Trans-Andean railways
The Trans-Andean railways provide rail transport over the Andes. Several are either planned, defunct, or waiting to be restored, they are listed here in order from north to south. Feb 2011 - The Chinese Government plans to cooperate with Colombia in building a 220 km transcontinental railway which would link Colombia's Atlantic and Pacific coasts, according to a British newspaper. Much of Ecuador's Trans-Andean Railway has been rendered useless by natural disasters. Torrential rains from the 1982-83 and 1997-98 El Niño caused massive landslides that damaged the railway line; the network is operated by Empresa de Ferrocarriles Ecuatorianos. Only three sections remain operational: a 37-mile segment connecting Quito and Cotopaxi National Park, a 27-mile stretch between Ibarra and Primer Paso, the mountainous five-hour, 62-mile excursion from Riobamba to Sibambe. Although wholly within Peru, the Ferrocarril Central Andino running inland from Callao and Lima crosses the Andes watershed at Galera en route to La Oroya and Huancayo.
From here the route is extended by the Ferrocarril Huancayo - Huancavelica. In July 2006 FCCA began work to regauge the Huancavelica line from 3 ft to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in. There was a proposal for a 21 km tunnel under the Andes; the Ferrocarriles del Sur del Perú, now operated by PeruRail, runs from the coast at Matarani to Cuzco, to Puno on Lake Titicaca from where steamers and train ferries have been run connecting with Guaqui in Bolivia. Empresa Nacional de Ferrocarriles - ENFE, operator of the National Railways of Bolivia, consultant Hagler Bailly, United States, have signed a contract to undertake an economic feasibility study into the proposed $US 1 billion 338 km Aiquile–Santa Cruz Railway; the line would connect the Eastern Railway network with the Andean Railway network, create a new trans-Andean railway from Pacific Ocean ports in Chile to the port of Santos in Brazil. Other Bolivia-Chile railways: Ferrocarril de Antofagasta a Bolivia Arica–La Paz railway, Chile–La Paz In 2014, proposals were advanced by ProInversión for the above railway.
Ucayali - western Brazil Huánuco - Peru Pasco - Peru San Martin - Peru Amazonas - Brazil Cajamarca - Peru Piura - Peru - near Pacific coast in north The Huaytiquina railway is a single 1,000 mm gauge linking Salta, Argentina, to Antofagasta, Chile. The Tren a las Nubes is a touristic service running for 217 kilometres on the Argentinian side; the central Transandine Railway from Valparaíso, Chile, to Mendoza, Argentina is defunct, pending reconstruction. While Chile and large parts of Argentina both use the same 1,676 mm gauge, the connecting Ferrocarril Trasandino Los Andes - Mendoza used a narrow gauge of 1,000 mm with rack railway sections, thus there are two break-of-gauge stations, one at Los Andes and the other at Mendoza. In 2009, a deal was signed to build a 1,676 mm, single gauge, base tunnel connecting Chile and Argentina. From Lonquimay to Zapala – construction abandoned. 220 kilometres line once again proposed in 2005 and work underway at Chilean end in 2005. Possible rack railway.
From Osorno, Chile to Bariloche – never built. Brazil - Paraguay - Argentina - Chile Mejillones Antofagasta Paranaguá São Francisco do Sul Panama Canal Railway Railway stations in Peru Tren a las Nubes Mercosur report on links - Argentine Ministry of Economy
Chile
Chile the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, the Drake Passage in the far south. Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez and Easter Island in Oceania. Chile claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres of Antarctica, although all claims are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty; the arid Atacama Desert in northern Chile contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. The small central area dominates in terms of population and agricultural resources, is the cultural and political center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century when it incorporated its northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, features a string of volcanoes and lakes; the southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, canals, twisting peninsulas, islands.
