Perito Moreno is a town in the northwest of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, 25 km east of

Lake Buenos Aires A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

. It should not be confused with the

Perito Moreno National Park Perito Moreno National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Perito Moreno) is a national park in Argentina. It is located in the western region of Santa Cruz Province on the border with Chile. It has an area of 126,830 hectares of mountains and valleys at ...

over 300 km south by road, or the

Perito Moreno Glacier The Perito Moreno Glacier () is a glacier located in Los Glaciares National Park in southwest Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It is one of the most important tourist attractions in the Argentine Patagonia. The ice formation, in length, is one ...

near

El Calafate El Calafate, also known as ''Calafate'', is a city in Patagonia, Argentina. It is situated on the southern border of Lake Argentino, in the southwest part of the Santa Cruz Province, about northwest of Río Gallegos. The name of the city is deri ...

. The town is the capital of the Lago Buenos Aires Department. It lies on the RN43, a paved road which links

Caleta Olivia Caleta Olivia is a city located at the northeast of the Argentine province of Santa Cruz, on the San Jorge Gulf by the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population of 70,304 in the . It is the second most important city of the province after Rio Gallego ...

on the Atlantic coast to

Los Antiguos Los Antiguos is a town in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, located on the south shore of Lago Buenos Aires. It lies 2 km from the border with Chile, and 8 km from the Chilean town of Chile Chico. It is connected to Perito Moreno and ...

and the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an frontier 60 km west, and Ruta 40, running north and south. The town is a centre of cattle ranches and smallholdings producing fruit and vegetables. Tourism is also an important industry. Perito Moreno is the closest town to

Cueva de las Manos Cueva de las Manos (Spanish for Cave of the Hands or Cave of Hands) is a cave and complex of rock art sites in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, south of the town of Perito Moreno. It is named for the hundreds of paintings of hands sten ...

, 170 km south by road, and Parque Laguna. In the 2010 census the town had a population of 4,617.

History

The town was founded in 1910, as a rest stop for travellers by the springs which give rise to the

Rio Deseado Deseado River () is a river in the Argentine province of Santa Cruz. The name Deseado comes from the English ''Desire'', the name of one of the two ships commanded by John Davis during the Thomas Cavendish expedition of 1592. The source of ...

. The place was called Pari-Aike (meaning "place of reeds") by the Tehuelche, but the town was officially called Nacimiento in 1927. The name was changed in 1944 to Lago Buenos Aires, and in 1952 to Perito Moreno, after the explorer

Francisco Moreno Francisco Pascasio Moreno (May 31, 1852 – November 22, 1919) was a prominent explorer and academic in Argentina, where he is usually referred to as ''Perito'' Moreno (''perito'' means "specialist, expert"). Perito Moreno has been credited as on ...

Climate

Perito Moreno 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), bordering on a

cold desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(

: BWk).

Buildings

The town is home to the Carlos J. Gradin Museum of Archaeology, named after

Carlos J. Gradin Carlos Joaquín Gradin (20 May 1918 – 31 March 2002), also known as Carlos Gradín, was an Argentine surveyor and archaeologist. He carried out numerous studies in the Patagonian region, and is known for his extensive studies of Cueva de las ...

. As of 2019, the building is still under construction.

Culture

Perito Moreno is widely considered the archaeological capitol of Santa Cruz, largely due to how close it is to Cueva de las Manos. Every year in February, the town celebrates a festival of Cueva de las Manos.

References

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina