El Calafate

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El Calafate is a little village in Patagonia, Argentina. It's situated in the southern border of Lake Argentino, in the southwest part of the Santa Cruz Province, about 320 km Northwest from Río Gallegos. Its name comes from a little bush with yellow flowers very common in Patagonia, with dark blue berries: the calafate (Berberis buxifolia); the word comes from the tehuelche language.

El Calafate is an important tourist destination as the hub to visit different parts of the Los Glaciares National Park, including the Perito Moreno Glacier (one of the most visited in the world) and the Cerro Chaltén and Cerro Torre.

History

The history of El Calafate began in the first decades of the twentieth century. Originally, it was just a shelter place for wool traders. It was officially founded in 1927 by the Argentinian government, to promote an increase in its population. But it was not until the creation of the national park that the little village, already with electrical power, started to grow slowly, and better roads were built to reach it.

Transport

The 220 kilometres separating Calafate from El Chaltén on the other side of the Lake Argentino in the national park are paved, as well as the 315 kilometres to Río Gallegos. Other distance are: to Esquel 1108 km (mostly dirt road); Comodoro Rivadavia 959 km; Puerto Madryn 1388 km; Buenos Aires 2727 km; Ushuaia 863 km and in Chile Puerto Natales 362 km and Punta Arenas 605 km.

The town is served by El Calafate International Airport located some 20 km east of the village, at coordinates [50°20′S 72°15′W]. Opened in 2001 it has daily flights to Buenos Aires and Trelew. The airport has a 2,200 meters long, 45 meters wide runway that permits Boeing 727 and 737 to serve the area.

Population

In the last census 6,143 permanents residents where counted (2001 census [INDEC]). That represent a 20.1% increment in comparison with the 1991 census. However, due to the touristic expansion, a population of 8,000 people was estimated for 2005.

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