Spain conquered and colonized the region in the mid-16th century, replacing Inca rule in the north and centre, but failing to conquer the independent Mapuche who inhabited what is now south-central Chile. After declaring its independence from Spain in 1818, Chile emerged in the 1830s as a stable authoritarian republic. In the 19th century, Chile saw significant economic and territorial growth, ending Mapuche resistance in the 1880s and gaining its current northern territory in the War of the Pacific after defeating Peru and Bolivia. In the 1960s and 1970s, the country experienced severe left-right political polarization and turmoil; this development culminated with the 1973 Chilean coup d'état that overthrew Salvador Allende's democratically elected left-wing government and instituted a 16-year-long right-wing military dictatorship that left more than 3,000 people dead or missing. The regime, headed by Augusto Pinochet, ended in 1990 after it lost a referendum in 1988 and was succeeded by a center-left coalition which ruled through four presidencies until 2010.
The modern sovereign state of Chile is among South America's most economically and stable and prosperous nations, with a high-income economy and high living standards. It leads Latin American nations in rankings of human development, income per capita, state of peace, economic freedom, low perception of corruption, it ranks high regionally in sustainability of the state, democratic development. Chile is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, joining in 2010, it has the lowest homicide rate in the Americas after Canada. Chile is a founding member of the United Nations, the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile. According to 17th-century Spanish chronicler Diego de Rosales, the Incas called the valley of the Aconcagua "Chili" by corruption of the name of a Picunche tribal chief called Tili, who ruled the area at the time of the Incan conquest in the 15th century.
Another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Other theories say Chile may derive its name from a Native American word meaning either "ends of the earth" or "sea gulls". Another origin attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of the warble of a bird locally known as trile; the Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas, the few survivors of Diego de Almagro's first Spanish expedition south from Peru in 1535–36 called themselves the "men of Chilli". Almagro is credited with the universalization of the name Chile, after naming the Mapocho valley as such; the older spelling "Chili" was in use in English until at least 1900 before switching to "Chile". Stone tool evidence indicates humans sporadically frequented the Monte Verde valley area as long as 18,500 years ago. About 10,000 years ago, migrating indigenous Peoples settled in fertile valleys and coastal areas of what is present-day Chile.
Settlement sites from early human habitation include Monte Verde, Cueva del Milodón and the Pali-Aike Crater's lava tube. The Incas extended their empire into what is now northern Chile, but the Mapuche resisted many attempts by the Inca Empire to subjugate them, despite their lack of state organization, they fought against his army. The result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the Battle of the Maule was that the Inca conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the Maule river. In 1520, while attempting to circumnavigate the globe, Ferdinand Magellan discovered the southern passage now named after him thus becoming the first European to set foot on what is now Chile; the next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, who came from Peru in 1535 seeking gold. The Spanish encountered various cultures that supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting; the conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarro's lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on 12 February 1541.
Although the Spanish did not find the extensive gold and silver they sought, they recognize
Neuquén Province
Neuquén is a province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, Chile to the west, it meets La Pampa Province at its northeast corner. The Neuquén Province receives its name from the Neuquén River; the term "Neuquén" derives from the Mapudungun word "Nehuenken" meaning drafty, which the aborigines used for the river. The word is a palindrome. Lácar Department in Neuquén Province has the southernmost known remains of maize before the diffusion of associated with the Inca Empire; the site where maize remains were found Melinquina lies at 40°19' S the maize being found in Melinquina, the maize being found inside pottery datet to 730 ±80 BP and 920 ±60 BP. This maize was brought across the Andes from Chile. In that location maize remains were found inside pottery date to 730 ±80 BP and 920 ±60 BP; this maize was brought across the Andes from Chile. Inhabited by Tehuelches and Pehuenche, the territory was explored by conquistadores coming from Chile.
In 1670 a Jesuit priest established in Chiloé Archipelago, Nicolás Mascardi, founded the Jesuit mission Nuestra Senora de Nahuel Huapi. The Jesuit missions lasted few years and the last mission in Neuquén was destroyed in 1717; the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1767 halted further missionary activity. The Neuquén area came under Argentine influence after explorer Perito Francisco Moreno made several trips to Patagonia and made accurate descriptions of the area in his book "Viaje al Pais de las Manzanas", reaching Nahuel Huapi lake in 1875. In 1879 Julio Argentino Roca started the Conquest of the Desert that broke the aboriginal resistance. In 1884 Patagonia's political divisions were restructured and the Territory of Neuquén acquired its current boundaries; the capital of the province moved several times to Norquín, Campana Mahuida, Chos Malal, Confluencia known as Neuquén. At the beginning of the 20th century the railway reached the city of Neuquén, a new irrigation system was finished, facilitating the production and transportation of crops.
