Puelches, La Pampa
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Puelches is a village and rural locality (municipality) lying on the National Route 152 in La Pampa Province in
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. It serves as the administrative center of the Curacó Department with its rural area expanding into the Lihuel Calel Department in the south of the province. Though it was founded as a cattle town, in a traditional farming area, the main economic activities are
salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
production and mining. It is considered Argentina's geographical center by a national decree from 1978.


Etymology

The town was referred to as Los Puelches by the media in the early 20th century. In 1941, the Governor of the province, Miguel Duval, proposed to rename it Coronel Bedoya to honor one of the officers who participated in 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 ...
. The proposal met criticism and it was decided to keep the original name which refers to the native
Puelche people The Gününa küna, or sometimes, Puelche ( Mapudungun: ''pwelche'', "people of the east") are indigenous peoples living east of the Andes Mountains in Chile and Southwest Argentina. They spoke the Puelche language. The name "Puelche" was not nati ...
that inhabited the area before the arrival of the
Argentine Army The Argentine Army ( es, Ejército Argentino, EA) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander- ...
. The Mapudungun word can be translated as 'people from the east'.


History

The area of Puelches has been populated by a series of natives for thousands of years, who were generally known as Puelche. The term did not refer to them as an ethnic group, but was rather a reference to the area they inhabited. In the 16th century, 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 s ...
started their expansion into the area, assimilating the then-local hunting-gathering tribes, who called themselves gününa-këna, into their culture. The area was taken over and incorporated into the Argentine state, after the natives were defeated in the Conquest of the Desert in the 1870s by the national troops. The village was founded in 1900 as an agricultural colony, named Los Puelches, by a national decree. Six years later, the local school, the magistrate's court and the
civil registry Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events ( births, marriages, and deaths) of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database has different names in different countries and even in differ ...
were opened. In the early years of the 20th century Spanish and French settlers came into the region and integrated with the remaining locals and the creole population. Into the 1940s the region flourished as the growing flow of the Salado River enabled activities such as cattle farming, fishing and mining. It came to an end when the river flow was diverted by western provinces, causing a significant loss of surface waters in the whole province. In 1978, Puelches was officially recognized as Argentina's geographical center by a national decree. A stone marker indicates the exact center. The developing committee was granted the municipality status in 1995.


Geography

The village lies in south of La Pampa province, serving as the seat of the Curacó Department with its rural area expanding into the Lihuel Calel Department. The town is served by National Route 152, Provincial Route 107 and Provincial Route 15. It is located from the province capital,
Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...
and 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 ...
. The elevation is above sea level. The Salado River runs through the region, irrigating the La Dulce, La Amarga and the Urre Lauquen lagoons, before joining the
Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...
near
Pichi Mahuida Pichi Mahuida is a village and municipality in Río Negro Province in Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an ...
.


Climate

Just as a big part of La Pampa province, Puelches has a
temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...
.


Demographics

In 2020 it was estimated that 870 residents inhabited the area. As of 2010, the Argentine census showed 560 residents in the municipality, which is a slight increase of 3,7% in comparison to 2001, when 540 people inhabited the area. In 1991 Puelches had a population of approximately 352 people.


Economy

Despite being located in a livestock farming area, the town's economy is based on
salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
production, taking place in the nearby
evaporation ponds Evaporation ponds are artificial ponds with very large surface areas that are designed to efficiently evaporate water by sunlight and expose water to the ambient temperatures. Evaporation ponds are inexpensive to design making it ideal for mult ...
. Mining also contributes to the local economy, with
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
and sodium sulfate being extracted in the area. Being the closest town to the
Lihué Calel National Park Lihué Calel National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Lihué Calel) ( Mapudungun Lihue = "life" and Calel "mountainous area", "mountains of life") is a national park in Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no ...
, it serves as a service center for the tourists visiting the National Park.


Landmarks

In Puelches, it is possible to visit the stone that indicates Argentina's exact geographical center. The old chapel Angel Custodio, built by the locals in 1963 using almost entirely stone and some other materials from the region, remains almost in its original form. Another exponent of the local history is the monument honoring '' cacique'' Ñancufil Calderón, one of the town's founding members.


References

{{Reflist Populated places in La Pampa Province