Commodore Rivadavia
Comodoro Rivadavia, colloquially called «Comodoro», is the most populated city in the province of Chubut and the head of the department of Escalante in Argentina. It is located in the east center of Patagonia in the heart of the hydrocarbon zone of the San Jorge Gulf. It is one of the most important cities in Argentine Patagonia. The closest cities are Caleta Olivia, 77 kilometers away, and Colonia Sarmiento, 155 kilometers away. In 2020, it was chosen as the city with the second best quality of life in Argentine Patagonia after the city of Neuquén.[citation required]
Comodoro Rivadavia is a commercial hub, regional transportation, and an important point of export. Through its port, oil, regional industrial and agricultural products go out to the world. It has a gas pipeline, which at the time was the longest in the world, which since 1949 connects Comodoro Rivadavia with Buenos Aires. In 1960, the General San Martín gas pipeline was built parallel to the previous one, with a larger diameter and capacity.
Founded in 1901, it has prospered since 1907, when drilling for water struck oil. Between 1944 and 1955 it was the capital of the Comodoro Rivadavia Military Governorate, which comprised the current south of Chubut and the north of the Province of Santa Cruz.
It is located 24 kilometers north of the border with the province of Santa Cruz.
The city and its surroundings have a close relationship with the northern area of Santa Cruz due to historical and geographical reasons that unite it with the group of towns in that region.
History
The history of Comodoro Rivadavia begins at the end of the XIX century, but its development is marked by four subsequent periods that they changed the economic and national importance of this city known as the National Capital of Petroleum. These periods were:
- The discovery of oil in 1907, which changed the direction of the people to transform it into a city and enabled in later years the creations of the public companies YPF and Gas of the State.
- The Military Governance: period of urban, industrial and political expansion started in 1944, where Comodoro was its capital, which allowed it to develop the hegemony and infrastructure that still persist today. The end arrived with its annulment in 1955.
- The boom oil: initiated by development in 1958, a quantitative leap was made in industrial and urban development. In this historical phase the construction of height began and the population doubled. The same event lasted until the cancellation of oil contracts in 1963.
- Boom. current oil tanker: which began in 2003, but was mainly consolidated with the increase in the price of the oil barrel that made the exploitation profitable in this area. It continues until today and transforms Comodoro Rivadavia into a more complex urbe.
Foundation and toponymy
Prior to its official foundation in 1901, the territory of Comodoro Rivadavia served as a temporary settlement for some Aonikenk (Tehuelche) factions when they took the coastal route. Being nomads, they only settled in camps for a while, marking paths with their rakes.
In 1898, several families of Welsh origin residing in the Chubut valley moved to the recently founded Colonia Pastoril Sarmiento, where Argentine settlers already resided. The immigrant group would promote the growth of the colony and would ask the Argentine government to build a nearby and suitable port to release their products, mainly agricultural, and those of other areas of Chubut. The Italian immigrant of Veronese origin Francisco Pietrobelli would then tour the Gulf of San Jorge to determine a suitable location for the lifting of the port.
On December 15, 1898, the first attempt took place: the pioneer mounted his horse, accompanied by two Indians, to find the sea, but the weather, enmity with the aborigines and miscalculations of supplies forced the return. In November 1899 he arrived at Rada Tilly, although this time to wait for a promised ship that would be sent from Buenos Aires; this fails and Pietrobelli returns to Colonia Sarmiento on January 9, 1900. On May 1 he docked a little beyond Punta del Marqués. With the materials for the shed on his back, Pietrobelli sets out in search of a more accessible place for the boats. In Punta Borjas —almost at the foot of Cerro Chenque— he plants a molle to mark the space where he would later build a shed. In June of that year Pietrobelli was able to build the first shed with materials provided by a group of merchants and landowners in the area, who from Buenos Aires also made arrangements for the National Government to create a town at the foot of Punta Borja.
A population of a few families settled there, and finally on February 23, 1901, a presidential decree of the National Government formalized the foundation of the port city, giving it the name of Comodoro Rivadavia, in homage to the sailor who carried out soundings in the San Jorge Gulf in front of Punta Borjas in the year 1892, Commodore Martín Rivadavia, grandson of Bernardino Rivadavia. Julio A. Roca, at that time, was resting in the Cordoba mountains. His vice president, Norberto Quirno Costa, decides to sign a brief decree establishing the creation of a new colony. Thus, the Directorate of Lands and Colony proceeds to trace a town in the territory of Chubut, on the Atlantic coast, between Punta Borja and Punta del Marqués, which is called "Comodoro Rivadavia".
On June 4, 1902, the first South African settlers landed, led by Mr. Louis Baumann. It was based on a large group that came to take refuge from the Boer War, which broke out in South Africa between 1899 and 1902 when the British were interested in the discovery of mineral wealth by the Boers. That war is the consequence of the moment in which the British occupation became official, and the Boers refused to live under the laws imposed on the Cape Colony. From there and during the year 1830, they moved towards the interior of Africa in an exodus known as The Great Voyage that lasted eight years until it was completed. After a policy of annihilation, which ended with farms, crops, cattle and the creation of concentration camps where twenty-six thousand women and children died, the idea of migrating to these Patagonian coasts arose, giving the community unique socio-cultural characteristics of the hand of the families installed in places like Colonia Escalante, Sierra Cuadrada, Sierra Chaira, Puerto Visser, Manantiales Behr, Comodoro Rivadavia, and Sarmiento. national, different perforations were carried out. In 1906, a "Fauck" team, from Germany, arrived in the country at the initiative of Julio Krause, head of the Geology and Hydrology section of the National Mining Department. Drilling work began in March 1907, some three kilometers north of Cerro Chenque.
The conjunction of the first founding families and the arrival of the South Africans caused a significant population growth in the newborn port town.
The team in charge of this work was made up of José Fuchs, Humberto Beghin (assistant), Gustavo Kunzell and Juan Martínez (foguistas), Florentino Sot, Antonio Viegas, Joaquín Domínguez, José Barrabosa and Pedro Gelhorn (laborers), Pedro Peresa and Francisco Ferrara (cooks).
It was thus that on December 13, 1907, the initial page of the history of oil in Argentina was written, right in Comodoro and after going over five hundred meters underground without finding traces of water, an oily liquid began to gush, bubbly and with the smell of kerosene, thus confirming the existence of fuel.
The magnitude of what happened opened up new possibilities for economic growth and demographic concentration, which would lead Comodoro Rivadavia, in the course of a few decades, to become the most populous city in the region. In this way, already by 1911 the population reached 1000 people, which exceeded the possibilities of the two authorities of the town: Justice of the Peace Francisco Fernández and the prefect Pedro Barros Seeber, in charge of the Maritime Sub-prefecture. Thus, on September 17 of that year, Commodore elected his first local authorities.
Early days of the «National Capital of Petroleum»
The oil wealth of the central area of the San Jorge Gulf was already predicted by the expert Moreno who stated:
These subjects reveal a new and important wealth that will one day contribute to making this remote region prosperous.
Oil exploitation had a casual start on December 13, 1907. The following day, the national government with the signature of President Figueroa Alcorta and the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Pedro Azcurra, signed a decree whose first article established:
Comodoro Rivadavia’s port of Chubut, on a radius of five kilometric leagues, is prohibited from denouncing mining belongings and granting catheter permits in the port of Comodoro Rivadavia. It was the first step in defence of national heritage.
After the decree was signed, through the Geology Section, the oil exploitation of the place was organized, creating in 1911, through a decree of President Roque Sáenz Peña, the General Directorate of Petroleum Exploitation in Comodoro Rivadavia, whose presidency It was entrusted to engineer Luis A. Huergo, who was accompanied as members by engineer Enrique M. Hermitte, doctor Pedro N. Arata, Adolfo Villate and José A. Villalonga pointed out for Comodoro Rivadavia a different course and rhythm within Patagonian existence. This event was of such magnitude that it led to the creation of Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales, YPF, in Comodoro in 1922, led by the renowned General Enrique Mosconi.
Between 1907 and 1930, the operational model of state oil exploitation was built, while the private sector has been operating in the area since 1912 with the Astra company. The characteristics of the exploitation, in those years, led to the formation of population centers in the vicinity of the places of production, the so-called oil camps, which gave the city the peculiar urban characteristics that still exist today. today they endure. The operating companies set up structures that went beyond production, providing their workers with housing, sports clubs, grocery stores, parks, movie theaters, dining rooms, schools, hospitals, and transportation to workplaces.
The presence of immigrants from very different origins together with groups of residents from other provinces and natives of the place have shaped the population of the city. The city evolved around its exploitation and although today the new market rules and economic diversification give it other characteristics, its name is generally associated with the hydrocarbon activity. The city is known because it enjoys the distinction as «National Capital of Petroleum», a distinction that the National Congress and the nation itself granted it for its preponderant role in the discovery of oil for the first time in Argentina, a title that it shares, in some way, with the town of Rincón de los Sauces, declared the National Energy Capital.
The construction of the railway from Comodoro Rivadavia to Colonia Sarmiento began in 1910. It was a milestone in the history of Comodoro, given that it played a preponderant role in its economy together with the event caused when José Menéndez and Mauricio Braun joined their companies and gave rise to the Sociedad Anónima Importadora y Exportadora de la Patagonia; which was founded as general stores with rooms and a naval fleet of its property.
In these early years of the town, the Spanish Association of Mutual Aid of Comodoro Rivadavia was established in 1910, not only making it a pioneer entity in the city, but also in Patagonia.
In 1911 the municipality was formed. By 1920, important merchant houses such as Lahusen, the Patagonia Import and Export Limited Company (today La Anónima) and others were established in the city.
In 1924 Ibarguren received the monopoly concession of energy supply for the city, it worked on Rivadavia and Pellegrini streets, from there the demands to rent the meter and pay very high costs for energy supply were coordinated. The concessionary firm's service provision policy also generated rejection from residents because it was also governed by a system of inspections aimed at checking the levels of consumption of residents. At that time, having a lamp other than those declared meant confronting the inspectors who reported the infraction after constant tours of the neighborhoods. The accounts of the time show that the energy service was considered a luxury good that only families with economic resources could access.
In a more relevant event in 1920 was the foundation of Caleta Córdova, beginning its port activity with the unloading of materials for the Astra Oil Company.
The Thirties
The 1930s were marked by the birth of the Sociedad Cooperativa Popular Limitada (SCPL) on February 8, 1933 thanks to a group of enterprising neighbors gathered the will of other residents, and managed to raise 21,400 pesos national currency in concept of actions. The cooperative members thus put an end to the exclusive dependence caused by the service concession granted in 1924 to the Ibarguren firm. Today its size and investment in the city of Chenque makes it the 5th largest in Argentina.
These were historic years for the community of Comodoro since in 1934 the Cine Teatro Español, a cultural bulwark, was inaugurated, making the building one of the most hierarchical and architecturally beautiful in the area. The first cinema in the city operated in its facilities. The new Theater was "an exponent of progress and culture, a complete work of art, equipped with all the comforts that place it at the level of any in the Federal Capital" (La República, Saturday, July 7, 1934).
In 1936 the fishing activity began in Caleta Córdova. Currently, that town ended up being a neighborhood of Comodoro. In this neighborhood there is a fishing dock where yellow fleet boats operate and is dedicated to tourism.
Another relevant event was the initiation of the LU4 radio station in 1938. The radio station still has its building in the center and is an icon broadcaster.
Commodore capital of the Military Government of Comodoro Rivadavia
In 1935, the 8th Infantry Regiment was established in Comodoro Rivadavia, which recognizes General Manuel Belgrano as its founder. The arrival of other military units later led to the creation of the Patagonia Group Command.
This program for the installation of military units responded to a concern of the Congress of Municipalities of the national territories in 1933, since the Patagonian region lacked security forces that would adequately safeguard territorial integrity. Adding to these circumstances the interest of oil exploitation, through Decree No. 13941 of May 31, 1944, the national authorities created the Military Government of Comodoro Rivadavia, with its capital in the city of the same name.
Its jurisdiction covered the south of Chubut and the north of Santa Cruz. The creation of the government meant the expansion of the downtown area through land reclaimed from the sea, registering a marked population and housing growth. The city was favored with a capital infrastructure, which included, among other works, a secondary school, a municipality, a larger budget, and an Appeals Chamber. In short, it was a boom period due to the progressive action of the military.
The testimony of an author, a resident of the time, reflects the period of well-being that the area enjoyed:
"For some years now the hand was well. When we were born in the world war and with the rise of the military governorate, living in Comodoro was not bad. In the camps, starting with "3 km", the thing painted a hundred points, the same as in Diadema Argentina, Astra and "8 km"
The end of this governorship came on June 28, 1955, when the congress decided the provincialization of different national territories, but eliminated the military Governorate of Comodoro, awarding its territories to Santa Cruz and Chubut.
The military coup called the Liberating Revolution in September 1955 overthrew President Juan Domingo Perón, establishing a transitional dictatorship. In this period of almost 2 years, the coup military promised to analyze the provincializations in detail. Proposals and attempts arose so that the territory or the Comodoro capital is not lost:
- Conservation of the limits of GMCR: this proposal was intended to provincialize or maintain it for a few more years. The main defense force came from the "Economic Federation", due to the damages that would come to the loss.
- Extension of limits: another proposal was to maintain the southern limits and extend the north to integrate the entire territory of the Chubut. His advocate, Federico Escalante:
The social, economic and health revolves around Comodoro, the real head of central Patagonia.
- Chubut's capital commodore: the last proposal was the one that took the most force, since it was the most viable: Comodoro must be the capital of the nascent Chubut. Among the main actors that intervened in favor of Comodoro, we quote neighbors, politicians and the CGT that in their defense listed the infrastructure of the city, the public works of the former governorate and its industrial development.
- Final result: the struggle was brought to Congress, which thoroughly analyzed the last proposal, as being more reasonable. The oil city, exposing all its development (the largest of Patagonia in those years), thought it would have the bid in its favor, but Rawson won the bid for its history linked to the capital past of the Chubut National Territory and its low development, which earned it the Congress to justify it as a capital to develop the area of the Chubut National Territory. Chubut Valley.