Petroleum was found in Plaza Huincul in 1918. Local politics have long been dominated by a single political party, the MPN or Movimiento Popular Neuquino founded by Elias Sapag, a prosperous businessman born in Lebanon. Migrating to Argentina, the Sapag family arrived in Neuquén Territory around 1910 with the railroad making their home in Zapala, whose dry, fertile mountain valleys and orchards were reminiscent of their native Lebanon. Neuquén is rich in natural resources such as natural gas, virgin forests and water resources suitable for electric power and tourism alike; these resources were managed by the central National Government, which resulted in little local benefit at the time. Because of social unrest, Elias Sapag and two younger brothers and Amado, started the MPN, an active political movement rooted in federalism and greater local rights over the territory and its resources; the territory was made a province on June 15, 1955, its constitution promulgated on November 28, 1957. Felipe Sapag soon became politically prominent.
Although he was elected governor in 1962 representing the Movimiento Popular Neuquino, a coup against progressive President Arturo Frondizi that March prevented Sapag from taking office. Becoming governor in 1963-66 and 1973–76, he presided over one of Argentina's fastest-growing provinces; the national government established the University of Neuquén in 1964 incorporated into the new National University of Comahue in 1971. Removed as governor following the violent March 1976 coup against Isabel Perón, Felipe Sapag was returned to office in 1983-87 and 1995-99, his emphasis on public works and political independence from Buenos Aires have helped him and his successors with the MPN win every province-wide election since. His brother Elias Sapag became senator in 1963-66, 1973–76 and from 1983 until his death in 1993, becoming the longest-serving senator in national history; the MPN elected Governors Pedro Salvatori, Jorge Sobisch and current Governor Jorge Sapag. Neuquén has, since 1955, become a prosperous province with a high impact on the national energy supply and, as a growing tourist destination, outperforming most other provinces in the Patagonia region and in Argentina.
The province's limits are the Colorado River to the northeast, separating it from the Mendoza Province, the Limay River to the southeast toward the Río Negro Province, the Andes mountains to the west, separating it from Chile. There are two main distinctive landscapes; the lacustrine system includes other less-important rivers such as the Aluminé River, the Malleo, the Picún Leufú River, a series of lakes including Nahuel Huapi Lake, shared with Río Negro Province, Aluminé Lake, Lácar Lake, Huechulaufquen Lake, Lolog Lake, Hermoso, Quillén, Ñorquinco and Falkner. The province is home to the magnificent Arrayanes forest at the Los Arrayanes National Park. Other National parks include Lanín National Park and the Lanín extinct volcano, the Nahuel Huapí National Park shared with Río Negro Province, the Laguna Blanca National Park. Neuquén Province, being far away from both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific ocean by the Andes mountai
Laguna Blanca National Park
Laguna Blanca National Park is a National Park in the west of the province of Neuquén, close to the town of Zapala. The park around the lagoon was created in 1940 to protect the lagoon and the population of black-necked swans, it has an area of 112.5 km². The lagoon is situated in the Patagonian steppe, surrounded by gorges, it has important aquatic bird fauna, in great number. The lagoon used to host the largest known subpopulation of the endemic Patagonia frog, but this has been extirpated by introduced predatory fish. Near the lagoon is the Salamanca cave inhabited by humans, where rock paintings, typical of northern Patagonia, can be seen. Other mapuche and prehistoric human artifacts have been found in the park; the park has an windy climate with a large diurnal range. During summer, the mean temperature is 22 °C with temperatures that can exceed 40 °C during heat waves. In winter, the mean temperature is 5 °C with minimum temperatures reaching −20 °C. Snowfall can occur during the winter months.
