Río Negro (; ''Black River'') is the main river of

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

in terms of the size of its drainage basin, its associated

agricultural produce Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

and population living at its shores. In eastern Patagonia it is also the largest by flow rate. The river flows through the Argentine

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 Río Negro which is named after it. Its name comes from the literal translation of the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

term ''Curu Leuvu'', although the water is more green than black. Formerly, it was also known as "river of the willows" because of the big number of weeping willows that grow along the bank. It is 635 km in length. It originates from the junction of the

Limay River The Limay River is an important river in the northwestern Argentine Patagonia (the region of Comahue). It originates at the eastern end of the Nahuel Huapi Lake and flows in a meandering path for about , collecting the waters of several tributari ...

and

Neuquén River The Neuquén River () is the second most important river of the province of Neuquén in the Argentine Patagonia, after the Limay River. Rocks of the Neuquén Basin are fossiliferous, and the basin hosts what may become important fields of ti ...

at the border with the Neuquén Province, and flows southeast

incised Incision may refer to: * Cutting, the separation of an object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force * A type of open wound caused by a clean, sharp-edged object such as a knife, razor, or glass splinter ...

through

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

s to 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 ...

at , near El Cóndor beach resort some downstream from Viedma, Río Negro province's capital. The river allows the Río Negro province to produce 70% of the

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the p ...

s and 72% the

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

s of Argentina. The main area of orchards lie in the middle and upper course of the river. About 48% of the Southern Hemisphere's pears are produced in Río Negro. Besides irrigation, the river is also source of hydroelectricity with small

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

s on its course. The river's lower 400 km are naviglable. In 1604 the inland area of the river was reached by Spanish explorers departing from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

in search of the mythical

City of the Caesars The City of the Caesars (Spanish Ciudad de los Césares), also variously known as ''City of Patagonia'', ''the Wandering City'', ''Trapalanda'' or ''Trapananda'', ''Lin Lin'' or ''Elelín'', is a mythical city of South America. It was supposedly ...

. The river served briefly as a natural demarcation between "civilization" and the indigenous territories in the late 1870s and early 1880s during the

Conquest of the Desert The Conquest of the Desert ( es, Conquista del desierto) was an Argentine military campaign directed mainly by General Julio Argentino Roca in the 1870s with the intention of establishing dominance over the Patagonian Desert, inhabited primar ...

. In the 1900s Welsh settlers from Chubut were granted land in

Choele Choel Choele Choel is the capital of the department of Avellaneda in the Argentine province of Río Negro, and the most important settlement within the ''Valle Medio'' ("Middle Valley") agricultural area of the Río Negro River in Patagonia. Overv ...

Valleys

The river is divided into three parts: The Alto Valle (High Valley) near the beginning of the river, Valle Medio (Medium Valley) near

, and Valle Inferior (Lower Valley) near its end. The river crosses the

plains of the province through a forest of around in the ''Alto Valle'', and as wide as towards the ''Valle Inferior''. In the dry plain it is possible to find seashells and

pebble A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of based on the Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than granules ( in diameter) and smaller than cobbles ( in diameter). A rock made predominant ...

Alto Valle

The main cities in Alto Valle are:

General Roca A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

Cipolletti Cipolletti ( or ) is a city in north of the Patagonian . With a population of 87,492 inhabitants at the , Cipolletti is the third-most populated settlement in the province, after San Carlos de Bariloche and General Roca. Geography The city is ...

Cinco Saltos Cinco Saltos is a city in the provinces of Argentina, province of Río Negro Province, Río Negro, Argentina, located on the eastern side of the valley of the Neuquén River, near the Pellegrini Lake, about from northwest of Neuquén and from All ...

, followed by many others on the National Route #22. Together with San Carlos de Bariloche, this is the most prosperous part of the province. Most pear and apple plantations are at the ''Alto Valle'', but many also at the ''Valle Medio''.

Valle Medio

Next to Choele Choel is the Choele Choel Island, in which are Lamarque, Luis Beltrán and Pomona, all of them on National Route #250. Besides apple and pear cultivation, tomato is also an important crop, being Lamarque the ''National Capital of the Tomato''. Outside the valley, on the more arid lands around town such as Chimpay and ''Darwin'', some cattle is also raised.

Valle Inferior

Although the term is not as used term as the previous two, ''Valle Inferior'' refers to Viedma and all the cities on the province's coast. Fruit is also produced but is not a primary activity.

Onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

is cultivated as well as some cereals.

Alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as w ...

and

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

is cultivated both for human consumption and for feeding

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

, which is the most important activity.

Name

In spite of its name of ''Negro'' ("black") the colour is more greenish than black. Nevertheless, the name is the literal translation of its aboriginal

name of ''Curú Leuvú''. The river was also known by the name of ''Río de los Sauces'' ("River of Willows") for the abundant weeping

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

s along its lower course.

Regatta

The ''Regata del Río Negro'' (Black River Regatta), run in this river, is the longest kayak boat-race in the world with its . The competition is divided in six stages and last 8 days (with two days for resting). The categories are *K1 men Senior *K2 men Senior *K2 men Junior (17 to 20 years) *K2 women Senior *K1 men Maxi (older than 36) *K2 men Maxi *Touring (open, non professional recreative category)

References

*Colbert E. Cushing, Kenneth W. Cummins, G. Wayne Minshall: ''River and Stream Ecosystems of the World: With a New Introduction''. University of California Press 2006, , S. 280ff
restricted online version (Google Books)
;Attribution *

External links

(English)
Valle Medio
(Spanish)

(Spanish)
Regatta's official site
(English & Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Negro, Rio Rivers of Río Negro Province Rivers of Buenos Aires Province Rivers of Argentina