Río Gallegos is the capital and largest settlement of the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz in Argentina. Located in the department of Güer Aike, it has a population of about 98,000, according to the, a 24% increase from the 79,000 in the. The city bears the name of the Gallegos River, and sits on its estuary south from the Argentinian federal capitalBuenos Aires. Established on 19 December 1885 to increase Argentine power over southern Patagonia, Río Gallegos became the capital of the then Territory of Santa Cruz in 1888, retaining its status when the territory became a province in 1957. Néstor Kirchner, later President of Argentina, served as the city's mayor from 1987 to 1991 and is interred in a mausoleum in the city's cemetery.
History
In 1525 Spanish explorer García Jofre de Loaísa became the first European to reach the Gallegos River, and named it Río San Idelfonso. Simón de Alcazaba y Sotomayor's 1535 expedition was the first to name the river"Río Gallegos". The area was not settled by Europeans until much later, with the settlement established 19 December 1885, when the Argentine government wished to better express its sovereignty over southern Patagonia – a naval base was created which increased the development of the town. Between 1912 and 1920, the government encouraged settlers from the Falkland Islands and southern Chile with preferential farming conditions. Some 3,000 arrived and boosted the town. As sheep-farming increased, Río Gallegos became the principal port for exporting sheep and their products. The Pioneers Museum is a preserved old Patagonian house exhibiting the life of the early settlers. Governor Ramón Lista decided to move the Territorial Capital from Puerto Santa Cruz to Río Gallegos in 1888; official ratification of this decision came on 19 May 1904. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Luján was consecrated in 1900. The Territory of Santa Cruz was declared a Province in 1957, with Mario Cástulo Paradelo as its first Governor. In the 1982 Falklands War, the city airport was base of Argentine Air ForceMirage III interceptors and A-4 Skyhawks strike aircraft. Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, was mayor of Río Gallegos between 1987 and 1991. His mausoleum is in the city and a street bears his name. Today, Río Gallegos is an important city of the Argentine far south, with military bases and an international airport. Flights between Chile and Mount Pleasant airbase on the Falkland Islands stop at Río Gallegos once a month.
Rio Gallegos has a cold semi-arid climate. The climate is dry, windy and cold, with occasional snow during the winter. It is one of the windiest cities on earth, with winds above being commonplace, and over not exceptional. Winter temperatures average during the day and at night, but have dropped as low as. Summers are extremely windy and cloudy, with days reaching a cool and nights dropping to a relatively cold. Cold weather can occur at any time, and despite the very low precipitation, light drizzle and cloudy days are quite common, resulting in only 1441 hours of bright sunshine or 32.2% of possible sunshine. The highest temperature recorded was on February 5, 2019 while the record low is on July 12, 1982.
