Santa Cruz Province (, , "Holy Cross") is a

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 ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, located in the southern part of the country, in

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 ...

. It borders

Chubut Province Chubut ( from Tehuelche language, Tehuelche 'transparent'; ) is a provinces of Argentina, province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa ...

to the north, and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

to the west and south, with the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast to the east. Santa Cruz is the second-largest province of the country (after

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

), and the least

densely populated Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

in mainland Argentina. The indigenous people of the province are the Tehuelches, who despite European exploration from the 16th century onwards, retained independence until the late 19th century. Soon after the Conquest of the Desert in the 1870s, the area was organised as the Territory of Santa Cruz, named after its original capital in Puerto Santa Cruz. The capital moved to Rio Gallegos in 1888 and has remained there ever since. Immigrants from various European countries came to the territory in the late 19th and early 20th century during a gold rush. Santa Cruz became a province of Argentina in 1957.

History

The Tehuelches inhabited these lands before the arrivals of the Spanish colonisation. In 1520 Ferdinand Magellan arrived to what is currently known as ''San Julián Bay''. 15 years later Martín de Alcazaba explored the area near the Chico River, which he named Gallegos River. Because of the attacks of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

s, and after the visit of

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

in 1578, the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...

sent

Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1532–1592) was a Spanish adventurer, author, historian, mathematician, and astronomer. He was named the governor of the Strait of Magellan by King Philip II of Spain, Philip II in 1580. His birthplace is not certain ...

to fortify and map the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...

and prevent access to Spanish posts in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. In the middle of the 18th century, the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

s settled in the area, establishing a few missions. When the

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata or Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires ( or Virreinato de Buenos Aires or ) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was ...

was created in 1776, the region was set under the rule of

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 ...

. Antonio de Biedma founded ''Nueva Colonia'' near present Puerto Deseado and ''Floridablanca'' not far from Puerto San Julián, both of them shut down later by Viceroy Vertíz. Between 1825 and 1836 there were a series of explorations of the regions, including that of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

in 1834. In 1860 commander Luis Piedrabuena established a base on Isla Pavón in the estuary of Puerto Deseado. In 1878 the Government of

was created, with capital in Viedma, but six years later it was split into smaller entities, with the territory declared ''National Government of Santa Cruz'', whose capital was the city of Santa Cruz. In 1901 the capital was moved to its current location at the city of Río Gallegos. At the beginning of the 20th century, a large

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an immigration began to arrive to the almost uninhabited zone; Spanish,

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, British and

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

were the most numerous among them. They came mainly to escape the growing conflicts of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and were attracted by the wool industry of the area. The beginning of the war meant a sharp reduction in the amount of exports, bringing a serious economic crisis to Santa Cruz. The ideals of

progressivism Progressivism is a Left-right political spectrum, left-leaning political philosophy and Reformism, reform political movement, movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has unive ...

, brought by the Spanish immigrants, grew among the workers who, working in Santa Cruz's harsh environment under often sub-human conditions, decided to strike in 1922. The strike was severely and harshly repressed by the government, culminating in the events of the '' Patagonia Trágica'' ("Tragic Patagonia"), the execution of dozens of strikers. In 1944, the ''Military zone of Comodoro Rivadavia'' was created, which encompassed the northern part of the ''National Government of Santa Cruz'' and the southern part of

. This jurisdiction lasted until the abolition of the measures in 1955. The Territory of Santa Cruz acquired province status in 1957. In 1973, voters in Santa Cruz elected Jorge Cepernic, a

Peronist Peronism, also known as justicialism, is an Argentine ideology and movement based on the ideas, doctrine and legacy of Juan Perón (1895–1974). It has been an influential movement in 20th- and 21st-century Argentine politics. Since 1946, Pe ...

. An advocate of labor rights, Gov. Cepernic worked with film maker Osvaldo Bayer to make '' La Patagonia Rebelde'' ('"Rebellion in Patagonia"), a documentary drama on the ill-fated 1922 sheep ranch laborers' strike. For this, Gov. Cepernic was imprisoned following the March 1976 coup. The return to democracy in Argentina in 1983 brought new, mostly young leadership to Santa Cruz's elected posts, among them a well-known local country lawyer named Néstor Kirchner, elected that year to the Río Gallegos City Council. Elected mayor in 1987 and governor in 1991, Kirchner helped negotiate a US$535 million payout for his province following the 1993 privatization of the state-owned oil concern YPF. Earning plaudits for his careful administration of the funds, Kirchner was elected president of Argentina in April 2003, following the withdrawal of

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) served as the 50th president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronism, Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 200 ...

from a runoff which Kirchner was projected to win handily. Presiding over four years of expansion totalling 42% (the best performance for the Argentine economy since the 1880s), Pres. Kirchner steered record spending into public works (particularly those in his province, as is customary for Argentine presidents).