In this way the city lost its leading role, but it would be partly compensated by the event of 1957.
The disappearance of the Government marks the beginning of the eternal confrontation of the "Southern Zone" (Comodoro Rivadavia, Rada Tilly, Sarmiento and adjacent towns) with the "Chubut Valley" (Dolavon, Gaiman, Trelew and Rawson).
After the creation of Chubut as a province, the same author recounts the consequences for the Southern Zone and the centralization of interests in the valley:
The newspapers El Chubut, El Rivadavia and the tabloid “The Celestine Post” (TCP) – multilingual version of “El Celestino” entered a fierce competition to represent the province. The only coincidence between them was that they had to declare Trelew, Rawson, Madryn, Esquel, Cajón de Cerveza Grande and Uzcudun areas UGI, that is: Unviable Geoeconomic Units.
Despite the time that has elapsed, Comodoro continues to radiate its influence throughout the space of the Military Governorate, performing its historical role as a service and supply center, especially for oil activity, agricultural exploitations, and tourism.
Profound transformations began to take place when two significant laws were enacted, reactivating and exploding commercial and industrial activity in the area and especially in the city.
Developmentalism and the first “oil boom”
On January 1, 1947, President Juan Domingo Perón and Julio V. Conessa welded the first pipe of a gas pipeline that would go from Llavallol to Comodoro Rivadavia. It was decided to start the construction of the gas pipeline in Greater Buenos Aires and not in the place where the gas was obtained because, according to Canessa, this would prevent interference from foreign companies and ensure the completion of the work, since if it started in Comodoro Rivadavia could be diverted, but if it left its destination it would inevitably reach a gas source. The extensive gas pipeline, 1605 km, one of the longest in the world at the time, was inaugurated on December 29, 1949, later the pipeline would be extended to Cañadón Seco, managing to extend for 100 more km. From that moment on, the Peronist government applied a policy aimed at the sustained lowering of rates and the expansion of the gas system through networks. Between 1947 and 1949, during the presidency of Juan Domingo Perón, the gas pipeline linking Comodoro Rivadavia with Buenos Aires was built. With it, gas distribution increased from 300,000 cubic meters per day to 15,000,000 cubic meters, lowering the cost by a third. costs. Argentina was thus placed among the three most advanced countries in the use of natural gas, along with the United States and the Soviet Union. The construction of the gas pipeline meant a construction boom in Comodoro, and made it the first in South America and the second in the world for its length, it is currently called the "Presidente Perón" Gas Pipeline.
A local testimony recounts how well-being was experienced by those Comodorans:
"The franchises south of Paralelo 42 Sur made the plugs jump: cars USA zero, liquor from the cheap outside, imported giveaway cigarettes, stacks of first and thousands of chucherias never seen that were bought with nuditas. Our old people sold a '46 model to the people of the north, and for the same price you bought two "reconditioned to new" from the previous year and brands like Pontiac, Mercury, Buick and even the "Moscovita". The superpopulation fired the construction business at height We had skyscrapers, man!"
In 1947, as an initiative of the then Military Government of Comodoro Rivadavia, the Higher Institute of Patagonian Studies was created. In September 1949, the Chamber of Senators approved the project for the creation of the National University of Patagonia, with headquarters in Comodoro Rivadavia and faculties in Trelew, Esquel and Río Gallegos. In May 1959, the Patagonia University Institute was launched in Comodoro Rivadavia.
On February 15, 1953, the Comodoro Rivadavia railway accident of 1953 was suffered with a balance of 36 deaths and 65 injuries, the largest railway tragedy in the city was caused by excess passengers (100, double) and excessive speed.
The Parallel 42 South marks the northern border of the Province of Chubut; this law created by the government of Pedro Eugenio Aramburu in 1957.[citation required]
President Arturo Frondizi announced in 1958 new contracts for the exploitation and exploration of oil to foreign companies, particularly North American companies, in order to achieve national self-sufficiency. This event was called the "oil battle" alleging that it would ensure Argentine economic development and activate regional economies. There were 13 contracts and they were signed with Banca Loeb, Pan American Oil (a subsidiary of Standard Oil), Tennessee, the Esso, Shell and others. The new policy consisted of placing the wells explored and located for years by YPF in the hands of the large foreign oil companies. That of Cerro Dragón is a paradigmatic case within the contracts signed by Frondizi with foreign oil companies.
Also in that year the Municipality of Comodoro Rivadavia announced the subdivision of the future Roca and Pueyrredón neighborhoods. Thus the city begins to expand towards the west; since 1958 textile, plastic, fishing and lumber industries were established. The National Hydrocarbons Law and the new Organic Statute of YPF promoted the installation of contractor companies that generated the so-called Oil Boom that lasted until 1963. The demand was so great that there were no leases, the settlements multiplied and the city grew without planning. The municipality came to enable 20 cabarets multiplying prostitution (also child), drugs, contempt for money and drunkenness.
The city was overwhelmed by migrants and immigrants who came to exploit the black gold and government institutions were overwhelmed by the effects of unplanned growth. These years of economic expansion marked a mark of indefinite progress. The companies that settled were mostly North Americans that sold their production to YPF. It contemplated the concession to Pan American Energy of an extension of 4,000 square kilometers in deposits already explored by the state YPF for a period of 30 years and with great price benefits and tax exemptions. Illia in 1963 annulled the oil contracts and the free trade zone, resulting in a devastating outflow of capital from the region, which led to widespread unemployment and the end of the brief period of welfare.
At the end of the 1960s, the state camps populated with northern families during the 1930s: Camp El Trébol, El Tordillo, Manantiales Behr, Captaciones de Agua, Cañadón Perdido and Camp Escalante, dependent on the YPF Central Administration, they begin to be dismantled and depopulated and their people taken to available flat spaces close to km 3. This fact increased the population of Comodoro and forever erased the possibility of the towns that grew there.
1960s and 1970s
In the 1960s relevant constructions were completed, inaugurating important buildings and works such as the Comodoro Hotel, Centro Catamarqueño and the Lake Musters-Comodoro Rivadavia aqueduct, the General Roca Military High School and with the creation of Channel 9 the official transmission began television station in Comodoro Rivadavia. The aqueduct was inaugurated on May 15, 1966, a work expected for decades that responded to a historical problem in the region. However, it was not an immediate solution, since many neighborhoods did not have home distribution networks. In this way, long lines of citizens carrying water in front of community pumps continued to be seen for several years. The problem returned to gain strength in March 1967, during the visit of the de facto president Onganía, the newspaper Crónica makes a dramatic appeal from its front page begging for water. The note showed information that accounted for the lack of home networks in practically all neighborhoods, with 40,000 people affected. The claims continued for years, extending to the neighborhoods of the northern zone, culminating in the early 1970s with the new home networks. The aqueduct had been announced for a potential demand of up to 300,000 inhabitants (at a time when Comodoro has just over 55,000, adding the northern zone), with a useful life of 50 years. However, it began to suffer ruptures just a few months after its inauguration, exactly on January 27, 1967. The ruptures then began to be a constant, due to a series of technical problems linked to the design: the lack of external protection for the pipes made of concrete, which deteriorate due to the effect of the soil on which it sits; in addition to the so-called 'water hammers', that is, the rupture due to the explosion of air bubbles. Although the networks reached the neighborhoods, the residents continued to have water problems for several years due to damage to the aqueduct.
The most relevant events in the 1970s were undoubtedly the various demonstrations over the situation at the "San Juan Bosco" University, in charge of the Salesian order, produced in 1972 and 1973, which reached the extreme of a student hunger strike. The Ministry of Education intervened in 1974 creating a public university, the University of Patagonia, based at the Perito Moreno College, its first rector was the agronomist Silvio Grattoni. Another relevant event of 1972 was the poblada against the de facto president Alejandro A. Lanusse visits Comodoro Rivadavia. Local businesses close their doors in protest at the postponement of works in the Comodoro Rivadavia area, all social media read «The people of the south said no to Lanusse».
State terrorism and dictatorship in Comodoro
The National Reorganization Process suffered tragic social and economic consequences. Society suffered from State terrorism, executed by the local military garrison, in which a clandestine detention center operated, where political arrests and torture were committed.
Economically, the lack of investment in public works, the mistaken measures of José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz produce the bankruptcy of many companies such as the well-remembered zinc plant. A painful historical event also occurred in 1978 where the de facto government closed the Comodoro Rivadavia-Sarmiento railway line, of Ferrocarriles Patagonicos, a branch that had been fundamental in the development of the two towns and which was disappeared under the excuse of low profitability.
Finally, in 1979 through an agreement between the Bishopric of Comodoro Rivadavia and the Ministry of Culture and Education of the Nation, the public university and the Salesian university were unified and the National University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco was created with headquarters in Comodoro and that would later spread to different Patagonian cities.
Eighties, years of war and crisis
The 1980s were one of instability, conflict, and mild economic prosperity. These years began with a frustration for the community, given that the 1980 Census showed just over ninety-six thousand inhabitants, leaving Comodoro at the gates of one hundred thousand inhabitants. The adventure of the city to generate and develop renewable and clean energy began in 1981, inaugurating the first wind generator —pioneering in Latin America— at the premises of the Ninth Air Brigade. The generator was the result of scientific cooperation with Germany. In that same year, two more inaugurations took place, of a determining nature for the development of Comodoro: the Federal Court was created, the first judge is Carlos Alberto Sáez Almagro; and the first stage of the university city of kilometer four is inaugurated.
Also in these years, the residents of the new northern neighborhoods unanimously promoted a failed attempt at municipalization. This separatist attempt was the result of the forced and sudden integration of the strongly centralized Northern Zone, imposed by the municipality of Comodoro. The movement demanded the differentiated and centralized administration in General Mosconi. The failure was due to the fact that the attempt repeated the model imposed by the municipality of Comodoro and did not find support in the then de facto government of the National Reorganization Process.
The Malvinas war of 1982 had a great importance as Comodoro Rivadavia was the center of military operations. Blackouts as an air raid prevention measure were a normal occurrence at this time. Local hospitals received the wounded and the local airport was a hangar base for the Argentine Air Force.
After the defeat, more than a thousand people participated in a march that demanded the return of democracy and calls for national reconstruction called by the local Multisectorial.
Also in 1982, the Cordón Forestal neighborhood was created, raffling off 283 parcels of the first stage of the afforestation plan to the west of the city. At the end of 1982, the start of wind energy in Comodoro Rivadavia began when an operation agreement was made by the Sociedad Cooperativa Popular Limitada (“SCPL”), at the request of the National Commission for Special Investigations for the installation of a wind converter., a 20 kW vertical axis Dornier prototype whose operation took place at the city's General Mosconi International Airport. From this project, the possibility of producing energy through the wind in southern Argentina generated interest and a concrete possibility of expansion. In 1985 cable television arrived in Comodoro Rivadavia with the company ATELCO (Austral Televisora Color). Later, the Channel 9 Video Cable System was added. In 1987, the facilities of the National Petroleum Museum were inaugurated, built around Well No. 2, where oil appeared for the first time in 1907.
The last years of the 20th century as stagnation
The 1990s were marked by the privatization process of the state company YPF and others of importance to the country, to which was added a profound process of restructuring the productive profile of the city. The beginning of these years seemed to be promising, the Gulf War broke out in Iraq, which caused an increase in oil exploitation and exploration for almost two years, also in 1991 the city reached more than one hundred thousand inhabitants for the first time in its history., reaching more than 125,000 people, that is, an increase of almost thirty thousand from 1980 to 1991. Privatization in the nineties caused an identity breakdown in the city when the main activity company that brought it together and made it grow disappeared. The reforms and privatizations carried out by the Argentine State from 1992 have a strong impact in the area, given that YPF, Gas del Estado and Correo Argentino are privatized; distinguished companies, which were key to the development of the area. In 1992 Comodoro Rivadavia began to plunge into a deep crisis, becoming the Argentine city with the highest unemployment rate of 13.9%, and which would later be surpassed by other cities, but which in the last years of the 90s would reach around 20 % and in May 2001, 23.5% of the inhabitants of Comodoro Rivadavia were below the poverty line. In 1993, 200 hectares were acquired in Cerro Arenales located 4.5 km from the center of Comodoro in order to implement a wind farm. This ceased to be just a project in 1994 when the Sociedad Cooperativa Popular Limitada, through PECORSA, inaugurated the now well-known and outstanding "Parque Ing. Antonio Morán" by managing to install two 250 kW Micon mills there. The origin of its name was due to the first constitutional mayor that the oil city had. The annual production of both mills represented at that time 1% of the energy supplied by the Cooperative to the users. During the following two years, the expectation of increasing the number of mills in the Park was maintained and in 1997 the objective was met with the incorporation of eight new Micon wind turbines of 750 kW each. These supplied electricity to approximately seven thousand homes.
Chenque splits Commodore in two
On February 12, 1995, there was a displacement on the Chenque hill about two hundred meters from Route 3. The event left Comodoro incommunicado between its downtown area and the neighborhoods of the northern sector. When this section of National Route 3 disappeared, the entire center-south of Patagonia was cut off by land from the rest of the country. The province also immediately declared a "State of emergency" and the municipal authorities, headed by Mayor José Raúl Pierángeli, began a strategic plan to normalize the situation. Among the main ills that were experienced were the cuts in the telephone lines that passed through the sector, 3,278 houses had been left without service and the vehicular collapse that ensued.
The Commodorazo
On September 15, 1995, one of the most important social mobilizations in the history of the oil city took place: the "Comodorazo", where some four thousand people mobilized through the center of the city in rejection of a an increase of up to 100% in the real estate tax rate and 25% in that of the automobile tax, which had been approved by the outgoing government councillors.
Furious, hundreds of mobilized Comodorenses took over the Deliberative Council, forced its gate, entered and destroyed part of it and tried to attack the politicians. This almost immediately forced the veto of the standard.
