Comodoro Rivadavia is a city in the Patagonian province of Chubut in southern Argentina, located on the Gulf of San Jorge, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, at the foot of the Cerro Chenque mountain. It is often referred to simply as Comodoro. It has a population of 137,061 as of the . Although there are rumours that say that by now, the population could be of 200,000 or even 300,000 inhabitants due to the growth the city has experimented in the last years because of the oil industry and construction.
The city was at one time the capital of Comodoro Rivadavia Territory, which existed from 1946 to 1957. The territory was a part of Chubut before and after its creation. The city is now capital of the Escalante Department.
Comodoro Rivadavia is a commercial and transportation center for the surrounding region, the largest city of Chubut, and an important export point for a leading Argentine petroleum district. A 1,770 km pipeline conveys natural gas from Comodoro Rivadavia to Buenos Aires. The city is modern with the air of an oil-country boomtown.
Founded by decree on 23 February 1901 as a port for the inland settlement of Sarmiento, the first settler was Francisco Pietrobelli. Early settlers included Boers escaping British rule in South Africa. The town was named in honour of shipping minister Martin Rivadavia, a proponent of the development of southern Argentina. It has been prosperous since 1907, when a drilling crew searching for water struck oil at a depth of 540 m.
Oil production has begun to reduce in quantity but the area has been turning its attention to wind power. Windmills on Cerro Chenque and surrounding hills comprise South America's largest wind farm and provide 20% of Comodoro's energy needs.
The city is the home of the main faculty of the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco. The Cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Comodoro Rivadavia, of which the Bishop is, since 2005, Virginio Domingo Bressanelli. The Cathedral is dedicated to San Juan Bosco, the only cathedral in the world dedicated to the founder of the Salesian Order. It was inaugurated in 1979 although the crypt had been dedicated in 1949.
Playa Costanera is the city's beach. Rada Tilly is a beach resort and now suburb 12 km south of Comodoro. The National Museum of Petroleum is located in the General Mosconi district 3 km north of central Comodoro Rivadavia. It was opened in 1987 by the state-owned oil company YPF, which was later privatized (see Repsol YPF).
Comodoro Rivadavia's airport is located 17 km from the city center (at ), with daily flights to Buenos Aires and other cities in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.
History
The urgency to define short routes to transport products from Colonia Sarmiento and bring them to that village created the necessity of a port in the area of Golfo San Jorge. This necessity made possible the foundation of Comodoro Rivadavia, today capital of petroleoum in Argentina.
The first governor of Gobernacion Nacional del Chubut was Colonel Luis Fontana, who travelled around the whole extension attributed to Chubut commanding a numerous group of Welsh immigrants in 1885.
American researcher Junius Bird and Finnish V. Aurer respectively confirmed the existence of a Tehuelche prototype who lived in the sands of Rada Tilly some 9000 years ago. This information was confirmed by Father Brea, who some years ago contributed to this theory with the discovery of utensiles and human remains near Rada Tilly.
It is widely known that the Tehuelche who came from the north of Patagonia during warm summer days used to make a halt where Rada Tilly is today. An English marine called Fitz Roy was the first to mention its existence in a navigation chart.
On 11th March 1889 Francisco Pietrobelli, accompanied by theTehuelche Sainajo and Pereira, came to Rada Tilly following Fitz Roy's navigation charts in search of an anchoring place to set up a deep water port where deep draft ships could stop to supply the flourishing Colonia Sarmiento.
In March 1891 Captain Martin Rivadavia was the first Argentine marine who anchored his corvette in Rada Tilly, while he was recognizing the area to control the displacement of the Chilean Army in the Argentine south.
The village was named after the Spanish marine Francisco Everardo Tilly y Paredes, who during 1794 and 1795 gave combat and defeated the Portuguese army in the river Plate. However, reality indicates that it was the Spanish marine Juan de la Concha who anchored in Rada Tilly in command of a brig.
The beach village Rada Tilly was founded on 24th July 1948, and today has approximately 3450 inhabitants.
Before that, in 1890, the corvette "La Argentina" commanded by Commodore Martin Rivadavia arrived near mount Chenque in an exploring mission and settled an anchorage place called Kilometro 5, Caleta Cordoba or Punta Borjas.
On 26th June, Pietrobelli completed the construction of the first storage shed in the place indicated years before by a Molle trunk, and on 23rd February 1901 by decree of the national government gave to this village the name Comodoro Rivadavia in homage to the ilustrious marine, grandson of the great statesman Bernardino Rivadavia.
The oil exploitation, initiated by chance in 1907, gave to Comodoro Rivadavia a vertiginous growing rhythm.
By the end of 1919, most of the 1719 workers were given accommodation in small metal sheet houses without any heating or electric light with temperatures below zero and winds near 100 km./h.
The creation of Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales in 1922 completed and emphasized the development of the town, and by the end of the 50s, the government promoted an oil campaign and fostered the installation of numerous foreign companies.