Rainfall is low, averaging between 150 to 200 mm per year, most of it concentrated in winter
National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina
National Statistics and Censuses Institute is the Argentine government agency responsible for the collection and processing of statistical data. The institute analyses economic and social indicators such as inflation rate, consumer price index and unemployment, among others; the INDEC is supervised by different federal agencies, is under the direct oversight of the Secretaría de Programación Económica y Regional of the Ministerio de Economía y Producción. The INDEC coordinates the Sistema Estadístico Nacional through which the national and local statistical services work together; each provincial government has a statistics bureau called Dirección de Estadística, that collects and processes information. The Argentine Constitution does not provide for a national census; these were conducted only generationally until 1947, every decade since then. National censuses were taken in 1869, 1895, 1914, 1947, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1991, 2001, 2010. Demographic and economic information is permanently updated with off-year censuses, such as the Economic and Agricultural Censuses, the sampled surveys published in Encuesta Permanente de Hogares.
Monthly releases include figures on inflation, trade balances, industrial production, retail sales, GDP. The first national statistics' centre was the Dirección General de Estadística, established in 1894 as a division of the Ministry of Public Finances. Fifty years in 1944, the Consejo Nacional de Estadística y Censos was created, with dependencies on both the Ministry of the Interior and the National Presidential Office. Other agencies were formed in 1950, 1952, 1956 before the final creation of the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos in 1968 by Law 17622 and Decrees 3110/70 and 1831/93; the bureau's headquarters are located in a downtown, rationalist building designed by Arturo Dubourg, commissioned by President Juan Perón for use as the Ministry of Labour, completed in 1956. Although nominally independent, INDEC is subject to strong political pressure from the government, its statistics are no longer considered trustworthy; because INDEC's statistics have been reported as being manipulated by the Kirchner government, it is considered "discredited".
Controversy arose when the government of President Néstor Kirchner replaced Graciela Bevacqua, the Consumer Prices Indicator director. Bevacqua is reported to have arrived at a consumer price increase figure of 2.0% for January 2007 from internal data but the rate reported to the public was 1.1%. The head of INDEC resigned in March, a new board of directors led by Ana María Edwin was installed by the Ministry of Economy. A group of employees protested publicly at what they saw as a violation of INDEC's autonomy, an attempt by the Economy Ministry under Felisa Miceli to illegally keep inflation indicators under one percent a month. Prosecutors gathered evidence that high government officials had inquired of statistical staff how to get lower inflation numbers, that in early 2007 managers of the price indexes had excluded products whose prices had risen more than 15% in the survey and changed price data after it came in from the field workers. Prices and the official record have continued to part ways since former Commerce Secretary Guillermo Moreno's decision to intervene in the statistics institute in 2007.
Private-sector economists and statistical offices of provincial governments show inflation two to three times higher than INDEC's number. Unions, including those from the public sector, use these independent estimates when negotiating pay rises. Surveys by Torcuato di Tella University show inflation expectations running at 25-30%. Since INDEC's headline inflation statistics have been lower than estimates from analysts in the private sector and lower than INDEC's implicit private consumption price index, incorporated in the measurement of real GDP. Taken from the first quarter of 2007, each index has read as follows: The discrepancy has led to exchanged accusations of politically motivated statistical legerdemain between the ruling party and most of the political opposition, on both left and right. Officials facing election have an incentive to understate the headline CPI figure. Opposition figures relied on estimates made by figures such as Orlando Ferreres; the practice yielded the ruling party no political benefit, helped contribute to their loss in the October 2009 mid-term elections.
An alternative explanation for the policy could rest on government finances: the national government has issued around US$100 billion in government bonds. Payments on US$50 billion of this are indexed to inflation. Other government bonds are tied in value to GDP growth. A 7-point underestimate in inflation could save the Central Bank of Argentina US$3 billion in inflation-indexed interest payments, while higher economic growth would cost added interest on bonds tied to GDP. Since 2007, when Guillermo Moreno, the secretary of internal trade
Ski
A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins can be attached at the base of the ski. Intended as an aid to travel over snow, they are now used recreationally in the sport of skiing; the word ski comes from the Old Norse word skíð which means "cleft wood", "stick of wood" or "ski". In Old Norse common phrases describing skiing were fara á renna and skríða á skíðum. In modern Norwegian the word ski has retained the Old Norse meaning in words for split firewood, wood building materials and roundpole fence. In Norwegian this word is pronounced. In Swedish, another language evolved from Old Norse, the word is skidor. English and French use the original Norwegian spelling ski, modify the pronunciation. Prior to 1920, English usage of skee and snow-shoe was seen. In Italian, it is pronounced to Norwegian, but the spelling is modified accordingly: sci.