The port and the centenary of Comodoro
On October 12, 1996, thousands of Comodorans attended with hope the inauguration of the completion work on the port of Comodoro Rivadavia, which was ultimately possible thanks to the income from the funds from the sale of YPF shares, although it was understood as a "historic reparation" by the majority of citizens. Despite all the effort to develop renewable energy and to supply the city, public and private investment were not enough and the city, like the whole country, would suffer from 2006 to the present a serious energy crisis, caused by the great production and consumption excessive of those years.
In December 1998, the situation in Comodoro worsened, since the international price of oil fell to 11.34 dollars, and private companies produced a massive expulsion of workers, due to the lack of profitability of the exploitation. All the negative events suffered by Comodoro in these years reflected in the lack of economic diversification and innovation, bad administration, high unemployment, general impoverishment, lack of public and private investment, collapse of public institutions, etc. They culminated in 2001 when the national census carried out in that year reveals that "Commodore for the first time in 100 years of history, grew just over 9% from 1991 to 2001". In the last year of this decade, the city suffered the Explosion at the Casa Tía Branch in Comodoro Rivadavia in 1999, one of the greatest tragedies in living memory and your old
The early years of the 21st century
Expansion
In recent years, reactivations have been taking place: linked to the fluctuations of the world market, some projects have appeared whose objective is to overcome the oil monoculture: Free Zone, Bi-Oceanic Corridor, expansion of the port and renewable energies. Today we are experiencing another oil boom, finding a large number of foreign companies that deal with the exploitation of crude oil, this generated a gradual recomposition of labor activity in that sector. The aforementioned improvement began in 2002 with the devaluation of the peso and continued in 2003 with the invasions in the Middle East that the US perpetrated, which progressively raised the international price of a barrel from $25 in 2003 to $147.90 in 2008. This historical fact made the exploitation of black gold in the area more profitable. And together with the advance of the oil activity, many sources of work were created that brought new waves of immigrants and migrants in search of work and better salaries. The oil boom brought with it the expansion of construction in the oil city, growing in new areas and increasing buildings in the center. During those years it became the first city in the interior of Argentina in terms of growth in real estate demand. Modern buildings were erected in Comodoro, where economic activity favors new projects. In recent years, the construction of IPV houses has been sustained over time, which has generated new sources of work. This favorable panorama has attracted numerous workers from other parts of the country and even from neighboring countries such as Bolivia and Paraguay.
Both the national and provincial governments have earmarked a significant budget for the construction of social housing, especially in the last year. This generated sources of employment and also reactivated activity in the city. On December 13 of the same year, to commemorate the centenary of the discovery of oil, the Argentine State honored that historic event with the printing of a special $2 coin that bears the name of Comodoro Rivadavia and the image of the first of the extraction wells immortalized.
The Global Financial Crisis
Since the end of 2008, the city and the region were affected by the financial crisis, which caused the worldwide drop in the price of a barrel of oil, which after the peak rise of $147.50 dropped to $35.60 dollars. On the other hand, tourism was almost completely paralyzed by Influenza A. At the end of 2009, a slow recovery began with the rebound in the price of a barrel that reached more than $80, a situation that was maintained until 2014. This was thanks to the combination of the revival of economies, the events of the Arab spring and the diplomatic crisis over Iran's nuclear program from 2011-2013.
In the last quarter of the year, INDEC released encouraging data that shows economic recovery: Comodoro registers the lowest unemployment rate in the country with unemployment at 3.6% and underemployment at 1.5%.
The Decade of Floods
Since 2010, there began to be a succession of violent rains that affected the entire area of the city. The climatic phenomenon hit Comodoro in different years in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
2010 Landslide
In late February 2010 the industrial city experienced its first significant modern flooding. The event broke out with an electrical storm that discharged 42 millimeters of water in 26 hours, half of that amount fell in 3 hours, causing rapid flooding. The amount of rain ended up being almost half of what it rains in an entire year.
The phenomenon caused an avalanche of clayey mud and water that descended from the surrounding hills. The balance was 3 deceased people. The avalanche caused damage to different neighborhoods, flooded sewers, destroyed streets and vehicles. Civil Defense carried out some 600 interventions, together with military and police personnel from the Municipal Emergency Operations Center (COEM). The victims were more than 60 families, they remained housed in gyms in the city. The most severe consequences were the destruction of the slope of Mount Lindor and the slope of Mount Chenque, which was weakened. The General Mosconi and Laprida neighborhoods were the most affected. The first saw two of its symbols buried, the police station and the neighborhood union. The phenomenon broke out without any type of prior warning and the emergency was only declared when the rainfall had already fallen. After the disaster, the designs of contingency works had to be generated, such as retaining walls in Laprida, the pluvial walls of Quintana avenue at km 3 and the great terracing of Chenque.
2011 Flood
On April 13, 2011 between 3 a.m. and 5 p.m. m. and 9 a.m. m. 43.2 mm of water fell. Despite not meaning such a magnitude of water, the city's rainwater was not enough either. Flooding and advance of mud were seen. The upper neighborhoods within the most affected, the entrance to the Alvear Hospital was cut off, some houses flooded in the north of the city and total flooding in the neighborhood 1,008 houses. Power outages were constant. Due to all these circumstances, school activity and public transport were gradually suspended. The evacuees totaled 10. Since that incident, the municipality insists on the need to complete works in the northern and southern maximum collectors, still unfinished in 2017.
2014 Flood
On January 14, 2014, 100 millimeters of rainfall fell on the city, causing havoc in different sectors of the common land. The consequences were streets turned into rivers that swept away houses and cars. The current gained strength when it came down from Chenque hill at full speed. The storm left the material balance of 50 houses damaged, totally collapsed and two completely washed away. Several vehicles remained prisoners of the currents that left 30 motorists had to be rescued. There was also a blackout that affected most of the neighborhoods in the northern zone Meanwhile, 70 Comodorans had to be evacuated due to the risk in their homes and 5 injured in total.
2016 Flood
On the first day of 2016 in the afternoon there was a slight flood. This was the smallest of all the floods with just 14 millimeters which was enough for 10 families to need assistance. The rains lasted for an hour and a half, and after the first 50 minutes several streets were already flooded. Municipal crews had to be organized to provide assistance in numerous neighborhoods. The most affected were Abel Amaya, 1008 Viviendas, Argimiro Moure, San Cayetano. Meanwhile, Roca and La Nación avenues collapsed.
Oil Crisis
Since mid-2014 there has been a sharp drop in the price of a barrel of oil. The reasons for the drop were the growth in production in the United States and the drop in demand from Europe and China, large oil consumers.
In January 2016, strong mobilizations began in the city by oil workers and their families due to the critical situation in the oil sector due to the lack of responses from the national government and the wave of layoffs in that sector. By 2017, unemployment as a result of the national and oil crisis left the Comodoro agglomerate with 4,000 layoffs between the oil and construction sectors, doubling unemployment to reach 5.3%. Given the prolonged drop in activity, which generated 1,440 layoffs in 2017, the national government signed an agreement with the companies and the union to improve oil productivity in Chubut. The State will provide, through Repro, a subsidy to the salary of workers in crisis of up to $22,000 per month for six months for up to 1,800 workers. Meanwhile, the companies promised to support the activity and the union to make their working conditions more flexible, especially "taxi hours", which are paid for performing functions, but without carrying out any activity.
The crisis brought a reduction in income from oil royalties. The city lost 170 million pesos in 2015, and 175 million less projected for 2016.
Geography
The city of Comodoro is famous for its unique geography, being one of the only cities in the country located at the foot of a hill and on the seashore. It is located in the central zone of Cuenca San Jorge, which corresponds to an area of marine deposition, a sector where abundant marine fossil remains are found and in complete irregularity of terrain, finding hills of different extensions, lowlands, canyons, plains and hills everywhere.. All this gives typical unevenness of the city and its surroundings, being so common that some neighborhoods take names such as La Loma, Cerro Solo, Seismográfica.
The capital of oil stands on the Patagonian plateau in the lower plane between Pampa Salamanca to the north, Pampa del Castillo to the west and Meseta Espinosa to the south. It is a very rugged geographical area, standing out the central area that is located at the foot of Cerro Chenque whose height reaches 212 meters above sea level; from there the panoramic view is dazzling. However, this plateau divides the city in two, separating the southern zone from the northern zone.
Likewise, it also complicates urban development since the center is blocked between the sea and the hill. The plateau extends preventing the advance to the west of the agglomerate, but with the name of Cerro Arenales of more than 400 meters above sea level, the local wind farm stands there. To the north, passing Caleta Córdova, you can see Pico Salamanca, a hill of 576 meters above sea level, whose perfect conical silhouette is its main characteristic and is one of the symbols of Comodoro.
Other important hills are Punta Piedras, a formation that, in addition to being a plateau, is a cliff and separates the Stella Maris and Industrial neighborhoods from Rada Tilly, preventing their unification. The Viteaux located in front of the Chenque and from which it is separated by the canyon "Infiernillo". It is very similar in texture to Chenque, but several meters more and less wind-rain erosion. Hermitte Hill once again divides the city, this time separating "km 3" Guemes and Castelli.
Finally. the 60-meter-high Lindor that affects the southern zone, separating the La Loma neighborhood from the Centro Cívico neighborhood, and today this plateau is populated with houses.
The coast is rugged, with more than 40 km, combining fine sand beaches with pebble ones, protected by cliffs that reach heights of up to 60 meters that drop precipitously on them. There are many bays, bays and coves, which in the low seas reveal wide sandbanks. These accidents influenced the naming of some neighborhoods such as Caleta Córdova, Caleta Olivares, Restinga Alí.
Urbanism
The original layout of the city was completely changed. In its beginnings its planning was insufficient with the great growth of its population. Thanks to the period of capital that it had between 1944-1955, it was provided by the military government with comprehensive planning that carried out a significant investment in public works, both in Comodoro Rivadavia and in the entire region it covered. In Comodoro, their character was monumental and was reflected in the Colegio Perito Moreno, the Library and Museum (it was the headquarters of the Military Government and is currently known as the Courts), the building of the Court of Appeals of the Judiciary (today ESETP No. 749), the Regional Hospital, the Tourist Hotel (now the headquarters of different organizations such as the federal judiciary), the Hogar Escuela (now the Military Lyceum), the Regional Market (now the Deliberative Council), the House of Public Baths (now the Antonio Garcés Regional Museum), among others. But the great legacy of the military government was the transformation of the downtown area, thanks to the fact that land was reclaimed from the sea, in the construction of the civic center. Thanks to these works, the physiognomy of Comodoro Rivadavia was modified and it was given institutional importance and a development that it had not had. While the founding center was completely transformed, to the north of Cerro Chenque the towns-oil camps and others continued to develop with dynamics typical of the oil-railway production system.
Currently, Comodoro Rivadavia has a central nucleus, called the «Central Area», to the south of Cerro Chenque, which brings together a large number of neighborhoods, where most of the population is concentrated; this area of the city is called the "southern area". In the last census it had 103,795 inhabitants out of a total of 137,061, which was equivalent to 75.72%. There are a series of scattered urban centers to the north of the ejido that have originally been oil camps, located along the canyons that are formed between the plateaus that descend from the west towards the sea, called the "northern zone", this gathered in 2001 just under 25%. The 2010 census showed 173,300 inhabitants.
Comodoro has one of the largest urban commons in Patagonia and one of the largest in Argentina, where hills, depressions, canyons, coastal features, hills and lagoons alternate. With a dimension of 548.2 square kilometers, equivalent to almost 126 thousand soccer fields. However, not all of that land is suitable for building. Urban areas, including streets and routes, add up to 2,572 hectares. The city's soil is conditioned by oil installations and drilling, the economic axis of the San Jorge Gulf basin. The northern zone, where most of the neighborhoods were born as oil camps, is the most compromised because many hydrocarbon operations are concentrated there and through Resolution 5/96 oil wells must be located 100 meters from the urban commons (area with constructions of a permanent nature and daily use).
Currently in Comodoro there is a high demand for land to build, the Planning Code has a zoning plan that establishes where you can build in height. The spaces where higher infrastructures can be built are the Center and the fronts of the main avenues. The concept is based on the fact that the construction does not generate shade or parking problems. Added to the real estate boom that the city experienced
Public green spaces add up to 700,000 square meters. Despite the fact that it is difficult to quantify the parked area of private homes, the companies engaged in this work assured that there has been notable growth in the last five years. People are more interested in having their garden.
In the South Zone, without counting the Forest Cord, there are 471 landscaped spaces and cover some 338,229.21 m². Its maintenance corresponds to the Municipality on just over 260,000 square meters, and a total of just over 77,000 correspond to the Clear company, concessionaire of the urban hygiene service. The landscaped area in the northern part of the city: without counting the Saavedra Park or the Huergo Chalet, it has a total of 141 “green spaces”, which add up to 360,529.40 m²; and some 224 thousand square meters constitute the spaces that the Municipality maintains, and 133 thousand those that Clear maintains.
A tour of its beaches shows old oil spills, oil pipelines, abandoned pipes, railway material in the ravines and on the beaches, a garbage dump meters from the sea, oil platforms, garbage and sewage tributaries that are usually dumped in the best case with primary treatment. This makes it possible to ensure that the sea became Commodore's backyard.
