Santa Cruz Province

Santa Cruz, in the text of the provincial Constitution: Province of Santa Cruz, is one of the twenty-three provinces of the Argentine Republic. In turn, it is one of the twenty-four self-governing states or first-order jurisdictions that make up the country and one of the twenty-four national legislative electoral districts. Its capital and most populous city is Río Gallegos.

It is located to the south of the Patagonian region, which occupies the southern half of the country, bordered on the north by Chubut, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south and west by the Magallanes and Aysén regions of the Republic of Chili. With 243,943 km² it is the second largest province —behind the Province of Buenos Aires—, with 273,964 inhabitants. in 2010, the second least populated — ahead of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the islands of the South Atlantic — and with 1.1 inhab/km², the least densely populated.

Apart from the capital, its main cities areː Caleta Olivia, head of the northern zone and headquarters of oil and mining bases; and El Calafate, the gateway to the natural wonder of the Perito Moreno Glacier, located in Los Glaciares National Park.

History

Rupest paintings of the Cueva de las Manos dated in 7350 BC are among the oldest artistic expressions in America.

It is completely certain that the territory of the current province of Santa Cruz was inhabited by humans some 11,000 years ago, as evidenced by the sites of Los Toldos and Piedra Museo, which also served as a refuge to individuals belonging to the Tehuelche ethnic group (tson'k or chon), hunters mainly of guanacos, huemules and choiques.

From a European perspective, the coasts of Patagonia were sighted for the first time by the Portuguese at the service of Spain, Hernando de Magallanes, on February 21, 1520, when he named the gulf San Matías (Río Negro and Chubut). where he observed the existence of South American sea lions. He disembarked, at the end of March, in San Julián Bay where he arranged to spend the winter, remaining in the place until the following August 24. There, impressed by the corpulence of the autochthonous inhabitants, he called them Patagones. On the 26th of that month he reached the mouth of the river that he called Santa Cruz, from which he left just fifty-three days later. That was the origin of the name of the province. He reached the end of the current province of Santa Cruz in another three days and named the cape of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, in homage to the date of its celebration, and thus he reached the strait that today bears his name, but which he called, on November 25, Strait of Todos los Santos, a name that did not last. One of his subordinates, Francisco Serrão, swam into the Santa Cruz River, discovering a strategic island that would later be known as Pavón Island.

Juan Sebastián Elcano, second in command of the expedition of Fray García Jofre de Loaísa, landed at the end of December 1525 in the estuary of the Santa Cruz river.

In 1535 Simón de Alcazaba y Sotomayor explored the Chico River, which he called de los Gallegos. After the passage of Francis Drake in 1578, the Spanish crown sent Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa in 1579 to fortify the area, between 1581 and 1585 Sarmiento de Gamboa created Spanish colonies in the Strait of Magellan, the easternmost, called Nombre de Jesús se It was located at Cabo Vírgenes in Santa Cruz territory almost on the current border with Chile.

On December 17, 1586, privateer Thomas Cavendish entered the Deseado River estuary with his ships Desire, Hugh Gallant and Content, calling Port Desire the current Puerto Deseado where he stayed for 10 days. In 1592 Cavendish returned with 5 ships, two of which could not pass the Strait of Magellan and took refuge in Port Desire. One of those ships, the Desire , was commanded by John Davis, who the United Kingdom maintains that after leaving Puerto Deseado he discovered the Malvinas Islands on August 14, 1592.

The missionaries Flores de León in 1621 and Nicolás Mascardi between 1671-1672 toured the region and tried to establish reductions; between 1745 and 1746 the Spanish explorations for the current Santa Cruz territory were resumed.

In 1670, John Narborough visited Port Desire and claimed the territory for England.

In 1760, Captain John Byron's ship sank when it hit a rock in Puerto Deseado.

When the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was created on August 12, 1776, the Spanish crown included in it the entire sector of Patagonia to the east of the Andes. One of the objectives of the creation of this Viceroyalty was to control the Patagonian territories in the face of the increasing incursion of the English and French. Dictated the Royal Ordinance of Intendants of January 28, 1782, it was part of the Intendancy of Buenos Aires.

