chile.

Provinces of Argentina Argentino Lake IATA-Code Perito Moreno, Santa Cruz Departamento Corpen Aike Department Puerto Santa Cruz Deseado Department Lago Argentino Department Lago Buenos Aires Department Magallanes Department Gobernador Gregores Salta Province Santa Fe Province Santiago del Estero Province Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina
73591
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