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

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

in terms of the size of its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

, its associated

agricultural produce Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food ...

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

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

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 and Neuquén River at the border with the

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 ...

, and flows southeast incised through

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

s to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

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 late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

s and 72% of the

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

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, aqua ...

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

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

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

Valleys

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

seashell A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. Most seashells are made by Mollusca, mollusks, such as snails, clams, and oysters ...

s and

pebble A pebble is a clastic rocks, clast of rock (geology), rock with a grain size, particle size of based on the Particle size (grain size), Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than Granule (geology), gra ...

Alto Valle

The main cities in Alto Valle are: General Roca, Cipolletti, Cinco Saltos, 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'' , from Latin ), 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 which was classifie ...

is cultivated as well as some cereals.

Alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, 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

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

is cultivated both for human consumption and for feeding

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

, 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, 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 along its lower course.

Regatta

The ''Regata del Río Negro'' (Black River Regatta), run in this river, is the longest

kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

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