Río Gallegos
capital and largest settlement of the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz in Argentina
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Río Gallegos is the capital and largest city of Santa Cruz, a province in the Patagonian region of Argentina. It serves as the administrative and economic center for this remote southern area.
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Río Gallegos ([ˈri.o ɣaˈʝeɣos]) is the capital and largest settlement of the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz in Argentina. Located in the department of Güer Aike, it had a population of 115,524, according to the 2022 census [INDEC]. The city bears the name of the Gallegos River, and sits on its estuary 2,636 km (1,638 mi) south from the Argentine federal capital Buenos Aires.
Established on 19 December 1885 to increase Argentine power over southern Patagonia, Río Gallegos became the capital of the then Territory of Santa Cruz in 1888, retaining its status when the territory became a province in 1957. Néstor Kirchner, later President of Argentina, served as the city's mayor from 1987 to 1991 and is interred in a mausoleum in the city's cemetery.