Portuguese and Spanish adapt the word to their linguistic rules: esqui and esquí. In German, spellings Ski and Schi are in use. In Dutch, the word is ski and the pronunciation was as in Norwegian, but since the 1960s changed to. In Welsh the word is spelled sgi. Many languages make a verb form out of the noun, such as to ski in English, skier in French, esquiar in Spanish and Portuguese, sciare in Italian, skiën in Dutch, or Schi laufen or Schi fahren in German. Norwegian and Swedish do not form a verb from the noun. Finnish has its own ancient words for skis and skiing: "ski" is suksi and "skiing" is hiihtää; the word suksi goes back to the Proto-Uralic period, with cognates such as Erzya soks, Mansi tåut and Nganasan tuta. The Sami have their own words for "skis" and "skiing": for example, the Lule Sami word for "ski" is sabek and skis are called sabega; the Sami use cuoigat for the verb "to ski". The oldest wooden skis found were in Russia and Norway respectively. Nordic ski technology was adapted during the early 20th century to enable skiers to turn at higher speeds.
New ski and ski binding designs, coupled with the introduction of ski lifts to carry skiers up slopes, enabled the development of alpine skis. Meanwhile, advances in technology in the Nordic camp allowed for the development of special skis for skating and ski jumping; this type of ski was used at least in northern Sweden until the 1930s. On one leg, the skier wore a long straight non-arching ski for sliding, on the other a shorter ski for kicking; the bottom of the short ski was either plain or covered with animal skin to aid this use, while the long ski supporting the weight of the skier was treated with animal fat in similar manner to modern ski waxing. Early record of this type of skis survives in works of Olaus Magnus, he associates them to Sami people and gives Sami names of savek and golos for the plain and skinned short ski. Finnish names for these are kalhu for long and short ski; the seal hunters at the Gulf of Bothnia had developed a special long ski to sneak into shooting distance to the seals' breathing holes, though the ski was useful in moving in the packed ice in general and was made specially long, 3–4 meters, to protect against cracks in the ice.
This is called skredstång in Swedish. Around 1850, artisans in Telemark, invented the cambered ski; this ski arches up in the middle, under the binding, which distributes the skier's weight more evenly across the length of the ski. Earlier plank-style skis had to be thick enough not to bow downward and sink in the snow under the skier’s weight; this new design made it possible to build a thinner, lighter ski, that flexed more to absorb the shock of bumps, that maneuvered and ran faster and more easily. The design included a sidecut that narrowed the ski underfoot while the tip and tail remained wider; this enabled the ski to turn more easily. Skis traditionally were hand-carved out of a single piece of hardwood such as Birch or Ash; these woods were used because of their density and ability to handle speed and shock-resistance factors associated with ski racing. Because of Europe’s dwindling forests, the ability to find quality plank hardwood became difficult, which led to the invention of the laminated ski.
Beginning in 1891, skimakers in Norway began laminating two or more layers of wood together to make lighter cross country running skis. These evolved into the multi-laminated high-performance skis of the mid-1930s. A laminated ski is a ski composed of two different types of wood. A top layer of soft wood is glued to a thin layer under a surface of hardwood; this combination created skis which were much lighter and more maneuverable than the heavy, hardwood skis that preceded them. Although lighter and stronger, laminated skis did not wear well; the water-soluble glues used at the time failed. In 1922, a Norwegian skier, Thorbjorn Nordby, developed strong, waterproof glue which stopped the problem of splitting, therefore developing a much tougher laminated ski. Research and design of laminated skis progressed. In 1933, a new design technology was introduced involving an outer hardwood shell completely
Bahía Blanca
Bahía Blanca is a city in the southwest of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, is the seat of government of Bahía Blanca Partido. It had 301,572 inhabitants according to the 2010 census, it is the principal city in the Greater Bahía Blanca urban agglomeration. The city has an important sea port with a depth of 45 feet, kept constant upstream all along the length of the bay, where the Napostá Stream drains. Bahía Blanca means "White Bay"; the name is due to the typical colour of the salt covering the soil surrounding the shores. The bay was seen by Ferdinand Magellan during his first circumnavigation of the world on the orders of Charles I of Spain, in 1520, looking for a canal connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean along the coasts of South America; the city was founded as a fortress on 11 April 1828 by Colonel Ramón Estomba under the orders of Brigadier-General and subsequent Governor of Buenos Aires, Juan Manuel de Rosas, being named Fortaleza Protectora Argentina, intended to protect inhabitants from cattle rustlers, to protect the coast from the Brazilian navy, which had landed in the area the previous year.
