Rincón de los Sauces () is a first category municipality and the capital of Pehuenches Department in

Neuquén Province Neuquén () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west. It also me ...

, Argentina.

History

The area was first populated by settlers around the end of the 19th and the start of the 20th century until a flood of the

Barrancas River The Barrancas River is a river in western Argentina. Traveling eastward from the Andes range, it separates the Argentine provinces of Mendoza and Neuquén. Joining the Río Grande, it merges into the Colorado, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean ...

caused the destruction of several buildings and a consequent population decline. After the flood, the main economic activity in the zone was based on cattle farming.

YPF YPF S.A. (, formerly ; English: "Fiscal Oilfields") is a vertically integrated, majority state-owned Argentine energy company, engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, and the transportation, refining, and marketing of gas and pe ...

, then the state oil concern, discovered

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

under ''Puesto Hernández'' in 1965, and subsequently, the population grew rapidly. Officially chartered on December 20, 1970, the town is named for the

willow tree Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

s (''sauce'') that abound in the region. Its name, roughly translated, means Willows' Corner.

Economy

The town has been declared the National Energy Capital due to its having 50% of the proven reserves of oil and

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

in Argentina. The town is served by a regional airport.Rincóon De Los Sauces Airport (RDS) Details - Argentina
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rincon de Los Sauces Populated places in Neuquén Province Populated places established in 1970