The city evolved around this and even today when this panorama has changed substantially, it is still called National Oil Capital.
Some of its governors were:
Gral. Angel Solari: (31-05-44 to 15-11-45)
Gral. Armando S. Raggio: (16-11-45tol 31-12-48)
Gral. Julio Alberto Lagos: (31-12-48 to 23-06-50)
Gral. Salvador M. Muller: (23-06-50 to 14-11-51)
Gral. Fernando J. Carles: (14-11-51 to 14-04-53)
Gral. Italo H. Dell'Oro: (08-05-53 to 25-07-55)
Population
Comodoro Rivadavia had a population of 135,632 inhabitants in 2001, which represented an increase of 9.2% compared to the 1991 census total of 124,104. This increase is a little below the national average. The city size places Comodoro Rivadavia as the 25th largest city of the country and the largest in South Patagonia, which goes from Chubut to Tierra del Fuego.
Urban Agglomerate
According to the census of 2001, the population of Comodoro Rivadavia includes a series of neighbourhoods and little towns that are united to the main city. They are the following:
- km 3 - General Mosconi
- km 8 - Don Bosco
- Prospero Palazzo
- km 5 - Presidente Ortiz
- Laprida
- Ciudadela
- Saavedra
- Restinga Ali
- Caleta Cordova
- km 11 - Cuarteles
- Sarmiento
- Manantial Rosales
- Castelli
- Barrio Militar - Aeropuerto
- Rodriguez Pena
- Gasoducto
- 25 de Mayo
- Guemes
- Acceso Norte
- Villa S.U.P.E.
- Caleta Olivares
In some statistics, Comodoro Rivadavia is united with the near village of Rada Tilly under the name of Comodoro Rivadavia - Rada Tilly. The population of Comodoro Rivadavia without the mentioned agglomerates was of 103,795 in 2001.
Economy
Industry and Commerce
The commercial and industrial activities of the city are the most important in the region. The main activities of the city are: production of chemical products, elaborated concrete, salter, fabrication of industrial houses, shipyard, metallurgical products, refrigerated products, industrial factories, casting, textile industry, blocks and bricks, and cement.
Oil Industry
The production of hydrocarbons represents 41% of the production of the Basin of San Jorge Gulf and 31.5% of the total production of the country. Nowadays, there are 7 oil companies established in the area. Also, the sector related to servicing the oil industry is an important component of the local economy. From January 2002 to August 2003, the city and surrounding region produced 10,180,504.5 m³ of oil (averaging 509,025.2 m³ per month) and 2,237,913.2 m³ of gas (averaging 111,895.6 m³ per month).
Production of Concrete
The city counts with a factory that produces concrete, property of Petroquimica Comodoro Rivadavia S.A. It produces different types of concrete: Standart Portland, Puzolanic, BCA, ARI, bricklaying concrete Caltex, concrete for oil industry. The total production of concrete for the year 2002 was of 228,000 tons.
Eolic Energy
The eolic park of Comodoro Rivadavia has a capacity of 18,820 kW with 26 generators. It is the most important in Latin America. Plans exist to connection it the national energy, which could allow the sale of energy to other regions.
Fishing
From January 2002 to July 2003, 71,320 tons of fish and seafood disembarked in the city with a monthly average of 3,753.6 tons. There exist nine companies in the city linked to the fishing industry.
Sports
- Basketball: Comodoro Rivadavia is the home of the most important basketball team of the region and the last champion of the National League, Gimnasia Esgrima Comodoro Rivadavia also called "The Green Magic". Other teams of Comodoro Rivadavia, which play in lower leagues, are Federacion Deportiva, Nautico Rada Tilly, and Municipal Pueyrredon.
- Football (Soccer): The most important football teams of Comodoro Rivadavia are C.A.I, which participates in the First Division "B" tournament of Argentina, and Huracan de Comodoro Rivadavia, which plays in the Argentine Tournament "B"; both teams have a great number of followers in the city. Comodoro Rivadavia also has a football league in which many teams partcipate; the principal teams are Jorge Newbery, Tiro Federal, and Universitario.
External links
Other pages about Coastal cities in Argentina
-Comodoro Rivadavia -Miramar, Buenos Aires -Monte Hermoso -Necochea -Pinamar -Ushuaia -Villa Gesell
Other pages about Port cities in Argentina
-Avellaneda -Bahia Blanca -Barranqueras -Buenos Aires -Caleta Olivia -Campana, Buenos Aires -Colon, Entre Rios -Comodoro Rivadavia -Ensenada, Buenos Aires -Mar del Plata -Necochea -Puerto General San Martin -Puerto Madryn -Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz -Rosario -San Antonio Oeste -San Lorenzo, Santa Fe -San Nicolas de los Arroyos -Santa Fe, Argentina -Ushuaia -Villa Constitucion -Zarate, Buenos Aires
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Comodoro_Rivadavia