In the Province there is a border dispute with Chile in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, in 1898 the border was defined and wasn't objected during the 1902 Arbitral award of the Andes which defined most of the border on the current Province territory. Both experts, Francisco Pascasio Moreno from Argentina and

Diego Barros Arana Diego Jacinto Agustín Barros Arana (; August 16, 1830 – November 4, 1907) was a Chilean professor, legislator, minister and diplomat. He is considered the most important Chilean historian of the 19th century. His main work ''General History o ...

from Chile agreed on the border between Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Daudet. However the border started being questioned by Argentina later on which started the dispute between both countries. In 1998 a border redraw is agreed, being pending to this day the part between Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Murallón, however a new border was drawn between Cerro Murallón and Cerro Daudet. In the 20th century both countries had another dispute over the Del Desierto Lake which was resolved in favor of Argentina in 1994 and had its climax in 1965 when Lieutenant Hernán Merino Correa was killed by Argentine Gendarmerie.

Geography

The province is generally divided into two distinct regions: The

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

in the west and the plateaux in the centre and east. In the Andes, there are numerous lakes such as Buenos Aires Lake (2,240 km², 881 km² in Argentina), Cardiel Lake (460 km²), Viedma Lake (1,082 km²), Argentino Lake (1,560 km²), Pueyrredón Lake, Belgrano Lake and San Martín Lake (1,013 km²). One characteristic of the Andean region is the presence of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field that covers the central part of the Andes. From the centre to the

coast in the east, the landscape is dominated by plateaux. These plateaux are made up of basalt rock occurring in stepped sequences. The plateaux are of different ages, with the older –of

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

and

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

age– being located at higher elevations than

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

and

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

lava plateaus and outcroppings. There are isolated pockets of hills and depressions within this region. In ''Gran Bajo de San Julián'', the ''

Laguna del Carbón __NOTOC__ Laguna del Carbón ( Spanish for "coal lagoon") is a salt lake in Corpen Aike Department, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. This salt lake is located from Puerto San Julián, within the ''Gran Bajo de San Julián'' (Great San Julián D ...

'' is 105 meters below sea level, and is the lowest point in the Western and Southern Hemispheres. On the Atlantic coast, it is characterised by cliffs.

Hydrography

The main rivers in the province are the Deseado River (), Chico River (), Santa Cruz River (), Coig River (), and the Gallegos River (). These rivers all originate in the Andes and drain into the lakes before moving eastwards to empty into 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 ...

Climate

The

block most of the incoming frontal systems and as a result, most of the rainfall occurs on the western side of the mountains, with

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

rapidly decreasing as one moves eastward. As a result, except for the westernmost parts of the province where precipitation is abundant as the area comes under greater influence from prevailing winds from the Pacific, much of the province is dry. Unlike the Northern Hemisphere where there are large land masses to allow cold temperatures, cold fronts, which usually originate from the southwest and move northeast and are moderated by the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, resulting in less intense cold temperatures. Similar to much of

, the climate of the province is characterized by strong

westerlies The westerlies, anti-trades, or prevailing westerlies, are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude. They originate from the high-pressure areas in the horse latitudes (about ...

, which also enhances

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of w ...

. In general, the southern sections of the province are colder than those to the north.

Temperatures

The mean temperatures for the province are relatively cold for its latitude due to the cold Falkland Current. The extreme northeast coast is by far the mildest area, with annual temperatures around with temperatures inland being 1 °C to 2 °C lower. The coldest temperatures are found in the southern parts of the province with an annual mean of although in the western parts of the province which are at higher altitudes, the mean can be below and even below at the highest elevations. In the summer, mean temperatures range from in the North to around in the south. However, temperatures can reach up to in all parts of the province except at the highest elevations. Winters are cold throughout the province, with more uniform temperatures than during the summer; July temperatures average in the North to in the southern parts. Temperatures can plummet below in the interior while at the coast, it infrequently drops below .

Precipitation

As the

block most precipitation of the incoming frontal systems, most of the rainfall occurs on the western side of the mountains, with

rapidly decreasing as one moves eastward. Much of the province receives less than of precipitation a year, while the Andean region, which is under greater influence from the Pacific, it can receive more than . Precipitation mainly falls in the form of light rain with heavy rain and thunderstorms being rare, with these two only occurring during the summer. In all parts of the province, more precipitation falls in the winter than in the summer.

Wind

The prevalent wind directions are from the west, southwest and northwest and together, these occur 60% of the time. Northern parts of the province tend to have more northwest winds than the southern parts of the province. With few landmasses south of 46°S, the province is dominated by strong winds throughout the year. Summers are windier than winters. The strongest winds are found in the Andean region while the weakest are found in the coastal areas. With a mean wind speed of , the province is the windiest in Argentina. Gusts can reach up to in some places.