In 1780 Francisco de Biedma y Narváez, starting from Buenos Aires, founded the New Colony and Fort of Floridablanca in the vicinity of the current Puerto San Julián, later vacated by Viceroy Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo, this colony like the others Patagonian establishments were under the supervision of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, Biedma himself went up the Santa Cruz river and discovered the lake that bears his name. Between 1825 and 1836 there were a series of geographical explorations of the region.

In 1790, the Royal Maritime Company of Carlos IV, in partnership with private individuals, installed a fort in Puerto Deseado to be used to extract oil from sea lions and whales. The fort was abandoned in 1807 as profitability declined and because of the weather and English attacks. The remains of this fort were found in 2008.

On the ship HMS Beagle, Captain Roberto Fitz Roy arrived at Puerto Deseado carrying the young naturalist Carlos Darwin in December 1833.

In 1859 the Argentine Luis Piedrabuena established his base on Isla Pavón, this base has become the current city of Comandante Luis Piedrabuena.

In 1864 Piedrabuena founded the small town of Las Salinas, which is currently adjacent to the city of Puerto Santa Cruz.

In 1876 Francisco Pascasio Moreno established a base on the Puerto Deseado estuary.

The Government of Patagonia was created by Law No. 954, dated October 11, 1878. Its territory extended from the limit set by Law No. 947 to Cape Horn. Its capital was Mercedes de Patagones (today Viedma), on October 21 its first governor, Colonel Álvaro Barros, was appointed, who proceeded to the official inauguration of the Governor's Office on February 2, 1879.

On December 1, 1878, at a time when a conflict with Chile seemed imminent, Commodore Luis Py hoisted the Argentine flag on the top of the hill above Cañadón Misioneros, definitively taking possession of the region. They made up the Naval Division of the so-called Expedition P and the monitor Los Andes, the gunboat Uruguay and the bomber Constitución. That day Puerto Santa Cruz was founded, which later became the seat of the authorities and the capital of the Governorate of Santa Cruz.

In 1881, the boundary treaty between Argentina and Chile was signed, definitively ensuring Argentine possession of the territories of Eastern Patagonia.

National Territory

Historic Balcony where Roca gave his speech

By law No. 1532 of October 16, 1884, called the Organization of National Territories, the national territories were created, dividing the territory of Patagonia into the governorates of Neuquén, Río Black, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego.

By Decree No. 13941, of May 31, 1944, for geopolitical reasons, the Argentine State separated from the Governorate of Santa Cruz all the territory to the north of the trough (or talweg) of the Pinturas and Deseado rivers to create the Military Zone of Comodoro Rivadavia.

Provincialization

On June 28, 1955, by law No. 14408, the national territories were provincialized and the Military Zone of Comodoro Rivadavia was annulled, restituting the territories that had been separated from them to Chubut and Santa Cruz. Creating a province with Tierra del Fuego and Santa Cruz, but it was not carried out:

Another province, limited to the north by the Parallel 46 South; to the East, by the Atlantic Ocean; to the West, by the dividing line with the Republic of Chile, and to the South, with the Polo, including Tierra del Fuego, islands of the South Atlantic and Argentine Antarctic sector.

By Decree No. 11,429 of July 20, 1955, that province was renamed the Province of Patagonia, "until the corresponding constituent conventions are pronounced."

During the government of Pedro Eugenio Aramburu, by decree-law No. 21178 of November 22, 1956, Law No. 14408 was modified, annulling the province of Patagonia and creating the province of Santa Cruz:

Another province, limited to the north by Paralelo 46 South; east by the Atlantic Ocean; west, by the dividing line to Punta Dúngenes. The province will be called Santa Cruz and will have as its provisional capital the city of Río Gallegos until its constituent convention is finally decided.

The Provincial Constitution was sanctioned on November 28, 1957. On May 1, 1958, an institutional cycle began in the Province, until then a National Territory. Mario Cástulo Paradelo was elected in legitimacy elections questioned by political proscriptions, as the first constitutional governor of the Province of Santa Cruz.

The Constitution was later reformed in 1994 and in 1998.

Executive branch

House of Government of the province of Santa Cruz

Alicia Kirchner currently holds the position of governor, having been the sister of the also governor and president of the Nation Néstor Kirchner.

Governors of Santa Cruz since 1983

Geographical aspects

Desert Lake near Mount Fitz Roy.

Rio Paintings.

The province is located in the extreme south of the continental sector of the country. The provincial landscape presents two different sectors:

• To the west, the Andean region: it is characterized by the presence of the Andean mountain range section called Andes Patagónicos. In this section the mountain range has a lower height, with its snowy summits throughout the year, among these are the Chaltén (or Fitz Roy) with 3405 m which is shown in the provincial shield and flag and the San Lorenzo hill (3706 m. n. m.). At the foot of the Andean cords there are large lakes of glacial origin such as Lake Argentino, Lake Viedma and Lake San Martín, Lake Buenos Aires, Lake Pueyrredon populated by tempanos that are detached during the stage of the great glaciers that constitute the Campo de Hielo Patagónico Sur, in this beautiful region is located the famous National Park Los Glaciares and the no less Moreno.
• To the center and east, the extra-Andean region: predominantly the relief of staggered plateaus that decrease in height to the east. A very prominent feature of the Santa Cruzcan relief is the Great Central Altiplanicie delimited by the valley of the river Desired to the north and by the valley of the river Chico to the south, this plateau is mainly basaltic with some volcanoes and isolated cones (chihuidos), of little accessibility and with very rigorous climate, there are also river valleys and canads which will be treated more in the hydrography.

Between the plateaus there are depressions such as the Gran Bajo de San Julián, in this, and more precisely in the place called Laguna del Carbón with 105 meters below sea level, is the lowest point in the southern and western hemispheres.

In the plateaus of Extra-Andean Patagonia you can also find important lakes that, unlike the Andean lakes, owe their origin mainly to tectonic subsidence, among them are Lake Cardiel, Lake Strobel, Lake Ghio and the Quiroga lake.

Starting from the Santa Cruz river basin, to the south of the province lies a humid region with pastures and prairies that, after crossing the border between the Argentine and Chilean states, reaches the Strait of Magellan. Such an area, quite flat in relation to the rest of Patagonia, has received the name of Pampas de Diana, such an undoubtedly European designation of origin seems to originate from the abundance of game existing there until the first half of the century XX, mainly hunting rheas, huemules, guanacos, and culpeos.

The maritime coast: the coasts of Santa Cruz are characterized by steep and high cliffs (up to 300 m.a.s.l.) often curiously eroded by the intense tides, however the most prominent features are the estuaries at the mouths of the rivers (the main one being the Puerto Deseado estuary) and the great Gulf of San Jorge.

Climate

The ventous landscape of the Patagonian province.

Incan Hypochaeris specimen, in Perito Moreno National Park.

Climate map of the province of Santa Cruz

In general, the climate of the region is arid and cold with very low temperatures almost all year round and strong thermal amplitudes and insufficient rainfall, determining the semi-desert biome, where hard steppe grasses and tusacs such as neneo predominate, coirón and adesmias such as Adesmia campestri and Adesmia volckmanni. Although the area of the Santa Cruz river basin in its extra-Andean region is favored by a moderate climate thanks to the strong oceanic influence, this is the region of the so-called Pampas de Diana, towards the Andean foothills and foothills, the humidity, to the degree of favoring the existence of forests, corresponding to the Magellanic cold forest of fagaceae and conifers (lenga, cohiue, ñiré, canelo, mañiú, fir, the latter, allochthonous), although due to the altitudes, the Andean humid strip With an annual average rainfall of 800 mm, it is cold almost all year round.

Another typical feature of the climate of most of the province of Santa Cruz is the almost constant blowing of winds from the Pacific Ocean.

Two types of climate coexist in the province of Santa Cruz: the arid Patagonian climate of the center and east and the cold humid climate of the west. In a thin strip that extends from north to south along the Patagonian mountain range, the humid cold climate prevails, influenced by the Pacific in terms of rain and snow production.

The influence of this climate does not exceed 50 kilometers from the international border with Chile, making the contrast with the climate of the plateau evident. The rains are autumnal and winter. The arid Patagonian climate is characterized by having annual temperatures between 5 and 10 °C, oscillating in January from 12 to 20 °C and in July from -15 to -7 °C.

Precipitation decreases from west to east, making the landscape contrast between the rainy mountainous region to the west and the plateau with low rainfall noticeable. The wind that blows from the west, northwest and southwest, is a true protagonist that erodes everything in its path.

Snowfalls are frequent throughout the province, being greater in the west near the mountains than in the east near the coast, but in general it is common to see snow throughout the province.

Sunlight varies considerably depending on the time of year. On the longest day of the year, December 21, the sun rises at 5:30 a.m. and sets at 11 p.m. On the shortest day of the year, June 21, the sun rises at 9:30 a.m. and sets at 17:30.

Water resources

Upsala Glacier seen from the International Space Station.

Argentine Lake.

Cave formed in a portion of Perito Moreno Glacier.

The east coast of the province overlooks the Argentine Sea, where cliffs up to 300 m high alternate with extensive beaches. A very main water resource is the snowy precipitation in the high peaks of the Andes mountain range and the smaller chains that appear as Andean foothills, this precipitation constantly renews the snowy and icy load in such mountains (it is frozen fresh water) and especially in the Argentine fraction of the Southern Patagonian Continental Ice —also called the Southern Patagonian Ice Field— which is one of the vestiges of the last glaciations, and from which more than a hundred glaciers emerge, among which Viedma, Upsala stand out and the Perito Moreno (the latter one of those that are still advancing in the world).

Seasonal meltwater occupies the deep mountain valleys formed by the advance and retreat of glacial tongues in such glaciations, and forms vast lakes that constitute the main storage reserves of the Santa Cruz watersheds, between the that highlights the complex Lago del Desierto / Las Vueltas river / Viedma lake / La Leona river / Argentino lake / Santa Cruz river, which constitutes a water basin with infinite productive possibilities based on its water spill from 700 to 1100 m³/s depending of the time of year.

Among the most important rivers are the Santa Cruz, Chico, Gallegos, Coig, Deseado and Pinturas. All these rivers flow through deep stepped canyons, from the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean.

The curiosity of the existence of numerous paleochannels is observed, some reactivated during spring thaws or during heavy rains. Of these paleochannels, it is worth mentioning two that were recorded on maps until the first half of the XX century: they run almost parallel to the one from another; and both, almost parallel to the south bank of the Deseado River. The closest important paleochannel to the Deseado has received the names of Chacarmañak (aboriginal name) or Bajos or San Dionisio, the other important paleochannel receives the name of Salado.

Another singularity is the fact that Lake Buenos Aires has two outfalls: one, the Baker River, towards the Pacific Ocean and the other, the Fénix –Deseado River, which carries flows, after a long journey, to the Atlantic Ocean. But, due to desertification, currently the second and largest outfall is sporadically active.

Less important in terms of extension is the set of water basins that are tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, among these are those that include lakes San Martín, Buenos Aires Pueyrredón and Belgrano among others.

Among the numerous lakes, the following stand out: Buenos Aires, Cardiel, Viedma, Argentino, Pueyrredón, Belgrano and San Martín, all in the western, inter-cordilleran zone of the province.

The Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park is one of the most famous glaciers and one of the world's largest freshwater reserves. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981.

Wildlife

Austral flamencos in the Argentine Lake.

The condor is found in almost the entire province, among the terrestrial animals the puma, the mara, the guanaco, the gray or red fox, the ñandú, the wild cat and the skunk stand out while in the forested region they find huemules, pudúes, the black woodpecker and wild Creole cattle.

The coasts are abundantly populated by various species of penguins, South American sea lions, and elephant seals, while its coastal waters are highly populated by bottlenose dolphins, killer whales, other dolphins, and whales. Among the sea birds is the albatross, the cormorant,.

Territorial division and local governments

Chubut Province

Argentinean Sea

Güer Aike

Argentine Lake

Río Chico

Lago Buenos Aires

Wish

Magellan

Corpen Aike

Region of Aysén
(Chile)

Chilean Magellan and Antarctic Region
(Chile)

*Demarcation pending

The provincial Constitution, which recognizes municipal autonomy, was approved in 1957 and was reformed in 1994 and 1998. The province is divided into seven large departments, which contain municipalities and development commissions. The province uses the system of non-adjacent ejidos for its municipalities, so there are unincorporated areas outside of any municipal jurisdiction divided into rural establishments.

The departments of the province are:

• Corpen Aike (Puerto Santa Cruz).
• Desired (Dear Wanted)
• Güer Aike (Río Gallegos).
• Lago Argentino (El Calafate).
• Lago Buenos Aires (Perito Moreno).
• Magellan (Puerto San Julián).
• Río Chico (Governor Gregores).

Limits

In this map the limits are shown in the field of South Patagonian Ice Field, section B is still pending.