Urban architecture
Several constructions rise in Comodoro, especially in Bo. Property Center builds; These constructions are based on old houses of the old Commodore. The city towers are the highest in the province and in Southern Patagonia.
| Buildings | Flats + PB | High point (m) |
|---|---|---|
| Space Dorrego | 17 | |
| The Alamos II | 16 | 66 |
| Cathedral of Saint John Bosco | 4 | 57 |
| Grey Fox | 15 | 55 |
| Torraca IX | 14 | 52 |
| Tower 1 | 15 | 48 |
| Comodoro Hotel | 12 | 46 |
| Tower 4 | 14 | 45 |
| Tower 5 | 14 | 45 |
| Tower 6 | 14 | 45 |
| Torraca V | 12 | 44 |
| Petrel I | 12 | 42 |
| Petrel II | 12 | 42 |
| Banco Nación | 13 | |
| Lucania Palazzo Hotel Building | 13 | |
| Torraca VI | 12 | |
| Vekar III | 12 | |
| The Alamos I | 10 | |
| Twenty-first century | 9 | 35 |
| Pérez Companc Building (Comodoro Rivadavia) | 9 | |
| Cirse | 8 | |
| Chalet Huergo | 2 | |
| Cinema Teatro Español | 2 |
Access and transportation
The city has an extensive network of main, secondary and tertiary roads, the routes that circulate through the municipal commons are:
- Autovía Comodoro Rivadavia-Caleta Olivia
- National Route 3
- Provincial Route 25 de Mayo
- National Route 26
- Provincial Route 1
- Provincial Route 36
- Provincial Route 37
- Provincial Route 39
- Provincial Route 54
- Provincial Route Pte. Person
Groups
Annex: Comodoro Rivadavia bus lines
Climate
The climate of Comodoro Rivadavia is part of the arid Patagonian, with low normal annual rainfall, the predominant wind is the west quadrant with an average speed of 42 km/h with violent and persistent gusts. As far as rainfall is concerned, they are scarce throughout the year, especially in summer. The temperatures are variable, but well defined throughout the year, with cool and rainier winters and a dry and warm summer. The average annual temperature is 13.1 °C and the annual average relative humidity is 51%.
It is remarkable that the local Meteorological Station has air thermometry data, at 15 dm above the ground, since 1931, without interruption, without access to the "heat spot" urban, classic of other stations invaded by the heat island of urbanization.
In the summer of 2011-2012, one of the maximum temperatures reached 40.2°, staying throughout the day, being the first place in the country with the highest temperature that same day. The minimum in winter reached -20.1° in the month of July during a cold wave that hit a large part of the country.
The area has been suffering from an intense drought for several years. Since May 12, 2013, the intense dust clouds that arouse in the lake, pass through the Comdoro Rivadavia agglomerate and culminate in the San Jorge Gulf have attracted the attention of NASA. Meanwhile, by means of its Aqua satellite, it was possible to capture the nearby Colhué Huapi lake, dying almost dry. In this way, the space agency called its analysis the lake very shallow to the point of disappearing into a beige and brown landscape. Finally, a series of data was provided such as the increase in dust deposition in the Antarctic Peninsula correlative to the introduction of sheep in Patagonia around 1935 and the nutritional benefit that dust generates in marine waters.
.PNG)
 Average climate parameters of Comodoro Rivadavia, CH | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Ene. | Feb. | Mar. | Open up. | May. | Jun. | Jul. | Ago. | Sep. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | Annual |
| Temp. max. abs. (°C) | 39.4 | 37.7 | 37.3 | 29.1 | 25.7 | 22.3 | 22.8 | 24.7 | 28.7 | 32.0 | 35.5 | 37.8 | 39.4 |
| Average temperature (°C) | 25.6 | 24.8 | 22.2 | 18.5 | 14.1 | 10.9 | 10.5 | 12.4 | 15.4 | 18.6 | 22.1 | 24.2 | 18.3 |
| Average temperature (°C) | 19.1 | 18.4 | 16.1 | 12.9 | 9.5 | 6.8 | 6.4 | 7.7 | 9.9 | 12.7 | 15.9 | 17.9 | 12.8 |
| Temp. medium (°C) | 13.2 | 12.7 | 10.9 | 8.4 | 5.6 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 5.1 | 7.2 | 10.1 | 11.9 | 7.9 |
| Temp. min. abs. (°C) | 3.8 | 2 | -2.3 | -3.3 | -11.2 | -14.2 | -20.1 | -13.6 | -8.6 | 4.1 | 4 | 4.7 | -20.1 |
| Total precipitation (mm) | 16.2 | 15.0 | 20.7 | 23.3 | 31.7 | 25.3 | 28.7 | 25.0 | 12.3 | 14.9 | 10.6 | 15.0 | 238.7 |
| Precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 61 |
| Hours of sun | 241.8 | 218.4 | 182.9 | 147.0 | 127.1 | 114.0 | 114.7 | 136.4 | 150.0 | 195.3 | 234.0 | 235.6 | 2097.2 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 40 | 43 | 47 | 50 | 59 | 61 | 60 | 56 | 51 | 47 | 42 | 40 | 50 |
| Source No. 1: NOAA (normal, 1961—1990), National Meteorological Service (precipitation days 1961—1990) | |||||||||||||
| Source No. 2: Mining Secretariat (extremes 1941–1990) | |||||||||||||
Economy
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At the beginning of its existence the town was dedicated to low port activities, fishing and rural activities, among them the most notable sheep farming. With the discovery of black gold, the international drop in the price of wool and desertification due to overgrazing. The economic reality would change completely, focusing exclusively on black gold, not diversifying, a process that worsened as the years went by and deepened in the 1990s. Today the commercial and industrial activity of the city is the largest in the Patagonian region, which was partly achieved with a medium economic diversification, developing tourism, fishing and local enterprises, among others. The activities of the oil city revolve around the following resources:
- fossil fuels: exploitation and export of oil, gas and derivatives
- Renewable energies: where windmills, algae-based biodiesel and experimental hydrogen development are included.
- Chemical industry: manufacture of products of this origin and treatment with chemicals from laboratories for oil and other companies.
- Construction industry: some elements such as ceramics, cement (petrochemical), blocks are manufactured and the drilling is developed. There are also important construction companies and companies dedicated to the field. The emblem of the city is PCR.
- Port: fishing and different exports through its port, place Comodoro in a strategic place.
- Tourism: Comodoro has unique attractions and at the same time is complemented by destination of nearby locations such as Sarmiento and Rada Tilly.
Economic position in Argentina
In 2008 it was recognized as being among the “most prosperous” districts. The study carried out by the economic consultancy Abeceb on a sample of 198 Argentine municipalities, Comodoro Rivadavia occupies the eleventh place within the first 20 municipalities, in terms of dynamism and economic activity. The indicators taken to carry out the evaluation of economic activity and elaborate the ranking of municipalities are based on the number of bank branches in each locality, number of ATMs, loans per inhabitant, bank deposits and automobile license plates. From the analysis of these indicators, consumption trends and rhythms, strengths and weaknesses of a municipality can be inferred to face commercial strategies or investment projects; soundness of the local financial system, orientation of public policies, etc. Since 2010 it is one of the four cities with the lowest poverty level in Argentina, with a percentage of 4.4. In addition, it has one of the lowest unemployment rates.
People employed by sector
- Primary Sector: 5,840
- Sector: 8,755
- Tertiary sector: 30,357
More developed activities
Oil
Comodoro is National Capital of Petroleum for being the first place where oil was discovered in the national territory in 1907 and also for its important hydrocarbon production.
The oil exploitation fields are located in the surroundings of the Golfo San Jorge basin and supply an important percentage of national consumption. Comodoro Rivadavia has one of the most important oil basins in South America with a daily production of 1,000,000 barrels of oil and 6,000,000 m³ of gas. The oil area has a staff of 7,000 workers. From 2007 to 2009, explorations were carried out in the nearby marine waters in search of black gold. The first exploratory stage implied 52 days of uninterrupted work to carry out the studies in an area of 1,700 square kilometers, of which some 600 belong to Chubut and the rest to Santa Cruz. The company Panamerican Energy estimates that by 2011 they could be drilling offshore in the Golfo San Jorge.
Currently, the production of hydrocarbons in Comodoro Rivadavia represents 41% of the production of the Golfo San Jorge Basin, which in turn reaches 31.5% of the country's total production.
Renewable energy
Comodoro Rivadavia bet on the development of clean and renewable energies for the protection of the environment. The city has a high-quality metal-mechanic park from its oil tradition. In recent years, the wind farm was expanded and biodiesel production with algae began, thanks to its Energy Center located at "km 4".
The beginning of wind energy in Comodoro Rivadavia had its initial kick in 1982. In that year an operation agreement was made by the Limited Popular Cooperative Society, at the request of the National Commission of Special Investigations for the installation of a 20 kW vertical axis Dornier prototype wind converter that was operated at the city's General Enrique Mosconi International Airport. From this project, the The possibility of producing energy through the wind in southern Argentina generated interest and a concrete possibility of expansion. In 1993, 200 hectares were acquired in Cerro Arenales located 4.5 km from the center of Comodoro with the purpose of implementing a Wind Farm. This ceased to be just a project in 1994 when the Sociedad Cooperativa Popular Limitada, through PECORSA, inaugurated the now well-known and outstanding "Parque Ing. Antonio Morán" by managing to install two 250 kW Micon mills there. The origin of its name was due to the first mayor constitutional that the oil city had. The annual production of both mills represented at that time 1% of the energy supplied by the Cooperative to the users. During the following two years, the expectation of increasing the number of mills in the Park was maintained and in 1997 the objective was met with the incorporation of eight new Micon wind turbines of 750 kW each. These supplied electricity to approximately 7,000 homes. In 2001, a third stage began with 16 new 660 kW windmills (Gamesa of Spanish origin). On February 26, 2005, the "Vientos de la Patagonia I" project emerged. In Chubut and the Ministry of Federal Planning signed that day the "Letter of Intent for the Development of a National Strategic Plan for Wind Energy", considering the participation of the Regional Wind Energy Center (CREE) dependent on Chubut as a Technological Coordination Unit. The plan aims to generate a National Wind Map and promote the development of the wind industry in the country, through the installation of 300 MW in parks that would be distributed in different parts of the territory. The plan was thus adapted to the precepts of Law 26,190 which, promulgated in 2007, establishes that 8% of Argentina's energy matrix must be provided by renewable alternatives in the year 2015. On October 5, 2005 from Comodoro launched the International Call for Declaration of Interest of Manufacturers of Wind Generators. Twenty-one multinational companies had been invited to respond to the call: “Vestas Argentina S.A., Enercon, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Energía Hidroeléctrica de Navarra, Made Tecnologías Renovables S.A., Nordex, Ecotecnia, Impsa Wind, Invap Ingeniería A.A., Grupo M Torres, Suzlon Energy Ltd., Fuhrländer Ag, General Electric, Repower, Gamesa, Mita-Teknik A/S, Argenoil S.A., Liberty Circle Investments, Abo Wind Energías Renovables S.R.L”.
- Manufacture of the first windmills in the country: the manufacture of the first Argentinian mill built in this city was by NRG Patagonia SA, a company formed by entrepreneurs of the San Jorge Gulf basin, and IMPSA, belonging to the group Pescarmona. They place their windmills in the vicinity of “El Tordillo”, west of the ejido of Comodoro Rivadavia. IMPSA already has its turbine turbine there. NRG Patagonia SA has also achieved, in July 2012, the approval of its NRG 1500. Once both mills are on the line of lap, their performance will be measured over the next 180 days with the objective of evaluating how many towers each of the firms will lift in the 60 mega mega park planned for this area. IMPSA wind turbine is already in operation. It is called IWP – 70 and has a power of 1.5 MW. It has 3 shovels and the barking diameter of the same is 70 meters. The height to the turning shaft of the machine is 71.8 meters. For its part, the NRG Patagonia wind turbine is an NRG 1500 Class I “S” of a power of 1.5 MW for the Patagonian winds.
- Impact: it is a clean and renewable energy for approximately 19,500 households, that is 17% of the energy distributed in Comodoro Rivadavia. The global projection of this type of energy is undoubtedly promising. Faced with the accelerated fall in oil and gas reserves, the search for alternative energies increases year by year, with an annual growth of 32 percent of wind energy production. The growth rate of this type of technology is only compared to cell phone or industry associated with Internet development.
The idea of the SCPL in the future is for this venture to grow, but for that it needs the Patagonian Interconnected System to arrive. With it, they would bring wind energy to other cities and increase production, although 100% supply can never be reached, because other types of energy sources are needed as backup. It is important to clarify that wind energy cannot be stored, therefore it acts as a complementary energy.
- Hydrogen: It is a non-polluting and renewable fuel in development. The experimental plant for the generation of hydrogen and oxygen that the company Hychico S.A, a member of the Capsa Capex group, mounted in the vicinity of Diadema Argentina, an enterprise that has technical characteristics that allow to show it to the world, because there are three to five similar ones internationally.
On an industrial scale, it produces around 60 m³/h of Hydrogen and 60 m³/h of Oxygen by means of water electrolysis and generates electricity with a motor-generator powered by the H2 produced to which natural gas is added, or gas with high CO2 content. Electrical energy is used in the CAPSA deposit and oxygen is compressed and marketed by the company Air Liquide S.A. In the future, the project will be integrated with a wind farm that will be installed in the vicinity of the plant, thus completing the renewable cycle of alternative energy. The plant has an approximate area of 1,000 m² and is made up of water treatment units for the hydrogen and oxygen generation process; energy transformation; Hydrogen and oxygen purification units and storage of both gases.
Sheep farming
It has been carried out since the founding of the city. Since 1937 the Rural Society of Comodoro Rivadavia commands this important activity in the South Zone of Chubut and the North Zone of Santa Cruz. Among the functions it maintains are:
- environmental and economic problems of the regional field
- negotiating body and lobbist
- organization of exhibiting events
- information on the values of rural activity
- Rural Trades School
The wool production is sold in the local market and the meat too. In recent years, the Patagonian lamb has gained ground in Patagonian consumption, as well as at a national level, by promoting itself in different areas. Today, without a doubt, it is the representative food of the region, both in Argentina and Chile. The production of sheep derivatives is so distinguished for the area that the city's coat of arms pays homage to it.
