El Calafate
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| Basic data | |||
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| Surface: | 107.5 km 2 | ||
| location | 50 ° 21 ′ S , 72 ° 16 ′ W | ||
| Height above d. M .: | 199 m | ||
| Population (2015): | 21,900 | ||
| Density: | 20 inhabitants / km² | ||
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| administration | |||
| Province : |
 Santa Cruz
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| Department : | Lake Argentino | ||
| Mayor: | Héctor Belloni, Frente para la Victoria | ||
| Others | |||
| Postal code : | 9405 | ||
| El Calafate website | |||
El Calafate is the capital of the Department of Lago Argentino and the center of tourism for the Los Glaciares National Park with the famous Perito Moreno glacier at the foot of the Andes . It is a rapidly growing small town in the southwest of Argentina in the province of Santa Cruz on the shores of Lake Argentino at an altitude of about 200 meters.
etymology
The name comes from a shrub that is often found in the Patagonian region, the Calafate bushes, a Berberis species with yellow flowers and dark blue berries. This shrub fruit Calafate is used to make jam or liqueur.
history
In the first decades of the 20th century, a supply point for the wool transport from the surrounding estancias was set up at the location of today's Calafate. In 1927 the place was officially founded by the Argentine government to promote the settlement of the region.
The rise of Calafate began in 1943 with the establishment of the administration of Los Glaciares National Park (completed in 1946). For a long time, the park administration was the most important institution in the village, which initially only had about 100 inhabitants. It took care of the electricity supply, road construction and the establishment of the first hotel in the village. In the last 30 years of the 20th century, on the other hand, the place developed a momentum of its own, when tourism also became popular in regions further away from the main metropolitan areas of Argentina, which caused the number of hotels and catering establishments as well as the population to increase by leaps and bounds, especially since the 1980s . The cityscape has changed accordingly: From a dusty place to a pretty-looking city with varied wooden houses on cobbled streets. The slopes with a view of the lake are built on over a large area.
economy
Today El Calafate lives almost exclusively from tourists from all over the world. The high season is from October to May. El Calafate was founded as a supply point for wool transports from the surrounding estancias. Today the sheep have almost disappeared from the landscape. The Aeropuerto Internacional Comandante Armando Tola Airport ( IATA code FTE), 21 kilometers east of the town, which was inaugurated in 2000 , brought an additional boost, as it means that Calafate can also be approached by larger aircraft, previously there were only flights in small propeller planes from neighboring towns in Patagonia and from Río Gallegos . The boom caused a further increase in population: At the 2010 census, the city had 16,655 inhabitants, more than double that of 2001; thus El Calafate was the fifth largest city in the province of Santa Cruz.
Surroundings
The city is the starting point for the Los Glaciares National Park , especially the Perito Moreno Glacier or the Upsala , Spegazzini and Onelli glaciers , which can be reached by excursion boats across Lake Argentino , and for tours in the mountains such as the Fitz Roy .
The peninsula Valdés and Puerto Madryn with the well-known nature parks on the Atlantic are about 24 hours away by bus.
Other important connections exist to the southernmost city in the world Ushuaia on Tierra del Fuego .
See also
Web links
- Wikivoyage: El Calafate - Travel Guide
- Photos from El Calafate | Jakub Połomski Photography February 2011
- IFAM Population Statistics (Spanish)
- LiveArgentina.com - City information (Spanish)
swell
- ↑ Data from the 2010 census ( memento of the original from July 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , REDATAM, INDEC (accessed July 24, 2015)
