Chamical is a small city in, and the
seat of government
The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority".
In most countries, the nation's Capital city, capital is also seat of its governmen ...
of, Chamical Department in the south of
La Rioja Province of Argentina.
Ministerio del Interior
With a population of 15,666 permanent residents at the , up from 12,919 at the time of the 2010 census, it is the third-most populous settlement in La Rioja Province after Chilecito
Chilecito (lit. Little Chile) is a city in the Argentina, Argentine provinces of Argentina, province of La Rioja Province (Argentina), La Rioja, and head of the departments of Argentina, department of Chilecito Department, Chilecito.
Overview an ...
. It is home to the CELPA aerospace test center, founded in 1961 and operated by the Argentine Air Force
The Argentine Air Force (, or simply ''FAA'') is the air force of Argentina and one of three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. In 2018, it had 13,837 military and 6,900 civilian personnel. FAA commander in chief is Brigadie ...
. The town, which is crossed by the Tirante wadi
Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...
, lies on the Ruta 38 (Spanish Wikipedia), around 140 km from La Rioja
La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...
(2 hours by bus), and some 300 km from Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to:
* Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain
* Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province
Córdoba or Cord ...
(4 hours by bus).
This young urban habitation has been an important site in several stages of Argentine history during the past fifty years.
Chamical has plentiful wilderness touristic spots, such as "Las Ollitas" (a natural waterfall lake) and
"La Salina" (a long salt flat).
Chamical is regarded as the tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...
hub in La Rioja Province.
The local demonym
A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...
for Chamical is a Chamicalense.
Name origin
Chamical got its name from the many specimens of the medicinal herb
Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against h ...
known in Spanish as ''chamico'' (meaning "jimsonweed
''Datura stramonium'', known by the common names thornapple, jimsonweed (jimson weed), or devil's trumpet, is a poisonous flowering plant in the '' Daturae'' tribe of the nightshade family Solanaceae. Its likely origin was in Central America, ...
" in the said language) found growing wild in the area.
Geography
Chamical is located in the droughty ''Llanos Riojanos'' (Spanish for "Riojan Plains") and has four marked seasons, giving it a ''BSh'' hot semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...
under the Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
. The dry period of April to October is mild to cool, with the normal monthly mean temperature reaching its lowest in July at . The rainy period of November to March is warm to hot, with the normal monthly mean temperature peaking in January at . There has hardly ever been any snow or frost, but there has often been hail.
Total yearly precipitation averages a scanty with plentiful sunny days, and the rainfall centers in summer. The wettest month is January, during which time Chamical receives an average of .
Winters are quite cool, but usually sunny; rather, snowfall is an odd occurrence. The ''Servicio Meteorológico Nacional'' reports that July is the coldest month with a mean high of and a mean low of . Springtime is mild, windy and usually warm. Summers are hot (as is common with La Rioja Province), somewhat rainy and, most often, the mercury rises to 38 degrees Celsius (≈100 Fahrenheit) or higher in the shade, which means unpleasant. The rain brings some relief from the stifling Riojan heat. January, the warmest month, has an average high of and an average low of . Fall is mild and pleasant, but can go chilly.
The highest temperature ever recorded was on December 25, 2013 while the lowest temperature on record was on July 31, 1993.
Neighboring towns
Gallery
ChamicalRoad.jpeg, Motor vehicles at the east entrance to Chamical on Argentina Route 38
ChamicalTrainStation.jpeg, Chamical's former railroad station, now housing the local museum.
TrainWaterTower.jpeg, The dilapidated albeit picturesque railroad water tower in the background (beyond the derelict truck) is a heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also use the term in relation to intangible social and spiritual inhe ...
; it was built up by a British company in the late nineteenth century.
ChamicalBusStation.jpeg, Chamical Bus Depot.
Cohete Castor CRX-01 en CELPA Chamical.jpg, A sounding rocket
A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are often ...
on a mobile launch pad at CELPA launching facility. The picture dates back to 1969.
SanMartinMemorial.jpeg, San Martín memorial at the middle of the namesake garden square in downtown at evening twilight.
NiceBankInRocketCity.jpg, Classic brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
at this Chamical bank.
ChamicalCH.jpeg, Chamical City Hall, located downtown.
ChamicalHistoricalMarker.jpeg, Historical marker telling posterity this military facility was unduly used as a black site by the military junta
A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...
known as National Reorganization Process
The National Reorganization Process ( PRN; often simply , "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as the ("last military junta"), ("last military dictatorship") ...
.
Biblioteca Popular Mitre.jpg, Mitre Book Club. Established in 1921.
ChamicalCollege.jpeg, The University of La Rioja
The University of La Rioja (UR) is a public institution of higher education based in Logroño, La Rioja, Spain. Inaugurated during 1992–1993 from various existing schools and colleges, it currently teaches Grades 19 adapted to the European High ...
campus at Chamical finds itself on the south side of town. It attracts a number of students from across the country.
HospitalAgote.jpeg, Façade of ''Hospital Luis Agote''. This aging building is the main hospital of public assistance in the ''Llanos Riojanos''. Its name commemorates Argentina's name physician Luis Agote
Luis Agote (September 22, 1868 – November 12, 1954) was an Argentine physician and researcher. He was the first to perform a non-direct blood transfusion using sodium citrate as an anticoagulant. The procedure took place in Rawson hospital i ...
.
VisitorCenter@RocketCity.jpg, A mini attraction in its own right, the Chamical Tourist Information Center is located just off the Ruta 38 in the immediate surroundings of the local bus depot.
References
{{coord, 30, 22, S, 66, 19, W, display=title, region:AR_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki
Populated places in La Rioja Province, Argentina