In 2011, a provincial management plan began to be discussed, aimed at creating a production system for the use of guanaco meat by slaughter in cold storage and establishment of marketing possibilities for this meat. These are meats without sanitary contraindications and that may have certain market niches. This would be a relief given the problem of the guanaco population in Southern Patagonia, which today does not have an official record, but unofficial estimates show that the number should not be less than a million animals, considering that a few years ago the estimate only for the province of Santa Cruz it was 600,000 animals.[citation needed] Which makes them compete with sheep for scarce sources of food and water. In the wool of this species, there is no viable option, since the sum of costs for this system makes it almost impossible to close the economic equation.
Fishing, port and related industries
Fishing
The city has an important fishing fleet and a free zone with industrial infrastructure to process the catches. The port of Comodoro is a picturesque place designed to receive deep-draft ships and host a significant number of sea lions and various species of birds. Comodoro is a capture center for prawns and king crabs of appreciated quality, both in the national and international markets.
The port, located in the central area of the city, at the end of Punta Borja. Designed to serve vessels up to 180 m in length, it is designed to meet the demands of general merchandise traffic, deep-sea fishing and medium-term ship repairs. The fishing activity of its port is extremely important, being a center for the capture of shrimp and king crabs. Deep-sea fishing and especially coastal fishing are two very common activities in the area.
The port's download statistics also reflect this lower activity. Although 49,670 tons of fresh fish were recorded, plus another 2,624 tons of frozen fish, in 2008 that figure fell to 29,171 tons of fresh fish.
The very behavior of the national State when liquidating export refunds, with excessively long delays but without the possibility of compensating debts of the business sector (for example, social charges) was worsening an equation that did not admit another result than financial drowning. To this we must add illegal fishing, the drop in exports, the high cost of personnel, the sale to Mar del Plata of part of the fleet, etc.
Ports
At the beginning of 2009 its application was approved with an investment of 30 million pesos, the remodeled port includes the extension of 72 meters of overseas dock and 84 meters of fishing dock, as well as a new space for the Naval Prefecture that It will allow the permanent presence of a coast guard ship to patrol the San Jorge Gulf. In previous stages, 11,500 square meters were paved and a new container and general cargo square was built, with the aim of guaranteeing the total activity of the port terminal.
- Puerto Antonio Morán
located at 45º 52' south latitude and 67º 28' west longitude on the San Jorge Gulf in the city of Comodoro Rivadavia. Its privileged location separates it only 2 km from the city's industrial park and 20 km from the General Enrique Mosconi International Airport.
It is accessed by National Route No. 3 and by Provincial Route No. 26; the first connects it with the Argentine maritime coast and the second with the Andean zone and Chile through the so-called Bioceanic Corridor. Protected by a 300 meter long breakwater, it receives the operations of fishing vessels, jiggers, mineral carriers and general cargo. It has a terminal for loading and unloading oil and by-products, owned by YPF, shipyard services and free zone. It has an overseas dock 216 meters long and 10 meters deep and a fishing dock 108 meters long and 5 meters deep, both operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Among its various services, it offers provision of fuel, drinking water, electricity, cranes, fire-fighting systems, and deposits, among others. By the end of 2011, the last stage of expansion was completed, where it was brought to the level of the large ports and tourism could be enabled.
The Comodoro Rivadavia port system also includes the following infrastructure:
- Port of Caleta Córdova: it includes 2 structures, the first is an unfinished fishing pier, by 2010 the expansion and repair of the dock that was unfinished since the 1980s with a budget of $13,800.000. The length remained at 47.7 meters and the width was taken to 18.15 meters., located at 45o 45' south latitude and 67o 21' west longitude, destined to the fishing and mooring of small boats. There is also another operator only in low seas, destined for artisanal coastal fishing. Both are destined for tourism. The latter is located in the southeast of the Caleta and has a limestone of between 2 and 3 meters.
- Puerto Caleta Olivares: is located at 44° 48' south latitude and 65° 43' west longitude and has a spring of 57 meters long and a maximum depth of 5 meters destined to the crude load.
Tourist offer
The agglomerate enjoys an excellent hotel and gastronomic infrastructure, as well as places for leisure and recreation: numerous dance bars, cinemas, theater and casino, shops, cultural walks and different historical buildings that express a whole tradition of progress. The city's museums, events and festivals represent an important cultural, archeological, paleontological and industrial economy sample of the city. The national oil capital is the gateway to the Bi-Oceanic Corridor and in recent years it has become a city dedicated to tourist and sporting events. The urban center has infrastructures to receive tourism such as the Gral Ángel Solari bus terminal and the General Enrique Mosconi International Airport.
Secondary Activities
Other activities recently had a great boom due to various factors such as increased oil production, tertiary, trade and university education, etc. Among the most famous and developed are: manufacture of chemical products, elaborated concrete, salt works, manufacture of industrial houses, shipyard, cement in charge of one of the few Argentine cement companies, Comodoro Rivadavia Petrochemical, metallurgical, refrigerators, industrial workshops and foundries, industry textile, manufacture of ceramic blocks and bricks, food industry of regional products.
Free zone
It has three well-defined annexes for the efficient provision of its services: one of 3 ha in the Port of Comodoro Rivadavia, another of 33 ha in the General Enrique Mosconi International Airport and a third industrial annex of 55 ha in the vicinity of the Park Industrial. Most of the established industries are dedicated to the oil and fishing activity, although the presence of refrigerators, mechano-metallurgical industries and construction materials also stands out. It has customs, transportation, computer network and medical emergency services and, among the extensive services it offers, we can also highlight the storage, fractionation, repackaging and distribution of merchandise, logistics advice and security 24 hours a day.
Bioceanic Corridor
Comodoro Rivadavia, on the Atlantic Ocean, and the town of Puerto Chacabuco (XI Region of Aisén, Republic of Chile), on the Pacific Ocean, are interconnected by a land route of only 530 km. The Bi-Oceanic Corridor, as a regional economic integration project, proposes using this route to mobilize the transport of cargo between both oceans as an alternative to maritime transport carried out through the Strait of Magellan or Cape Horn. With its implementation, the limitations imposed by weather conditions are overcome and the risk and higher expenses associated with this type of navigation would be reduced. In the same way, it is intended to offer this alternative mixed passage to lower the costs of anchoring and waiting associated with the use of the Panama Canal as an interoceanic route. The route it travels is 80% asphalted, subtracting 142 kilometers of paving on the Argentine side in the section that joins Paso Huemules with the Río Mayo. From Comodoro Rivadavia it is accessed by National Route No. 26 continuing until the junction with Provincial Route No. 22 towards Río Mayo; from there, take Provincial Route No. 40 until it connects with Provincial Route No. 55 that arrives at the International Pass.
Among the numerous conditions that guarantee its viability, the geographical characteristics of the Huemules Border Pass (500 meters above sea level) stand out, passable all year round without the difficulties that in winter affect other passes at higher altitudes. Regarding the port infrastructure installed on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, both the Port of Comodoro Rivadavia and Puerto Chacabuco have similar operational characteristics in terms of draft, berthing fronts and the existence of Free Zones, fiscal warehouses and container beaches, among others.
Tourism
During recent years, Comodoro Rivadavia bet on economic diversification through tourism, as one of the activities that overcomes the historical dependence on oil. In this sense, work was done to position the city as the gateway to the Southern Patagonia Coastal Marine Interjurisdictional Park and the Blue Route of Argentine Patagonia. Likewise, the main tourist activity that came to fruition was leaving the city as a host destination for fairs, congresses and exhibitions. To carry out the events, the city has stadiums, a fairground and a cultural center; all built in recent years.
Events infrastructure
- C.E.P.Tur. (Centre for Exhibition and Tourist Promotion): Built between 1932 and 1935, it worked as a user until 1970. It was fully recovered after more than 20 years of abandonment. Its function was to provide energy to port facilities. It currently works as a Exhibition and Tourist Promotion Centre.
It is located on Hipólito Yrigoyen and Mariano Moreno streets, in the building of the former Usina Portuaria. It integrates the so-called Ferroportuario museum, which includes a series of buildings of great historical-cultural importance for the city of Comodoro Rivadavia. In it, during a guided tour, you will appreciate the beauty of a building completely recycled for tourist activity, which preserves, within its historical sample, part of the machinery used in the mid-1930s.
- Fairground: Its idealization appeared in 1998, but on December 11, 2010 it was created after an investment of 40 million pesos. With 4500 square meters covered, a capacity for more than 6 thousand people, a scenario of 20 meters and parking for more than 1000 vehicles, is one of the most important exhibition centers in the country.
Places of Interest
These are the places of interest in and around the city:
Plaza Soberanía: known as the "Jardín del Puerto" this space began to be forested in 1923. In 1968 by national law the lands occupied by the railway were disaffected, passing as a recreational area to the urban layout and it is called a National Sovereignty Park.
In 1984 it was named Plaza de la Soberanía in honor of the Malvinas feat. On the occasion of the Centennial of the city, commemorated on February 23, 2001, a contest was called to choose the representative monument of the 100 years. The plastic artist José Luis Muñón was the winner of the contest. The work is located in Plaza Soberanía and symbolizes the heart of Commodore in metal.
Historical Railway Port Circuit: the circuit includes a set of railway port buildings located in the urban center. It begins at the former Comodoro Rivadavia Port Plant, which is currently the Ceptur (Exhibition and Tourism Promotion Center). This space was declared a national historical asset and provincial heritage. The circuit continues in historical facilities related to the port, such as the port sheds, the housing of the personnel in charge in 1932, water tanks, the pump house, and port workshops. The circuit also includes visits to the former Comodoro Rivadavia Railway Station located on Avenida Rivadavia and 9 de Julio; which made possible the communication between Sarmiento and Comodoro Rivadavia, facilitating the economic and social development of the area and the port of the city with a modern infrastructure for the time. Today the station became the Ferroportuario museum.
Mirador del Cerro Chenque: with its 212 masl height, it flanks the entrance to the downtown area of the city through the northern sector of the latter; It offers a panoramic view of the downtown area, the entire southern area and the plateaus, to the north the Pico Salamanca, the Port of Comodoro Rivadavia and the entire sea in its splendor. Cerro Chenque is made up of sedimentary materials interspersed with banks of ancient oyster colonies. It is a natural and symbolic resource of Comodoro Rivadavia. The hill rises dominating the central area of the city and is constituted, together with oil, in one of the distinctive features of the city.
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Antonio Morán wind farm: inaugurated in 1994, the origin of its name was due to the first constitutional mayor that the oil city had. It currently has 26 wind turbines in total, making it one of the largest in South America.
Its mills are 45 m high, distributed in different sectors of the city:
- Cerro Arenal: is the main area of the wind farm, since it has 18 wind turbines. It is where the park was born and where the largest number of turbines are concentrated. It has beautiful viewpoints and great accessibility from the alternative road Roque González.
- Cerro Chenque: 2 mills.
- Cerro Viteau: 5 mills.
- Exchanger "km 4": a mill near the RN 3, located in a green space, called the wind square.
El Farallón: the atypical geography of Patagonia is no exception in Comodoro, being surrounded by numerous geographical features, both along the coast and by land nearby. Being affected by the Patagonian plateau. On the coast, deep marine erosion created caves and over time some deeply broke the hill that penetrates the waters, however the hill proved to be a tough nut to crack and ended up being a splendid cliff that is unique in the area. Different hills and elevations can be seen on the land, the most notorious are Pico Salamanca for its exuberant conical silhouette and Pampa Salamanca. Both north of the town. Finally, there are very low hills and abundant coves everywhere in a geography as varied as it is beautiful.
Southern Patagonia Coastal Marine Interjurisdictional Park: located north of the San Jorge Gulf near Comodoro Rivadavia, the Coastal Maritime Interjurisdictional Park is the first of its kind in the entire country and its creation was approved in December 2008 by the Congress of the Nation at the request of an initiative promoted by Governor Mario Das Neves who at the time signed an agreement with the former president of the Nation, Néstor Kirchner, which the current president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, later sent for treatment to the Argentine Parliament. The Park has an area of more than 100 kilometers and covers 42 islands including the sea bed and subsoil of great ecological richness. It also houses 40 different species of birds and is unique in its condition because to visit it it is necessary to enter the Argentine Sea. The area of Rocas Coloradas, located in this park, is famous for its beauty and for being at the foot of Pico Salamanca, an indisputable sign of Comodoro. You can go through a circuit of 4x4 vehicles, quadricycles or cars and guided walking tours along the coastal walk were part of this initiative.
Caleta Córdova is very close to the San Jorge lighthouse and is the gateway to Rocas Coloradas, which today is part of the coastal park, with which the town seeks to develop tourism, rather than oil and fishing.
Caleta Córdova: This remote neighborhood, which was born as a fishing village, today offers typical tourism that is very attractive for Comodoro. It is the gateway to white beaches, walks and tours to the Salamanca Peak and afternoons of fishing at its pier, especially silversides. Also, depending on the time of year, its pier and beaches abound, one-haired sea lions and sea elephants. Both industrial and artisanal fishing activity is also in sight.
Caleta is one of the most touristic neighborhoods in Comodoro, in its evenings and nights on holidays and weekends you can enjoy artistic events, fairs and restaurants. The development of tourist activity led to the construction of a coastal promenade between 2009 and 2010, unique in the oil capital.
Saint George Lighthouse: put into service in 1925, it has a 27 m concrete prismatic tower. It is a splendid architectural work, surrounded by natural landscape, close to the coast you can see beautiful beaches and the Farallón del Faro, located a few meters from it. The nearby Caleta Olivares and Caleta Córdova complete the tour. The lighthouse opens its doors for those who want to go up to its viewpoint and enjoy the landscapes it offers towards the sea, the cliffs and towards the city.
Museums of Comodoro Rivadavia
Many of the museums are heritage of the city, such as the former F.F.C.C Station (now Historical Heritage), the National Oil Museum (Historical Heritage) and Chalet Huergo (Historical Heritage).
- Fortín Military Historical Museum Chacabuco of "km 11": display of armaments of the liberating campaigns and expeditions, uniforms and documents, tell the story of the Mechanized infantry regiment 8. There too, the monuments to General O'Higgins, the fallen in the Falucho Gesta and the soldier Falucho.
- Ferroportuario Museum: located on the microcenter works at the Ex Estación del F.F.C.C., more precisely on the upper floor of the former train station is located this museum. It has 6 exhibition rooms, digital images, paintings and heritage objects. Reserve an area for the historic harbour archive, in order to catalogue, sort and dispose of its documentary funds. It was declared of national historical interest by Law No. 24798 in 1997 and has protection around through the project ferroportuario museum, which contains important sites to preserve such as the water tower, bomb house, usina, workshop, locomotive turning platform, storage gallons and cute deadlines. Sites that keep the local story.
- Astra Paleontological Museum: 20 km north of the center of Comodoro and located in front of the town of Astra, on Ruta Nac. No. 3. It hosts a paleontological interior sample of invertebrates and vertebrates; and on the outside equipment and tools used in oil activity, in the years 1917, by the company Astra.
- Chalet Huergo: located between the districts center and km 3. It is a construction dating from 1919 and was modernized in 1941. It was a guest center, receptions and place of temporary residence of important personalities from 1920 to the 1960s. Witness of the political and oil splendour that lived in this area; he hosted ambassadors, journalists, politicians and authorities linked to the former state company YPF, including General Mosconi. He passed to the municipality in 1995 and in 2003 was opened to the public. Also by the Ordinance 8830/07, the building and its surroundings were declared as Comodorse historical heritage.
Currently it is a tourist-cultural walk, exhibition center, theme park in its gardens that offer a 5-hectare park, with a viewpoint located on the cliff of the slope of Cerro Chenque. It contains a museum that exhibits rooms with original furniture, objects and photographs related to the building, YPF and its history. It also has a research area and digital image archive, in order to recover the history of the city.
- National Museum of Oil: considered a Site Museumbuilt by YPF, in 1987 in the heart of the "Barrio km 3", around the historic Pozo N.o 2, of December 13, 1907. The phases of the origin of the Universe, geological and paleontological aspects, historical documentation of the state enterprise and the stages from exploration, to the commercialization of the oil are displayed. In its gardens, valuable pieces, such as machinery, equipment and tools, from the beginning of the centuryXX.. It is considered one of the largest in the world, in terms of its content, together with that of Russia and the United States. It is administered by the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco[2].
- Patagónico Regional Museum Professor Antonio Garcés: located in the center, on Avenue Rivadavia of Comodoro Rivadavia, in the building that formerly were the public bathrooms of the city. It has the prestige of being the first of the Patagonian museums, being founded in 1948 by the visionary Professor Antonio Garcés. It provides information on geology, paleontology, archaeology, Patagonian flora and fauna, native cultures, indigenous instruments and first settlers.
- Municipal Historical Archive: Acervo Municipal that protects documentation of historical value. It has municipal records since 1905, registration of deaths, provisions and municipal resolutions since 1914, bibliography on the history of Comodoro of local researchers, magazines of historical Patagonian editions and photographs since 1920.
Beaches
- Costanera beach: it is characterized by being of turf and small sandy sectors. In summer it is used as a spa. The existence of the port as a safeguard to the waves of the sea allows the practice of water sports throughout the year. It has cliffs that are about 60 meters high, which give it a peculiar beauty. Next to the coast are rigged vessels, restaurants and a nautical club.
- Beach km 3: is distinguished by being of song rolled in its entirety and by having strong waves and high tides. Water, water and fishing activities.
- Beach km4: within walking distance of the university city and the beach of km 3, a very quiet beach is appreciated. It is an area of low cliffs and roaming. It is used for fishing and harvesting mollusks.
- Restinga Ali: is located near the town of Restinga Ali. It is a rough beach, surrounded by medium cliffs of white clays and hills that penetrate the sea, such is the case of Punta Novales. The beach is usually visited by entire families that collect carnage and sea fruits. It has fine sand and a bit of rolled edge.
- Caleta Córdova: is in the process of recovery because it was damaged by the oil spill of 26 December 2007, caused by the ship President Illia, in the monoboya of Caleta Córdova. It has very fine rolling beaches, almost sand, wildlife and little urbanization.
Holidays and important events
Anniversary of the founding of Comodoro Rivadavia
Important event that takes place to commemorate that February 23, 1901 in which the city was founded; Musical events are held with important bands, street musicians, public events and the visit of renowned personalities from the fields of music, sports, politics, etc. The party of the 109th anniversary of the year 2010 was partially canceled by the avalanche that affected the city. Since the beginning of this new century, Comodoro Rivadavia revives the Carnival Festival, retaking a custom that the city had lost towards the end of 1950.
Comodoro Rivadavia Book Fair
It has 13 editions in the city, that is, it has been held without interruptions since 1995. In 2009, the 14th presentation had to be suspended due to the economic crisis, which also led to the suspension of the Buenos Aires Children's and Youth Book Fair. the costs caused by the global problem of Influenza A in terms of days not taught classes. In addition, there was no support from publishers for the presence of national authors and as if that were not enough, there is also the lack of adequate space to host an activity that is divided into the need for three spaces, one place for the stands, another closed for the presentations of books and conferences and one more for the stage, where different artistic activities take place. Lacking place for Commodore until finishing the fairgrounds. The fair carries out, among other events:
- Presentation of national and local writers.
- Offer of local books.
- Book offer nations of all kinds.
- Musical events.
- Set in the scene of theatrical and infantile works.
- Literary contests between different schools and fans.
National Petroleum Discovery Festival
Also known as the National Oil Festival, it is an event that takes place on December 13. Its objective is to remember the discovery in 1907 of oil in Argentina, in the then small town. The event cited the most beautiful for the election of the "National Queen of Petroleum", political and cultural events. The party began as a competition between the various oil companies that existed. They competed extracting oil, with the soccer clubs that were in each of those communities and from 1947, with the competition of their women. The great Comodoro party began with its preparations from December and the general organization was in charge of the state oil company YPF. The clubs of the oil camps organized dances and there the young women joined and among all the attendees they chose who they wanted to be their representatives. Once chosen, the activities continued until December with dances in the different company cinemas, where the candidates were presented. When the day of the grand final arrived, a mass was held in front of Club Huergo; all the floats with their candidates paraded and then the coronation ceremony was held at the YPF stadium.
Meanwhile, the party underwent important changes between 1947 and the mid-60s. Initially, for women to participate in this ceremony was to access the public space, it also had a strong link with the association that was represented, since It was ethnic or club and this generated great community value. However, from 1965 until approximately 1970, the candidates were sometimes university students and represented the student centers, thus closing a cycle of their lives. Finally, in the 1970s and after the National Reorganization Process, all sense of community was lost and the presentations were individual, so that the identity of the past disappeared.
In 2007, on the 100th anniversary of the discovery of hydrocarbons, President Cristina Fernández made special mention of Comodoro and minted a $2 coin, widely used in the region.
The last call for registration was made in 2019 on the website of the municipality. Some requirements were: being Argentine, a minimum height of 1.65 m, between 16 and 21 years of age, being single and without children, a regular or completed high school student, not having been a National Queen, time availability and a certificate of good health.
The coup de grace that made the party lose its spirit came in 2020 when the municipality joined the national campaign "Cities without queens" arguing that this type of contest based on physical beauty generated stereotypes and discrimination.
Collective Festival
Organized by the Federation of Foreign Communities, it is held from the end of August to September 16, today it is a true recognition of the roots of those pioneers and an annual gift to the cultural ensemble that the different migratory currents achieved. It includes a series of parties and artistic events such as exotic dances, plays; typical foreign cuisine, a complete fair of exotic and local handicraft products of their own making. In 2009, its 22nd edition was held, with the participation of 21 immigrant associations: the Spanish Association, the Scottish-Irish Association, Croats, South Africans, Bulgarians, Greeks, former Soviets, Casa de Andalucía, Bolivians, Germans, Basques, Brazilians, Chileans, Italians, Paraguayans, Galician Center, Portuguese, Arabs, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks and Asturians. The event encompasses a series of parties among which the following stand out:
- National Queen of the Collectivities: In 2009 she became a provincial queen to national recognition. At the party are displayed the queens and princesses of the chosen collectivities and farewell of the queen and princesses of last year, at a popular party held on August 28 at the Club Huergo, or similar days of the end of the month.
- Feast of Joy: in the same place, in Gala Night, the festival of presentation of the bodies of dances of each collectivity is given. Presenting the Choir of Foreign Communities.
- Children's Festival: Sunday at Club Huergo's gym is performed with the performance of the children's dance groups of the different associations. This time, the theme is the carnival of children.
- Commemoration of the day of the immigrant: on Friday 4th Immigrant Day, the commemorative event is held in the Chalet Huergo, where the Comodorenses and radatilenses meet to pay tribute to their ancestors.
- Parade of the collectivities: the next Saturday the parade takes place in the downtown streets of the city and ends in the Plaza de las Naciones, where the communities show the advance of the collectivities fair, its members and traditions.
- The central festival of the communities: in the three days that the party lasts, approximately 15,000 people participate, including the large number of adolescents and complete families who arrive at the immense hall of the military lycée on September 11, 12 and 13.
Annual rural exhibition
Carried out by the Rural Society of Comodoro Rivadavia, it has 73 specific exhibitions and is a convening event for those who advocate horse, sheep, and bovine breeding in the region. It takes place on the property of the rural entity and is the only sheep exhibition that brings a jury from Australia to evaluate the best qualities. This important event awards the "San Isidro Labrador" prize, a distinction every year for the laborer, technician and rural producer.
Sports
Athletics
The Chubut Athletics Federation was born in Comodoro Rivadavia in 1945. In 2009 the Chubut Valley took over this Comodoro institution, moving its main headquarters to Rawson that same year. As a reaction to the dispossession and the emptiness that remained, the South Chubut Athletics Association was founded shortly after, erected where the previous institution was and based in this town. Important athletic events take place in the city, including the renowned Crónica marathon, the most important athletic event in the south. Other notable competitions are the Evita games and the Camino a Crónica Athletics Grand Prix, triathlons, the Comodoro-Rada Tilly marathon and duathlons.
Judo
It has an important weight in Comodoro, since there are many clubs submerged in its teaching and the municipal gyms develop this discipline that gained importance since the classification obtained by Alejandro Arocena and Gabriel Cámpoli, in the "80s, who they took part in a Pan-American Championship in Mexico City (1987). Alejandro Arocena also wins the golden mara awarded by the Circle of Sports Journalists and Gabriel Cámpoli receives the Municipal Sportsman of the Year Award. Another outstanding athlete is Cristian Caballero who became an Argentine champion in his category, passing all the stops, then he got a third place in the Pan American Judo Championship held in Santiago de Chile. Due to his notable achievements and at the age of 16, he was now summoned to the World Championship in Budapest.In the female category, Nadia Bravo obtained fifth place in the World Cup in the Senior 52 kg category. Which enabled her for the first time to add points to the world ranking, which she adds to later enter the Olympic Games. Oritia González won the bronze medal at the IX South American Games Odesur Medellín 2010, thus being one step away from the Olympic Games. Today Comodoro Rivadavia's judo grew exponentially, the results are so good that trips take place nationally and internationally.
Football
The most important club is Club Atlético Huracán (Comodoro Rivadavia) that came to play in the highest category of Argentine soccer in 1971, 1974 and 1976, the latter its best participation. Today he is playing the Argentine B Tournament together with Club Atlético Jorge Newbery, which is the other most important club in Comodoro, this being the classic of "El Globo". During 2008 the General Roca Club, from the rental to the Carrefour chain of part of its property, obtained income that allowed it to acquire infrastructure, vehicles and soon the landscaping of its field.
The C.A.I. (Comisión de Actividades Infantiles), a club that from 2002 to 2010 represented the city and Patagonia in the Primera B Nacional, was the only Patagonian club that remained in the second division of Argentine soccer for the longest time. It has a property called La Mata with grass and landscaped gardens, two 5-a-side soccer fields and numerous venues in the most important cities of Patagonia and Córdoba. He came to be among the first on different occasions, but also to dispute his permanence in promotions. In 2010 it was relegated to the Argentine A Tournament, and two years later it was relegated again, this time to the Argentine B Tournament. In 2013 it returned to the Argentine A Tournament but in 2015 it was relegated again, to integrate the new Federal B Tournament with Hurricane.
All these teams participate in the Official Tournament A of Comodoro Rivadavia or its Official section B and C. Both bring together teams from the South Zone of Comodoro (Huracán, Portugués, Newbery, C.A.I., General Roca), from neighborhoods that were agglomerated localities to the oil city such as Palazzo (from the homonymous neighborhood), Caleta Córdova (from the homonymous neighborhood), Tiro federal (km 3), General Saavedra (from the same neighborhood), Ferro and Usma (from Km 5), Ciudadela (from the same neighborhood), West Juniors (Sarmiento neighborhood), Argentinos Diadema (Diadema Argentina), Laprida (from the homonymous neighborhood). It also brings together towns in the South Zone of Chubut such as Rada Tilly (from the same town) and Sarmiento (from Colonia Sarmiento).
In the Municipal stadium of Comodoro Rivadavia the most popular matches are held, such as those of the C.A.I. and the local super classic between Huracán and Newbery.
Rugby
Comodoro Rivadavia has many teams with considerable structures such as Calafate R.C., Portugués, Chenque R.C. or Comodoro R.C., who has his field in Astra. These teams are part of the Austral Rugby Union and participate in the Patagonian Regional Tournament and the Austral Rugby Tournament, the most important sports competition in Patagonia organized by the Austral Rugby Union and the Chubut Valley Rugby Union. In addition, the teams of the Union make up a selection that participates in the promotion categories of the Argentine Rugby Championship.
Sailing
Together with Rada Tilly there are beaches suitable for its development, due to the fact that the wind is usually constant and the action of the tide flattens the sand, leaving it smooth and firm as a street. These are famous in the world for their geographical conditions of cliffs and sandy plains, which make them perfect for setting sail. Comodoro and Rada Tilly hosted the 2008 World Cup in Sand Sailing, both cities having the privilege of developing this event in South America. Various countries from all over the world came to enjoy this beach and these strong winds, which on most days helped the World Cup to take place with great satisfaction.
