Río Negro Province

Area: 203.013 km²

Population: 552.822 inhabitants (Censo 2001).

Capital City: Viedma - 46.948 inhabitants (Censo 2001).

Main Cities: Viedma, San Carlos de Bariloche, General Roca, Cipolletti, Villa Regina, Allen, San Antonio Oeste, Río Colorado

Río Negro province is a varied region from the Atlantic to the Andes. In the east, beautiful and extended beaches cover the coast, in the north the fertile Río Negro Valley produces the best apples in the world and in the middle of the province the desert spreads out, while in the west is plente of forests and lakes. The most important cities are San Carlos de Bariloche on the west, which is the door to the Andes, Cipolleti, General Roca and Viedma, all of them beside the Río Negro river.

The province of Río Negro is bounded by the provinces of Neuquén on the West, Chubut on the South, La Pampa on the North and Buenos Aires province, on the east.

The relief presents mountainous formation in the western sector and plains and plateaus in the rest of the territory. The plateaus are cut by canyons and valleys, as well as low hills and depressions. The edge of the plateau is called "bardas" and when it reaches the sea it calls cliff. For several year ago a irrigation system was build. This system uses the Negro river to water by channels the fruits plants that cover the Río Negro Valley, being this one the main economic region of the province.

Weather:

Very cold in winter and very warm in summer. In the Eastern and center regions the climate dry, since it rains very little and the winds are dry and very strong.

The western zone is more humid, being one of the regions of the country that gets most showers through the year ( 2,500 mm). In the central region, rains do not exceed 200 mm, and in the coast it fluctuates between 200 and 300 mm annual.

Tourism:

Because of the beauty and variety of its natural landscapes, the tourism is an important source of income for Río Negro The main attraction is the lakes region, where San Carlos de Bariloche is the most important city. Among other tourist centers, the summer resort Las Grutas has the warmest waters of the Argentine coast.