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Viedma, Rio Negro
Viedma is the capital city of the Argentine province of Rio Negro and the Adolfo Alsina Department of that province.
The city of 47,246 inhabitants (2001) is located on the southern margin of the Rio Negro River, 30 kilometres before from the sea, and 960 km from Buenos Aires on the National Route 3.
Together with Carmen de Patagones city across the river in the Buenos Aires Province, it is the oldest settlement in Patagonia, founded by Francisco de Viedma y Narvaez under the name of Nuestra Senora del Carmen on April 22 of 1779.
With the Conquest of the Desert, the city became the capital of all the Argentine Patagonia, and later, when it was divided in further smaller territories, the capital of the Rio Negro Territory.
Alvaro Barros changed the name of the city to Viedma, in 1879. During severe flooding in 1900, the capital of Rio Negro was temporary moved to Choele Choel, but it was quickly restored to Viedma.
During the presidency of Raul Alfonsin it was proposed to move the capital of Argentina from Buenos Aires to Viedma, but the idea did not prosper.
The main economical activities in the area of the Valle Inferior are cattle, as well as some agriculture with onion, maize and alfalfa being the most important.
The Gobernador Castello Airport serves flights to Buenos Aires, Neuquen, Bariloche, Puerto Madryn, Trelew, Comodoro Rivadavia, Mar del Plata, and other cities in Argentina. Its located 6 km from the city, and has an average annual traffic of 30,000 passengers.
30 km downstream from Viedma, on the Atlantic shore, the El Condor beach resort town is the most visited tourist beach in the area.
External links
Welcome Viedma (English)
Viedma and around (Spanish)
Viedma Portal (Spanish)
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Viedma, Rio Negro
