Caleta Olivia is a city located at the northeast of the
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
Santa Cruz, on the
San Jorge Gulf
The San Jorge Gulf (Golfo San Jorge; Spanish for ''Gulf of St. George'') is a bay in southern Patagonia, Argentina. It is an ocean basin opening to the Atlantic. Its shoreline spans Chubut and Santa Cruz province. The gulf measures approximate ...
by the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. It had a population of 70,304 in the . It is the second most important city of the province after
Rio Gallegos
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
, and the most populated of the
Deseado Department
Deseado Department is a department in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It has a population of 72,953 (2001) and an area of 63,784 km². The seat of the department is in Puerto Deseado.
Municipalities
* Caleta Olivia
* Cañadón Seco
* Fitz R ...
.
The city was founded on November 20, 1901, by Navy Lieutenant Exequiel Guttero, captain of the ''Guardia Nacional'', a ship that was transporting cables, equipment, and workers for the construction of a
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
line south of
Comodoro Rivadavia
Comodoro Rivadavia () is a city in the Patagonian province of Chubut in southern Argentina, located on the San Jorge Gulf, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, at the foot of the Chenque Hill. Comodoro Rivadavia is the most important city of the San ...
. The settlement was given the name of his wife Olivia (''caleta'' means "small bay", "inlet").
The main economic activities around the city are
petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
,
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
and
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
. Its port serves both as a fishing centre, and as an export point for locally produced goods.
Among the monuments of the city, probably the most characteristic is that of ''"El Gorosito,"'' built to honour a petroleum industry worker.
Climate
The city has a cold
semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''BSk'') with warm summers and cold winters. Precipitation is sparse, averaging a year.
Despite the southern latitude, the city has moderate temperatures due to the regulation of the ocean, with beaches visited during sunny days in summer, where different water and sand sports are practiced.
See also
Water supply problems in Caleta Olivia 2014
References
External links
''Caleta Olivia, Portal a los Hielos Eternos''— Portal of the city (in Spanish)
— General and touristic overview of Caleta Olivia.
*
Port settlements in Argentina
Populated places in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina
Populated places established in 1901
Populated coastal places in Argentina
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