It was visited by Charles Darwin during his travels through South America in September 1833. The fortress was attacked by malones several times, most notably in 1859 by 3,000 Calfucurá warriors, it became commercially important after the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway linked the town to the city of Buenos Aires in 1885, facilitating the transport of grain from the Pampas. The rapid growth of the local economy, the policy encouraging immigration from Europe and the country's abundant natural resources attracted many immigrants from Spain and Italy, a remarkable number from France, who settled in Pigüé, about 125 km to the north of the city. Another important foreign settlement close to the city was of Dutch settlers, in Tres Arroyos, located about 250 km north east. Major groups of immigrants from Germany and Jews from Eastern Europe arrived in the city and in the region at the beginning of the 20th century, as well as during World War II and the post-war period. European immigrants brought their customs and culture.
There were at least five opera houses in Bahía Blanca at the beginning of the 20th century and six cinemas by 1920. Puerto Belgrano, located 29 km to the southeast, is Argentina's largest naval base, its construction started with a secret decree signed by Argentine President José Evaristo Uriburu. It was designed and built at the turn of the 20th century by an Italian engineer Luigi Luiggi, carried out by a Dutch company named Dirks, Dates & Van Hattem; the municipal government of Bahia Blanca Partido encompasses the mayor, in charge of the executive branch, the city council, in charge of local legislation and audit of the municipal budget, a local Judiciary System, in charge of administering justice on behalf of the City regarding all the aspects of municipal legislation. The mayor and the members of the council are elected by direct vote while the municipal judges are appointed; the mayor appoints the members of his cabinet of Secretaries who can be summoned by the council to whom they are accountable.
A local political crisis in March 2006 resulted in the mayor's request for leave, granted by the city council on 27 March 2006. The mayor was indicted and the case continues in the local judiciary; the president of the city council took over as interim mayor. However, on 24 August 2006 the city council decided, for the first time in the history of the city, to unseat the elected mayor. With the approval of the supreme court of the Buenos Aires Province, the interim mayor and former president of the city council was appointed to complete his predecessor's term. Bahía Blanca is an important trans-shipping and commercial center, handling the large export trade of grains and wool from the southern area of Buenos Aires Province, oil from Neuquén Province, fruit from the Río Negro Valley, its group of sea ports is one of the most important in the country as the only ones that are 33 feet deep, although the depth of the main channel is kept at 40 feet by regular maintenance. Along the northeastern shore of the bay, these ports are Puerto Ingeniero White for grains and containers, Puerto Galván, a smaller one specialising in sunflower and soy oil, chemicals such as urea.
One of the largest urea industrial producers in the world, Profertil, is located there. Between these two main ports, several industrial and chemical plants operate their own piers; the petrochemical pole of the region made the port a convenient one. Competence between Puerto de Bahía Blanca and those located in the shores of Patagonia made it stronger and well organized having received investments from the private sector like Cargill that upgraded facilities in the 1980s; the combination of a railroad network for grains linking Rosario, by the shore of Paraná River to Bahía Blanca, its trade potential, linking Bahía Blanca to Zapala close to the border to Chile and to the Pacific Ocean shores avoiding days of navigation through Ferrocarril Transandino del Sur, the availability of energy and human resources make the area quite an interesting one from the industrial and commercial perspectives. There are several local societies representing economic activities taking place in the region such as Sociedad Rural, Corporación del Comercio y de la Industri
Argentina
Neuquén