A Chevrolet 1940 crosses the border with Chile near Monte Aymond.

Santa Cruz limits to the north with the province of Chubut, the limit between both provinces being completely artificial and conventional: the Parallel 46 South. To the east, Santa Cruz presents an extensive ocean frontage that faces the Argentine Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. The limits to the south and west are with the Republic of Chile. It should be noted that a sector of the border with Chile that extends between Cerro Murallón and Cerro Fitz Roy, called "Sector B" of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, is not yet demarcated, although it is delimited by the Boundary Treaty of 1881. This stretch of approximately 70 km in a straight line will be demarcated according to the criteria set by the "1998 Agreement". This agreement was signed by Presidents Carlos Saúl Menem (Argentina) and Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (Chile) in December 1998 and approved on July 15, 1999 by the Chamber of Senators of the Argentine Republic and the Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of Chile.

The border with the province of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida and Islas del Atlántico Sur, in the maritime area of the eastern mouth of the Strait of Magellan, is not delimited, but both provinces agreed on a proportion to distribute the benefits that correspond to the exploitation of oil and gas in the area.

Patagonian Region

Note that in addition to the provinces, it also includes disputed territories such as Antarctica, part of the South Patagonian Ice Field, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

The Patagonian Region was created by the treaty signed in the city of Santa Rosa on June 26, 1996, its purposes are expressed in article 2 of the treaty:

The region will have as a general objective to provide human development and economic and social progress, strengthening provincial autonomy in the determination of national policies, the availability of their resources and the enhancement of their productive potential, while preserving the existence of differential benefits that sustain regional balance.

The provinces that make it up are: La Pampa, Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands, covering the subsoil, the adjacent Argentine Sea and the corresponding airspace ".

The governing bodies of the Region are the Assembly of Governors and the Patagonian Parliament, the Administrative Commission as the Executive Body and the Forum of Superior Courts of Justice of Patagonia as the Advisory and Consultation Body.

Demographics

• Census 1991: 159,839 inhabitants (Indec, 1991) (urban population: 146,076 (Indec, 1991) (rural population: 13,713 (Indec, 1991)).
• Census 2001: 197,191 inhabitants (Indec, 2001) (urban population: 189,577 (Indec, 2001), rural population: 7,614 inhabitants (Indec, 2001).
• National census 2010: 273,964 inhabitants.
• Projection 2015 according to INDEC: 320,469 inhabitants.

Santa Cruz is the province with the highest population growth in Argentina; the intercensal variation from 2001 to 2010 was 38.9%. This is due to the large number of immigrants looking for work, and the high fertility rate (3.14 children per woman in 2010). If this growth continues, the population of Santa Cruz would double every 19 years.

The most populated urban center in the province is Río Gallegos, followed by the oil city of Caleta Olivia and the tourist city of El Calafate, with explosive population growth, infrastructure and services. The fourth in importance is the city dedicated to energy and cement activities Pico Truncado. The great distances and the agglomerated population in each sector of the province have adopted the division of North Zone and South Zone, leaving the center and the west with very little population.

Population evolution since 1895 and population projection by 2020.

Source INDEC - Graphical design by Wikipedia - Province of Santa Cruz, Argentinian Patagonia.

Historical population evolution

Main cities

Places

Access route to the town of El Chaltén.

Panoramic El Calafate.

The ice and glacier interpretation center in El Calafate.

The province of Santa Cruz has 15 municipalities, and several promotion commissions.

• Río Gallegos
• Puerto Santa Cruz
• Río Turbio
• 20 November
• El Calafate
• Commander Luis Piedrabuena
• El Chaltén
• Puerto San Julián
• Governor Gregores
• Puerto Deseado
• Pico Truncado
• The Ancients
• Perito Moreno
• The Heras
• Caleta Olivia

Development Commissions

• Koluel Kaike
• Hope
• Hippolyte Yrigoyen
• Under Caracoles
• Three Cerros
• Julia Dufour
• Jaramillo
• Rospentek
• Three Lakes
• Fitz Roy
• The Turk
• Mina 3
• Seco Cañadon

Public Transportation

Urban transport in the province of Santa Cruz is present in 6 of the 15 current municipalities, where the services are provided by private companies or companies managed by the municipality.

The current cities that have the urban passenger transport service are:

The following table shows the bus lines present in the province of Santa Cruz.

