A bit of history

Before the arrival of the Spaniards, several indigenous groups populated the region.

The yámanas, and onas or selknam were in Tierra del Fuego. The continent was populated with the pehuenches, mapuches and tehuelches.

According to interpretations, the region owes the name to the tehuelches. Apparently they were very tall and with a well developed physique so the Spaniards called them "Patagones", relating them to a giant called "Patagón", a very popular character in some novels of those times.

Another version related to the origin of the word Patagonia also making reference to the tehuelches, but in this case it says that the name comes from the huge tracks they left on the snow, due in part to their physique and also to the fact that they covered their feet with skins.

Today, most of the Patagonian aborigines live in reserves or work in estancias. The mapuches constitute the most numerous community, with some 35,000 people.

Rests of the primitive life of indigenous people are found in caverns with paintings and stone deposits called "picaderos" where even today arrow heads and different tools can be found.

Facts about Patagonia

The Argentine Patagonia is located in the south of the American continent. It extends from the Colorado River to Tierra del Fuego.

Its topography can be compared to gigantic stairs with the highest step being the Andean Range, then descending to a terraced plateau that culminates in the Atlantic Ocean generally with cliffs. This particular terrain has three well differentiated zones: the Andean Patagonia, the Atlantic Patagonia and the Central Patagonia.

It is one of the least populated regions in the world, with a density in some places of 1 inhabitant per square kilometer.

The climate is generally cold, although summers are hot in the central strip.

Temperatures descend as you go south, due to the vicinity of the polar zone. But the most characteristic feature of the Patagonian climate is the wind. The winds in this region originate in the Pacific Ocean, they download their humidity in the Andean mountains, causing abundant rains, and then sweep with great intensity the enormous barren plateaus.