Sunshine

Although most of the province is dry, the province is relatively cloudy. The percent of cloudy days ranges from 50% in the north to 60% in the south. Average daily sunshine hours range from 6 hours/day in the North to 4 hours/day in the south with the lowest in the coastal areas in the south.

Statistics

Demographics

According to the 2022 Argentine national census, the Province of Santa Cruz has 333,473 inhabitants.

Economy

Santa Cruz, with a small population and rich in natural resources, has long had one of Argentina's most prosperous economies. Its 2006 output was estimated at US$3.3 billion or a per capita income of US$16,553. In 2011 Santa Cruz had the highest per capita income of Argentina, US$36,550. Its economy, with the possible exception of Neuquen's, is the country's least diversified, however. Fully half its output is accounted for by the extractive sector (petroleum, gas and mining), with an annual production of 4.5 million m³ of

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 ...

and 3 million m³ of gas, mainly in the ''Pico Truncado'', ''Cañadón seco'' and ''Cerro Redondo'' extracting facilities. Cerro Negro mine by Gold Corp. has in recent years contributed to the growth of population of Santa Cruz through its

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

mining operations and subsidies to local public education and private sector. The

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

production at ''Río Turbio'', Argentina's only active coal mine, is of around one million m³ per year. Mining includes

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

('' Cerro Vanguardia Mine''),

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

and others. The second most important productive activity is that associated with

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

. With 7 million heads, Santa Cruz is the second main producer of wool and meat after the Province of Chubut, most of which is designated for export. Sheep farming revived in 2002 with the devaluation of the peso and firmer global demand for wool (led by China and the EU). Still there is little investment in new abattoirs (mainly in Rio Gallegos), and often there are phytosanitary restrictions to the export of sheep meat. Livestock also includes small numbers of

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 ...

, and in lesser numbers pigs and horses. Sea fishing, and its later industrialization at the fishing ports of Puerto Deseado, Puerto San Julián, Puerto Santa Cruz and Río Gallegos produces

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the intern ...

squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...

, hake and dozens of others. Most of the production is frozen and exported. There is little agriculture due to the arid nature of the soil. There is a small timber industry fed by both forests and planted trees, of which the wood of the lenga is the most exploited.

Tourism

Santa Cruz's most visited destination is Los Glaciares National Park and a number of glaciers of which the Perito Moreno Glacier is the most famous. Nearby El Calafate has an airport that connects the area with

and Trelew. Some 200 kilometres north of El Calafate is the village of El Chaltén at the feet of the Cerro Torre and Mount Fitz Roy. Still not very developed, El Chaltén serves as a hub for various trekking routes including walks on the Viedma Glacier. 600 kilometres further north of El Chaltén, by the dirt road Ruta 40, the Cueva de las Manos near the town of Perito Moreno allows the few tourists who venture to this point to see the prehistoric wall paintings in the caves near the Pinturas River. Perito Moreno National Park and its lakes, north of Los Glaciares, are rarely visited. Besides trekking, other sports practised on the west side of the province are sport fishing, rafting and climbing. In the east, the National Route 3 follows the

coastline, by which buses connect the coastal cities, and take passengers both south to

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

and north to

and

. The most visited places are the cities of Río Gallegos, the Bosques Petrificados National Monument petrified forest, and the depression of ''

'' near Puerto San Julián.

Government

The provincial government is divided into three branches: the executive, headed by a popularly elected governor, who appoints the cabinet; the

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

; and the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

, headed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina forms the formal law of the province. In Argentina, the most important law enforcement organization is the

Argentine Federal Police The Argentine Federal Police ( or PFA) is the national civil police force of the Argentine federal government. The PFA has detachments throughout the country. Until January 1, 2017, it also acted as the local law enforcement agency in the cap ...

but the additional work is carried out by the Santa Cruz Provincial Police.

Political division

The province is divided into the following 7

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

: Department (Capital) # Corpen Aike ( Puerto Santa Cruz) # Deseado Department ( Puerto Deseado) # Güer Aike ( Río Gallegos) # Lago Argentino ( El Calafate) # Lago Buenos Aires ( Perito Moreno) # Magallanes ( Puerto San Julián) # Río Chico ( Gobernador Gregores)

Sports

''Boxing Club de Río Gallegos'' is the only side that competes in national leagues. The club currently plays in the ''Torneo Federal B'', the regionalized fourth-tier in

Argentine football league system The Argentine football league system include tournaments organised by the Argentine Football Association. Clubs affiliated to the body compete in the tournaments, which are split into categories or divisions. Rules establish a system of promot ...

. At the 2015 season it reached the second phase.

References

External links

Official siteEl Calafate Official SiteInformation about El Chaltén
(English/Spanish)
El ChalténSanta Cruz Sub Secretary Of TourismSanta Cruz NewsSanta Cruz Province in Argentour
{{Authority control Provinces of Argentina Patagonia States and territories established in 1957 1957 establishments in Argentina