Río Negro Province

Río Negro is a province in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Its capital, Viedma, sits near the Atlantic mouth of the river that gives the province its name, at the eastern edge of the territory. The largest city is Bariloche, located in the far west at the foot of the Andes. Other important urban centers include General Roca and Cipolletti.

The province shares borders with Chubut, Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa, and Buenos Aires provinces, and its eastern coast meets the Atlantic Ocean. The Colorado River forms the northern boundary with La Pampa, while the Limay River and the Andes mark the western border with Neuquén. The 42nd parallel south defines the southern limit. By area, Río Negro is the fourth-largest province in the country.

The first European to reach its coasts was Ferdinand Magellan in 1520. In 1670, Italian priest Nicolás Mascardi established the Jesuit mission Nuestra Señora de Nahuel Huapi on the shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi, at the base of the Andes. The region was originally part of the Argentine territory called Patagonia, created in 1878. In 1884, it was reorganized as the Territorio Nacional del Río Negro, with General Lorenzo Vintter as its first governor. It was not until 1957 that Río Negro became a full province, with Edgardo Castello of the Radical Civic Union serving as its first provincial governor.

The climate is temperate at lower elevations and very cold in the higher Andean peaks. Mean annual temperatures are relatively cool for the latitude, influenced by marine currents to the east and higher altitude to the west. The warmest parts are in the north, where annual averages exceed certain thresholds, while the coldest areas are in the Cordillera, where annual averages fall below freezing at the highest peaks. Summer temperatures can surpass certain highs, with January means varying by region; the Andean region has milder summers. July means range from coastal northern areas to around certain values on the central plateau.

Relative humidity is lowest in the central plateau, averaging 50%, higher along the coast at 60%, and highest in the Andean region, exceeding 65% due to lower temperatures. Humidity is lower in summer and higher in winter. The Andes block most Pacific moisture, causing most of the province to be dry, with mean annual precipitation around a certain low figure. Coastal and northern areas receive slightly more, while the Andean region gets the most, with a strong precipitation gradient increasing westward; some places receive over a certain high amount annually. Most Andean precipitation falls in winter, with dry summers, similar to central Chile.

Strong winds are a dominant feature throughout the province, with summers windier than winters. Winds from the west, southwest, and northwest occur half the time. On the coast, easterly sea breezes can occur when westerly winds are weak, reaching up to a certain distance inland. Mean wind speeds are lowest in the north and highest at higher altitudes; except for the north, annual averages exceed a certain threshold. Cloud cover ranges from over 60% in the Andes to about 40% on the coast, with the central plateau in between. Sunshine varies from 10–11 hours per day in January to about 5 hours in less cloudy areas and fewer than 3 hours in cloudier areas in July.

According to the 2010 census, the province had 638,645 inhabitants, making up 1.6% of Argentina’s total population. This was a 15.5% increase from the 2001 census figure of 552,822. Among Patagonian provinces, Río Negro is the most populous, containing 30.4% of the region’s population. By the 2022 census, the population had grown to 750,768. The province is home to four indigenous groups: the Tehuelches, Puelches, Pehuenches, and Mapuches, with nearly all of the indigenous population residing within the province.