Fishing
Comodoro has excellent beaches and people who make this sport very popular such as the "El enganche II" and "el pique"
Basketball
In the city there are several clubs dedicated to this sport, among which the most prominent and important is Gimnasia y Esgrima (Comodoro Rivadavia), it has its own stadium called "Socios Fundadores", one of the most important in the city, for its history and capacity of 3,453 spectators with stalls for 1,181 fans and popular with 2,272 seats. He became champion of the 2005-2006 National Basketball League, a title that has no equal in the region and is undoubtedly the most important in the city, throughout his participation in 2nd, 3rd and 4th places in the National League. These facts make it the most important basketball club in the region. In addition, in its international participations, it obtained: runner-up in the South American Championship of Champion Clubs in 2004 and in the South American League of Clubs, 2nd place in 2001, while in 2007 4th place. In October 2009, he stood out again by being crowned runner-up after losing the Argentine Cup by a narrow margin of points, whose final home run was played at the Trelew municipal gym., a record that only the historic Atenas, Peñarol, Boca and Bahía Blanca Estudiantes have reached, making the club one of the most traditional in the league. Federación Deportiva y Petroquímica de Comodoro Rivadavia are other of the successful and promising clubs in Comodoro.
Boxing
The National Capital of Petroleum has numerous municipal stadiums, approximately one per neighborhood, but the gym most dedicated to sports is No. 1, it is there where takes place the Neighborhood Boxing Championship that includes the participating categories of: Under 14 and 15 years old. Youth 16 to 18 years. Seniors 19 years and older. Weights: Mini fly up to 48 kg; fly up to 51kg; rooster up to 54 kg; boom up to 57 kg; light up to 60 kg; superlight up to 64 kg; walter up to 69kg; super walter up to 75 kg; medium up to 81 kg and super medium up to 91 kg. The best boxer is Héctor David Saldivia, known as the «Tigre Saldivia», he is the current Argentine welterweight champion and Fedelatin, now ranked fifth in the WBA, at 147 pounds (66, 68kg). He had a World Cup shot where he was knocked out for the world crown at his weight in 2010.
Futsal
Also called indoor soccer or soccer 5. This sport is one of the most successful and practiced in the city. Important local clubs obtained distinguished positions in different local, national and international championships. This sport in the national oil capital has achieved distinguished titles and placements in the Argentine National Team since 1997: the Comodorense National Team achieved four titles (1999, 2001, 2004, 2005) and three runners-up (1997, 2003, 2006). While local clubs in the national tournament Liga de Honor: Casino a championship (2001, 2006) and a runner-up (2007) and Clear a championship (2007) and a second place (2009). At the international level, in 2007 Casino Club on the fields of Comodoro Rivadavia became champion of the South Pan American contested by country teams with very competitive teams, becoming one of the few Argentine teams that hold such a title. With the second place in the League of Honor, Clear acquired the right to participate in the next Pan American South Zone. Comodoro has a very competitive league at the national level. In 2009 Casino Club achieved runner-up by falling in the final of the Futsal Club Champions World Cup. Among the most outstanding teams are Escapes Nico, Lanús, Olimpo, Clear and Casino. There are also various clubs throughout the city that prepare all ages.
Motor Racing
The General San Martín Autodrome is used by the most important categories of Argentine motorsports, such as Turismo Carretera, Super TC 2000 and Top Race. It has a length of 4,100 meters of rope and consists of 16 curves and 4 different layouts.
Open Water Swimming
Open water swimming is a sport that is increasingly practiced on the Comodoro coast, throughout the year. Mainly on the Costanera and the YPF-KM3 Yacht Club. Currently, multiple open water swimming competitions and crossings are held annually, among which the annual date of the National Finswimming calendar stands out, in which Lionel Herrera has stood out as world runner-up in his category in 2017. In 2018, swimmers Pablo Maccari, Andrés Moreno and Juan Manuel Diez Tetamanti joined Rada Tilly with Comodoro Rivadavia for the first time; and in 2019 they carried out the Comodoro Rivadavia-Caleta Olivia expedition swimming both cities.
Cultural aspects
Education
In Comodoro the National University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco works, in this headquarters the rectorate has a seat. It has a building area of 30,000 m² covered (plus an extension of a new classroom building). The infrastructure of the UNPSJB works in the Ciudad Universitaria, located four kilometers to the north of the city center, where the deanships of Engineering, Natural and Medical Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences and Law work. There is also a delegation from the Faculty of Economic Sciences. Careers are taught in the areas of knowledge linked to these faculties and the Patagonian University College (C.U.P.) dependent on the Academic Secretary of the U.N.P.S.J.B. The headquarters has approximately 7,100 students (2003).
Since 2013, CONICET inaugurated the Chubut Research and Transfer Center.
The Catholic University of Salta with its delegation complements the educational offer, but in a limited way and at a distance.
There are various establishments dedicated to tertiary and university careers such as the C.E.R.E.T, the Petroleum School and the Professional Training Institute
The agglomerate has an important and complete building infrastructure of public and private primary and secondary schools. Among the most prominent are:
- Salesian religious schools: Domingo Savio, Dean Funes and Maria Auxiliadora, the most important Catholic schools in the city.
- The only military educational establishment in Patagonia: Liceo Militar General Roca.
- Evangelicals like Adventist schools.
- The most important and historic public schools such as: school 83, the first of Comodoro; the Perito Moreno National College, the first secondary school in the community, the former ENET No. 1, first technical school; the CUP, the Patagonian university college and the Art School, the first and only dedicated to this educational field.
- The most important private schools such as Abraham Lincoln School, Leonardo Da Vinci and the Austral Institute of Teachings.
Comodoran idiosyncrasy
The development of different activities, especially economic and social, brought together inhabitants from different parts of Argentina, as well as from foreign countries. This confluence of circumstances gradually gave the population a particular ethnic and cultural physiognomy. One of the events that marked immigration in this area was the arrival of a colony of Boers, South African peasants of Dutch descent, who received political asylum in Argentina and settled in these lands. Over time and especially with the discovery of black gold, the city received Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, Poles, Bulgarians, Chileans, Welsh, Brazilians, internal emigrants and in recent years Koreans, Bolivians, Paraguayans and Dominicans have arrived. All of them were conforming and conforming this particular Comodoran idiosyncrasy. Today Comodoro remembers them with his own festivals, monuments, cultural events and his own structures for residents and descendants of these communities [3].
Religions of Comodoro Rivadavia
The city has very important religious buildings for the region due to its capacity as the Tabernacle of Faith; or by its seniority; beauty or height like the cathedral of San Juan Bosco. The predominant religion, as in the whole country, is Catholic. The city is the seat of the Diocese of Comodoro Rivadavia. According to the information provided by the religious news agency AICA, in 2008, the diocese of Comodoro Rivadavia had a population of approximately 600,000 inhabitants (including 234,000 km² of central Patagonia) and only 46 priests (secular and religious), seven of which are elderly, 80 years or older, and some with health problems. This situation created pastoral vacuums, while Cardinal Mario Bergoglio said he was "impressed by such poverty of the clergy." These circumstances, according to the Catholic Church, make it possible to be constantly overwhelmed by the attacks and proposals of evangelical denominations and sects"[4] (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first and last version)..
Despite all the aforementioned, there are more factors that have had an impact in recent times and that have caused a very significant increase in the number of Protestants from approximately 1980 to the present, seeing a large number of evangelical branches. They are also observed with minority Jewish creeds, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, a Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, the Orthodox Church and in recent years the Umbanda religion has appeared. Likewise, as in the whole country, there are those who do not profess any religion. The city has 94 Christian temples, more than 80 of these churches are evangelical, a belief that brings together more than 15,000 faithful, according to the estimate of its Council of Pastors. For their part, Jehovah's Witnesses number 1,200 in 5 rooms; while the Mormons 3,800 members who attend in 9 congregations.
Comodoro Rivadavia in Literature
Comodoro Rivadavia is the main setting of the novel Cazador de farsantes, by Cristian Perfumo. It also inspired Hágase tu mismo , a novel by Enzo Maqueira.
Media
These are the media outlets in the city and surroundings:
FM Radios
- FM radios: (67)
- 87.9 MHz - Patagonia Rock & Pop
- 88.1 MHz - City
- 88.3 MHz - Radiocracy
- 88.5 MHz - Magic stage 171
- 88.7 MHz - Heaven
- 89.1 MHz - Récords
- 89.3 MHz - Oil
- 89.5 MHz - Bizarra
- 89.9 MHz - You remember
- 90.1 MHz - Fantastik radio
- 90.3 MHz - Air Patagonian
- 90.5 MHz - Reconciliar Radio
- 90.7 MHz - Dawn
- 91.1 MHz - Punta Borja
- 91.5 MHz - La Torre
- 91.9 MHz - Viva-Latina 101.1 (Federal Capital)
- 92.3 MHz - 2000
- 92.9 MHz - Radio UNPASJB
- 93.1 MHz - Freedom
- 93.3 MHz - Romantic
- 93.5 MHz - Christian
- 93.9 MHz - Patagonia Argentina
- 94.1 MHz - Magic
- 94.3 MHz - LRA311 National Radio Comodoro Rivadavia
- 94.7 MHz - Dawn
- 94.9 MHz - Radio Austral
- 95.1 MHz - Radio 10 (Federal Capital)
- 95.5 MHz - Natural
- 95.7 MHz - Station 711
- 95.9 MHz - Rock Station
- 96.3 MHz - Klara-40 Main (Federal Capital)
- 96.7 MHz - Eco
- 96.9 MHz - South
- 97.1 MHz south
- 97.3 MHz - Wind Voice
- 97.5 MHz - People-Mega 98.3 (Federal Capital)
- 97.7 MHz - Cadena Patagonia
- 98.3 MHz - News
- 98.5 MHz - Leader
- 98.7 MHz - Radio Del Mar
- 99.1 MHz - Dsports Cdro. Rivadavia
- 99.5 MHz - Radiovision
- 99.9 MHz - FM 100
- 100.1 MHz - La100.1
- 100.5 MHz - Radio Escalante
- 100.9 MHz - Positivo Radio Station
- 101.1 MHz - Energy
- 101.3 MHz - Impact
- 101.7 MHz - Alfa FM (LU4 Radio Patagonia Argentina)
- 102.1 MHz - Chronicle
- 102.3 MHz - Eclipse
- 102.5 MHz - Brisas
- 102.7 MHz - Leader
- 102.9 MHz - Activate
- 103.3 MHz - Radio La Constructora
- 103.7 MHz - Red Aleluya Cdro. Rivadavia
- 103.9 MHz - AM del Plata (Federal Capital)
- 104.1 MHz - 104
- 104.3 MHz - Popular
- 104.5 MHz - Del Chenque
- 104.7 MHz - The Voice
- 104.9 MHz - Radio D
- 105.1 MHz - Friendship of the Cumbion
- 105.3 MHz - Central
- 105.5 MHz - Vip (Rada Tilly)
- 105.7 MHz - Roots
- 105.9 MHz - Omega
- 106.1 MHz - Maná
- 106.5 MHz - Spring
- 107.3 MHz - Village
- 107.5 MHz - City
AM Radios
Most of them are historical radio stations, with a wide range and little listened to. Among the most prominent:
- LU4 Radio Patagonia Argentina - (630 kHz)
- LRA11 National Radio Comodoro Rivadavia (670 kHz)
Local newspapers
- Chronicle
- PatagononicIndalo Group
- Diario Chubut
Television
Local channels only deal with zonal news and local sports programs:
- Channel 3: produces its programs in Mendoza and is only composed of local news.
- Canal 9: founded by a group of entrepreneurs in the city on September 21, 1964 (58 years), became the first privately run air television channel in Patagonia. It was born when there was no cable video or satellite service, the first color-on-screen images on the early 1980s, and dozens of journalistic and cultural references in the region paraded through its screen.
- Canal 7 repeater of Buenos Aires.
Digital magazines and newspapers
- Rada Tilly News
Digital newspapers
- Diario Chubut
- Radio del Mar
- Radio La Torre
- Rada Tilly News
- News of Productive Innovation and Entrepreneurism
Magazines
- Southern Cone
- Revista Noche Polar
- Yearbook Petroleum
News Agencies
- Télam
Demographics
Historical population evolution of the Comodoro Rivadavia agglomerate
| Year of national census | Number of inhabitants |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 35.966 |
| 1970 | 72.906 |
| 1980 | 96.817 |
| 1991 | 124.104 |
| 2001 | 137.061 |
| 2010 | 177.038 |
Population
In the first population registry carried out in 1905, Comodoro Rivadavia had 562 inhabitants, of which only 6% corresponded to Argentine nationality. Since then, that small town would see in a few years, with the discovery of oil in 1907, the immense migration and immigration of the following years, which would change its structure as a port town of departure for the agricultural products of the flourishing town of Colonia Ideal (today Sarmiento). Later, it would be transformed, as the next censuses show, into a thriving city, which for years was unique in the region. The table shows how the Comodoro agglomerate doubled (1960 and 1970) and experienced exponential growth for Patagonian cities. In 1980 the city had 96,817 inhabitants, being on the verge of exceeding 100,000 inhabitants for the first time.
In 1991 it was 124,104, which meant a population increase of almost 30%, it would be the last explosive increase.
In 2001 it was 135,632, which represented an increase of just over 9% compared to the previous census, for the first time in its history below the national average. This low growth rate, produced a historic slowdown in population growth, which traditionally had been 2 figures. This census reported that the city had 37,659 homes in those years and a gender distribution favorable to females with 69,033 women compared to 68,028 men.. While the predominant age range was 20 to 29 years, 20.2%. Among the main factors that caused it were: the great Argentine crisis of 2001, where many industries closed and therefore many migrated; YPF privatization, which left many unemployed; the drop in immigration; the low migration and finally the low birth rate, produced largely by the constant incorporation of women into the world of work, a fact that produces that instead of claiming 6 children, they instead claim 2 or 3, etc. In any case, this magnitude placed the agglomeration as the 25th urban center in the country (without considering the Comodoro Rivadavia-Rada Tilly agglomerate).