Groups

Education

Education in Santa Cruz is currently seen in a process of deterioration, not in line with population growth. There are cities where the amount of student enrollment exceeds the established amount, such as Caleta Olivia, Las Heras and El Calafate

Health

It is the district with the highest life expectancy in the country. The two most important medical care centers in the province are the Río Gallegos Regional Hospital and since 2015 the High Complexity Hospital (SAMIC) in the city of El Calafate.

Economy

Oil is one of the bases of the economy of the province.

Oceanographic ship ARA Puerto Deseado (Q-20).

The economy of the area is based mainly on the extraction of oil, butane gas and methane. This activity has concentrated close to 50% of the economic activity up to the year 2005. It has abundant natural reserves, with sustained demand.

Fishing has evolved significantly from 1993 to 1997, when there was a drop in the catch of hake, squid, shrimp, sea bass and squid.

In mining, gold is exploited in Cerro Vanguardia with significant production, and gold with silver in the Manantial Espejo mine. Traditionally, mining was for coal (coal) in the Río Turbio mines, clay and kaolin in the San Julián area, and the exploitation of salt flats (common salt = sodium chloride and sodium sulfate) for domestic use.

Another characteristic item is sheep farming. It also has, in the industrial sector, manufacturing and preserving plants for fish and its derivatives.

The province of Santa Cruz is a pioneer worldwide in the use of alternative renewable energies: the great amplitude of the tides —which is verified, with bores— mainly in the rías and estuaries is a source of great potential to obtain tidal energy, although in 2005 the most developed of clean energies is the energy obtained from the strong and constant winds that blow from west to east through a large part of the province, in this case, various mills produce wind power. The province ratifies its immense variety of economic production in which it stands out and tries to advance in industry in North Zone, livestock and agriculture in Central Zone and tourism and commerce in South Zone.^{[citation required]}

Although climatic conditions have restricted traditional agriculture, the province is having interesting productions of sour fruits (cherries, raspberries, calafate, strawberries) and garlic.

Another major factor in the Santa Cruz economy is tourism (especially in its adventure modality) which has intensified since the turn of the century XX.

Communications

Fixed telephony

The National Communications Commission established the telephone prefixes with its update in 1996, the province has few prefixes due to the amount of fixed and cellular telephony, that is why they are divided by zones, the prefix with the most users is 297.

Cellular telephony

As in the rest of Argentina, the traditional or incumbent operators (Claro/ América Móviles, Movistar and Telecom Personal) have coverage in the cities and peripheries. There are gaps in coverage on the RN3 when moving away from urban centers. Nextel, on the other hand, does not have coverage south of Bahía Blanca.

In 2005, the El Calafate Telephone Cooperative (CoTeCal) inaugurated, on an experimental basis, a cellular telephone system based on CDMA 450 MHz in El Chaltén, a Patagonian town located 220 kilometers north of El Calafate, on the Andes mountains. After long periods of study, the cooperative opted for CDMA 450 MHz and organized a tender to install a cellular system with this technology. The turnkey project was executed by the Chinese company ZTE together with its Argentine partner Technology Bureau. The coverage radius, according to CoTeCal, covers the entire northern strip of Lake Argentino to the east of El Calafate, along the Route 11 to the International Airport, extending to Estancia Rincón Amigo, which allows a signal to be available up to the vicinity of the Miguez climb, and on Route 40, on the way to El Chaltén. To the west of El Calafate, the planned coverage reaches the area of the port of Punta Bandera and Los Glaciares National Park, having a signal in the areas of Lake Roca, Perito Moreno Glacier and the area of influence. At the end of the year 2016, CoTeCal has 821 active lines in CDMA 450, 625 individuals and 196 in the commercial, professional and institutional categories.

Tourism

Spegazzini Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park.

The imposing Monte Fitz Roy on the Santa Cruz mountain range.

The main sites with tourist attractions in the province are:

Santa Cruz Beaches

• Beaches close to the limit with Chubut
• Caleta Olivia
• Playa La Tranquera
• Playa Las Golondrinas
• Playa Las Roquitas
• Playa Alsina
• Playa Los Limites

Northwest: Chile	North: Chubut	Northeast: Atlantic Ocean
West: Chile		This: Atlantic Ocean
Southwest: Chile	South: Chile	Sureste: Land of Fire