Esquel is a town in the northwest of

Chubut Province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Andes rang ...

in Argentine

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

. It is located in Futaleufú Department, of which it is the government seat. The town's name derives from one of two Tehuelche words: one meaning "marsh" and the other meaning "land of burrs", which refers to the many thorny plants including the

pimpinella ''Pimpinella'' is a plant genus in the family Apiaceae; it includes the aromatic herb anise ''( P. anisum)''.Welsh immigrants in Chubut in 1865. The settlement was created on 25 February 1906, as an extension of the Colonia 16 de Octubre, that also contains the town of

Trevelin Trevelin (; cy, Trefelin) is a town in the western part of the Patagonian Argentine province of Chubut. The town lies on the eastern banks of the ( es, Río Percey). It is located in the department of Futaleufú, south of Esquel, and had 6,3 ...

. The city, the main town of the area, is located by the Esquel Stream and surrounded by the mountains La Zeta, La Cruz, Cerro 21 and La Hoya. La Hoya is known as a ski resort with good quality snow right through the spring. The

Los Alerces National Park Los Alerces National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Los Alerces) is located in the Andes in Chubut Province in the Patagonian region of Argentina. Its western boundary coincides with the Chilean border. Successive glaciations have molded the landsc ...

is northwest of the city. An important tourist attraction is the narrow-gauge railway (with between the rails), known as '' La Trochita'' locally and in English as ''The Old Patagonian Express'' after the book '' The Old Patagonian Express'' by Paul Theroux. At in length, it is said to be the only narrow-gauge long-distance line in operation and the southernmost railway in the world. The first fifty oil-fired steam locomotives were made by

Henschel & Son Henschel & Son (german: Henschel und Sohn) was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehic ...

of Germany in 1922. Later twenty-five locomotives were bought from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. The train remains authentic and in operation thanks to the effort of the team of workers at ''Talleres Ferroviarios El Maiten'', that make several parts by hand. Trains now run as a tourist excursion between Esquel and the small settlement of Nahuel Pan, located at the foot of the volcano of the same name, with other services all the way to El Maitén. Until 1993, the train ran all the way to the city of Ingeniero Jacobacci in

Río Negro Province Río Negro (, ''Black River'') is a province of Argentina, located in northern Patagonia. Neighboring provinces are from the south clockwise Chubut, Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. To the east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Its capi ...

, from where trains ran to Viedma, Río Negro and from there to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, forming the General Roca railway. According to the , the Esquel district had about 28,000 inhabitants, with one of the highest rates of growth in the province, mainly as result of the immigration of people from Buenos Aires, but also from other provinces. It has wide cement streets with sidewalks, and is clean and well maintained. Their hospital is the primary one for the zone and is often a destination for "Medical Tourism" from both foreigners and Porteños (residents of Buenos Aires) alike. The townspeople have been in a long battle to prevent a gold mine being set up nearby, with concerns that the metal extraction would pollute the watercourse permanently and irreversibly. Although the mining companies were prohibited from establishing mines in the area, there are still monthly street marches against mining, and the issue never seems to feel fully settled. In May 2009, Esquel was twinned with Aberystwyth in Wales; with representatives of the Welsh town traveling to Argentina to participate in the signing of a charter formalising the link. PanoramicadeEsquel

Esquel meteorite

In 1951 a farmer found a meteorite, later called Esquel, while digging a hole for a water tank. When cut and polished, the meteorite showed beautiful yellowish

olivine The mineral olivine () is a magnesium iron silicate with the chemical formula . It is a type of nesosilicate or orthosilicate. The primary component of the Earth's upper mantle, it is a common mineral in Earth's subsurface, but weathers quickl ...

(peridot) crystals. The Esquel meteorite is known worldwide among collectors and the scientific community.

Climate

Owing to its location on the immediate leeward side of the Andes, Esquel has a cool summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Csb'') bordering on a

Humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

''Dsb''). Other climate systems, such as the

Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC) or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC) is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köppen ...

, place it within the oceanic zone (''Do''), like much of Western Europe and the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

. Temperatures are relatively cold for its climate due to its higher altitude. Summers are mild with warm temperatures during the afternoon followed by cool nights. The mean temperature during the summer is around . It's the sunniest season, averaging as much as 10 hours of sunshine per day in January with an average of 7–8 clear days and only 5-7 overcast days. Spring and fall are transition seasons featuring mild temperatures during the day and cool to cold nights. Spring starts out with cool temperatures during the day and very cold nights which progressively becomes warmer. Both spring and fall have highly variable weather. Winters vary from cool to cold with mean temperatures close to freezing while precipitation is high. Temperatures regularly fall below freezing during the winter nights. Winters are characterized by cloudy weather, averaging 11-13 overcast days from June to August. Snow falls on average on twenty days each winter but accumulation is usually less than . The average date of the first frost occurs on March 7 while the average date of the last frost occurs on November 10 although frosts have been recorded in all months. The average relative humidity is 62%, ranging from a high of 77% in June and July to a low of 49% in January. Summers have lower humidity due to higher temperatures. Most of the wind comes from the west or the southwest with calm days being uncommon. The relief modifies the wind speeds with southern areas receiving more wind than the north. Mean wind speeds range from in July to in December with summers being more windy than winters. Esquel receives an average annual precipitation of a year; much of it being concentrated in the winter months. Esquel, which lies in the zone of transition between the wetter Andes to the west and the steppes to the east, records higher precipitation in the town than in the airport located to the east. It is estimated that Esquel receives an average of 7 hours of sunshine per day, ranging from a high of 10 hours in January to a low of 5 hours in July.

References

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External links