Citizens perceived the 2010 Argentine Census as an act of political corruption on the part of the Chubut governor at the time, Mario Das Neves, with the purpose of minimizing the royalties that are assigned by population, with the supposed objective of appropriating the money from the provincial treasury. One of the mayoral candidates for the 2010 elections promised to carry out a new census if he won. Once elected, a municipal survey was carried out on October 20, 2014 with a pilot stage that in this first stage included the population count of the neighborhoods of Astra, Diadema and Caleta Córdova. Then Citadel and Próspero Palazzo were added. Although specific figures were never disclosed, in the previous stages it was verified that there were clearly differences with what was established by the National Census with variations of up to 20% in some sectors.
The census, in definitive numbers, registered a population increase of 29.17%. Thanks to this, the city once again exceeded the national average.
| Evolution of the population since 1905 and projection of the population by 2020. |
 |
Source INDEC - Graphical design by Wikipedia - Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, Argentina. |
Urban agglomeration
According to the 2001 census, the Comodoro Rivadavia agglomeration included, in addition to the entire South Zone, the neighborhoods: "km3", "km 4", "km 5&# 34;, "km 8", "km 11", Próspero Palazzo, Laprida, Ciudadela, Saavedra, Restinga Ali, Caleta Córdova, Sarmiento, Manantial Rosales, Castelli, Barrio Militar-Airport, Rodríguez Peña, Gas del Estado, Güemes, Acceso Norte, Villa S.U.P.E., and Caleta Olivares. Thus, the neighborhoods Diadema Argentina, Astra and surroundings and the municipality of Rada Tilly are excluded from it.
This was due to the distance from the focus of the urban agglomeration (Bº Centro). It is currently expected to merge with Rada Tilly, due to the fact that the distance was shortened (12 km the last measurement) and their populations increased more than estimated. Currently, the two cities are grouped together in the permanent household survey, calling the group Comodoro Rivadavia-Rada Tilly, taking between them unemployment, unemployment, poverty, employment and even a population estimate as a whole. The total of the agglomerate in 2001, without the 3 localities mentioned, was 135,622 inhabitants, according to the institute. While the population of Comodoro without the previous agglomerations, that is, without the entire North Zone, is 103,795 inhabitants. This is equivalent to 75.7% concentration in the South Zone for 2001.
On the contrary, the municipality of Comodoro Rivadavia includes in its urban commons these localities that are not agglomerated according to the INDEC (Astra and Diadema Argentina), giving in 2001 137,061 inhabitants, thus creating a clash with the number of inhabitants thrown by the institution, which is often confusing and not well understood by its population. Thus raising one of the few Argentine cases where the population of the municipality is greater than the agglomerate recognized by INDEC.
There are a series of neighborhoods in its agglomerate, forty-eight with neighborhood unions, plus four without neighborhood union. They are divided into two large areas for historical, geographical and administrative reasons:
Northern Zone: linked to the oil and railway tradition, an area that was born thanks to the discovery of black gold, it is made up of several towns that were initially erected as oil or railway camps, and that with the increase of the commercial and productive activities, they were becoming towns and with the running of the expansion of Comodoro they were absorbed by this one. Each locality also includes neighborhoods, although they can be considered as different towns due to their distance and origin, today these localities are simply treated as neighborhoods, since they do not have a municipality. In the '80s there was an attempt to separate and create a municipality at "km 3", but it failed because it was just as central as the downtown neighborhood of Comodoro.
South Zone: the oldest, where the city was founded; and which contains exclusively neighborhoods, among the most prominent are the central, peripheral and others associated with the housing emergency, produced by the masses of poor people or with very limited resources, who arrive in the city in search of the Patagonian dream (to be able to have a good salary and get out of poverty), they found settlements and shantytowns in wastelands; Coming to live in precarious and overcrowded conditions which constitutes a common landscape in the southern zone, with the majority of families being able to progress over time.
Despite the fact that the southern part of the city concentrates most of the population, in recent years an attempt was made to equate both populations, with distribution of national and provincial housing plans, which were mostly concentrated in the northern zone, the economic difference of real estate and availability of land, among others. However, the southern area is still very attractive for its comfort, accessibility, shops and homes.
On the southern limit of this area is Rada Tilly, from which it is separated by the Punta Piedras plateau, which is also a cliff; by the La Mata stream and the open air dump of the agglomerate. During mid-September 2009, the Municipality of Comodoro Rivadavia held a tender to start up the urbanization of the southern slope of the hill up to the border with the Stella Maris neighborhood, also including the landfill area, which is intended to be moved or closed. As it is an area crossed by the La Mata stream, it is proposed to pipe it for an extension of 400 linear meters, in order to take advantage of the surface. These facts would concretize the union between the 2 cities, losing the natural limit, being practically united with a few kilometers of distance.
Some neighborhoods and towns in North Zone are: (It should be clarified that the name "km" is related to the distance from the city center. It starts at km 3 to the south, ending at km 20 to the north, limiting the sea to the east and ending at west in Diadema Argentina, located almost 27 kilometers away from the Bº Centro).
| Barrios | Area | Population(2001) |
|---|---|---|
| Centre | South | 13 530 |
| Pueyrredon | 9 199 | |
| Open it. | 8 623 | |
| Ceferino | 8 457 | |
| General Mosconi | North | 7 462 |
| Quiroga | South | 6 529 |
| Don Bosco | North | 6 455 |
| San Martín | South | 5 996 |
| San Cayetano | 5 147 |
- General Mosconi (km 3)
- 25 May (kilometer 4)
- President Ortiz (kilómetro 5)
- Don Bosco (km 8)
- Chacabuco quarteles (km 11)
- North Access (Gesta de Malvinas or 12 km)
- North, south and center
- René Gerónimo Favaloro (northrum)
- km 17 (north)
- km 18 (northrum)
- Caleta Córdova (18 km northeast)
- Astra (km 20, north direction)
- Diadema Argentina (km 27, northwest direction)
- Prosper Palazzo
- Laprida
- Ciudadela (Comodoro Rivadavia)
- Saavedra
- Alien Restoration
- Sarmiento
- Manantial Rosales
- Castelli
- Military-Airport district
- Rodríguez Peña
- State gas (Comodoro Rivadavia)
- Güemes
- Villa S.U.P.E.
- Caleta Olivares
Meanwhile, the neighborhoods that make up Zona Sur are: (It starts in the north from Bº Centro and ends in the south in the border area with Rada Tilly of the Stella Maris neighborhoods and the Industrial extension)
- San Martín
- Barrio Humbero Beghin or Industrial
- Pietrobelli
- Newbery
- Ceferino Namuncurá
- Isidro Quiroga
- The Flowers
- La Floresta
- Maximum Apasolo
- San Cayetano
- 9 July
- 13 December
- Quirno Costa
- San Isidro Labrador
- Juan XXIII
- Abel Amaya
- Cerro Solo
- José Fuchs
- Forest Cord
- Balcony of Paradise
- Centre
- Stella Maris
- 30 October
- 1500 housing
- San Isidro Labrador
- Rock
- Pueyrredon
- Moure
In addition to all these neighborhoods and localities mentioned, the city of Chenque is closely linked to the Rada Tilly spa town, located 12 kilometers away until 2001, which not only functions as a recreational center for the inhabitants of the area, but also which became a place of residence for many families from Comodoro.
The increase in the population of the cities Rada Tilly and Comodoro Rivadavia caused the distance to be shortened significantly from their peripheries. The greatest progress was recorded in the southern zone of Comodoro, where the city expanded its population in neighboring neighborhoods such as the industrial, Stella Maris and Bellavista Sur. What creates an urban center between the two cities barely separated, this agglomeration is called Comodoro Rivadavia-Rada Tilly. In the latest estimate, it would touch or exceed 194,091 inhabitants by the end of 2008 according to the DGCYE. The name Comodoro Rivadavia-Rada Tilly is due to the fact that they are the only two cities in the agglomeration with their own municipality.
Population positions of the agglomerate
Comodoro Rivadavia-Rada Tilly is the most populated agglomeration in South or Austral Patagonia (which extends from Chubut to Tierra del Fuego), as well as the first in Chubut itself, concentrating a little more than 35% of the total population. provincial population of just over 500,000 inhabitants according to the 2010 census Likewise, the city occupies the second position in Patagonia behind the city of Neuquén. It should be remembered that until the 1980 census Comodoro was ahead of it by 6,728 inhabitants, and that later in the 1991 census it would be displaced from its long and historic first place in Patagonia. It is 1st of the Patagonian coastal cities and 3rd. in order of Argentine coastal cities, being only surpassed by Mar del Plata and Bahía Blanca.
Unusual growth
There are discrepancies in the population projections of different institutions for the agglomerate. One of them is prepared by the Provincial General Directorate of Statistics and Censuses (DGEYC), in its latest estimate for December 30, 2008, it calculates a population of 184,835 inhabitants for Comodoro Rivadavia.
Another study based on the same indicators of city services, was prepared by a group of professionals from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the National University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco estimated by December 2007, 198,546 inhabitants. This study is supported by data from July 1997 and June 1998, in Comodoro Rivadavia almost 21 million cubic meters of water (20,922,305) had been consumed. According to the SCPL records, twelve years later, in the opulent oil city, water consumption is at least 45.5% higher than then: from July 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009 the city consumed more than 30 million cubic meters (30,437,660), including contributions from the aqueduct from Lake Musters (25,628,944 m³) and the aquifers (4,808,716 m³). The frequent saturation of the sewage system, the proliferation of "irregular" settlements, the crime exceeding the capacities of the police and justice services, and in the case of vehicular vehicles licensed in the city went from 56,843 in 2005 to 73,023 in 2008. And this year, according to the register kept by the Directorate of Automotive and Miscellaneous Rents, that number grew to 75,290 vehicles up to the month of June, which can be seen on the main arteries, are some of the other indicators of the explosive growth evidenced by this city.
On the other hand, the total urban agglomeration Comodoro Rivadavia-Rada Tilly reached 143,269 inhabitants in 2001 and currently, according to the provincial institution in its estimate, it would touch or surpass the 194,091 inhabitants for 2008; due to the high population growth in recent years. While the university calculation would give some 210,000 inhabitants in the agglomerate, a difference that could be between a 10% and 15% erroneous margin, hence the disagreements with the DGCYE.
The latest dissident estimate is that of INDEC, which in its national projections by department, only estimates 162,144 inhabitants for 2009 in the Escalante department and only 147,135 inhabitants for the agglomeration, without considering Rada Tilly. The difference lies here in an estimate corresponding to an intercensus population growth registered in the period from the 1991 census to the 2001 census, which is close to 10%.
Collapsed City
The situation of explosive growth from the early 2000s to the present aroused typical problems in large cities. One of the most notorious problems is the illegal occupation of public or private land. In 2010, a study prepared by the "Real Estate Report" website revealed that Comodoro Rivadavia is the city in the interior of Argentina where the most expensive rents are paid. More, even, than in Bariloche, where the influx of foreign tourists is constant. This data helps to understand the current situation of this city: the economy, driven by the exploitation of oil, has maintained a lasting growth rate for years, but as it progresses, those excluded from this productive sector find it impossible to even access a roof. In 2005, there were settlements of 600 families in San Cayetano, 400 in Abel Amaya and 450 in 30 de Octubre. Then, in 2007, around 110 families occupied land in Stella Maris, and another 26 in Moure.
Migration and immigration in the agglomerate
The boost experienced by the region's economy, hand in hand with oil activity and other branches such as construction, fishing, tourism, etc. It attracted not only a significant mass of internal migration from the northern provinces, but also from neighboring countries, as well as from other parts of America, especially from Chilean Patagonia in the middle of the century XX and, more recently, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru and the Dominican Republic.
A characteristic of the phenomenon, in the case of Bolivians and Paraguayans, is that in many cases it is not a direct migration from their countries, but rather they come from other cities in Argentina, in many cases nearby, where they had settled previously. Even, according to sources from the National Directorate of Migrations, after the Posadas Delegation, the office that registers the most procedures in the country is Comodoro Rivadavia, with around 2,000 cases per year.
Sister cities
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Coyhaique, Chile
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In addition, the city belongs to the Commonwealth of Nations.
Side dishes
| Units of the Military Comodoro Rivadavia | Acronym |
|---|---|
| IX Mechanized Brigade «Coronel Luis Jorge Fontana» | Br Mec IX |
| Mechanized Infantry Regiment 8 «General O'Higgins» | RI Mec 8 |
| Mechanized Communications Company 9 | Ca Com Mec 9 |
| Army Aviation Section 9 | Sec Av Ej 9 |
| Intelligence Company 9 | Ca Icia 9 |
| Hospital Militar Regional Comodoro Rivadavia | HMR Comodoro Rivadavia |
| Logistics Support Base «Comodoro Rivadavia» | BAL Comodoro Rivadavia |
| Military Liceo «General Roca» | LMGR |
| Units belonging to the IX Air Brigade |
|---|
| Air Group 9 |
| Base Group 9 |
| Technical Group 9 |
| Group 2 |
Parishes of the Catholic Church
| Diocese | Comodoro Rivadavia |
|---|---|
| Parishs | Cathedral of Saint John Bosco, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes, Mary Helper, Our Lady of Lujan, Saint George, Saint Lucia (in Kilómetro 3), Saint Mary Goretti, Saint Dominic Savio, Our Lady of the Valley (in Kilómetro 5), Our Lady of Fatima (in Kilómetro 8), St John the Baptist (in Prós Palazzo), Sacred Heart of Jesus (in Laprida) |
| Quasiparroquia | San Cayetano quasiparroquia |
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