Rawson (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈrawson]) is the capital of the Argentine province of Chubut, in Patagonia. It has 24,616 inhabitants in 2010, and it is the chief town of the Rawson Department.

Rawson
Trerawson
Aerial view
Aerial view
Coat of arms of Rawson
Rawson is located in Argentina
Rawson
Rawson
Location of Rawson in Argentina
Coordinates: 43°18′S 65°6′W / 43.300°S 65.100°W / -43.300; -65.100
Country Argentina
Province Chubut
DepartmentRawson
Named forGuillermo Rawson
Government
 • MayorDamián Biss (Radical Civic Union)
Elevation
4 m (13 ft)
Population
 (2010 census)
 • Total24,616
DemonymRawsense
Time zoneUTC−3 (ART)
CPA base
U9103
+540280
ClimateBWk
WebsiteOfficial website

The city is named after Guillermo Rawson (1821–1890), Argentine Minister of the Interior, who supported the Welsh settlement in Argentina.[1]

Rawson is located about 1,360 km (850 mi) south of Buenos Aires, some 20 km (12 mi) from Trelew, and it is served by the Almirante Marco Andrés Zar Airport in Trelew. It lies on both sides of the Chubut River.

Fishing trawlers in Puerto Rawson

The city has a fishing port, Puerto Rawson, on the Atlantic coast, 5 km (3 mi) down the river.

History edit

 
First wooden bridge over the Chubut River

Rawson was the first town founded by the Welsh immigrants who sailed on the clipper Mimosa in 1865 to establish a national colony.[2][3]

At the time of founding remains of a mud-walled fortress existed on the site.[4][5] Settlers dwelled in the fortress various months while they explored the surroundings and built permanent houses.[5] It has been posited that the fort was built in 1853 by non-Indigenous hunters who entered the area to hunt feral cattle.[6] The fortress was known by various names by the settlers. One name was Yr Hen Amddiffynfa meaning "Old Fortress",[7] another was Caer Antur meaning "Fort Adventure".[5][4] Henry Libanus Jones had called it "Fuerte Paz" in his 1861 Explanatory notes on two maps of Patagonia.[5]

Between 1885 and 1890 many Italians settled in Rawson.[8] Initially many Italians worked as railway navvies but in time many moved to work in trade.[8]

The first bridge over the Chubut in Rawson was built of wood in 1889 by the carpenter and Welsh-language poet Griffith Griffiths (1829–1909), who wrote under the bardic name Gutyn Ebrill and established the Patagonia Gorsedd of Bards.[9][10][11] This bridge was destroyed by a flood ten years later, and was replaced by an iron bridge in 1917. In 2001 a decision was made to rename the iron bridge as Puente del Poeta (poet's bridge) in honor of Griffiths. A plaque was installed at the bridge with information on Griffiths.[12]

Rawson was flooded in 1899 and 1901.[8] While there had been floods before, these floods caused a partial depopulation of the town with many choosing to resettle in Trelew.[13] Trelew was temporarily made capital of Chubut in 1903 as Rawson recovered from the floods. This fuelled a rivalry between the towns, which was further compounded by differences in their ethnic make-up as Rawson was more Catholic and had a higher proportion of Argentines, Italians and Spanish relative to Trelew.[13] Rawson regained the capital status soon thereafter.[13]

Climate edit

Rawson experiences a borderline cold desert (Köppen BWk)/cold semi-desert (BSk) climate with hot summers, cool winters and low precipitation year-round.

Climate data for Trelew/Rawson (1991–2020, extremes 1901–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 42.2
(108.0)
41.0
(105.8)
40.0
(104.0)
35.3
(95.5)
31.0
(87.8)
27.7
(81.9)
25.6
(78.1)
27.4
(81.3)
33.0
(91.4)
36.4
(97.5)
38.3
(100.9)
41.2
(106.2)
42.2
(108.0)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 29.3
(84.7)
28.0
(82.4)
25.4
(77.7)
21.0
(69.8)
16.1
(61.0)
12.6
(54.7)
12.4
(54.3)
15.0
(59.0)
17.6
(63.7)
21.2
(70.2)
24.8
(76.6)
27.5
(81.5)
20.9
(69.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) 21.6
(70.9)
20.2
(68.4)
17.9
(64.2)
13.5
(56.3)
9.5
(49.1)
6.4
(43.5)
5.9
(42.6)
8.0
(46.4)
10.4
(50.7)
14.1
(57.4)
17.4
(63.3)
20.0
(68.0)
13.7
(56.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 13.7
(56.7)
12.6
(54.7)
10.8
(51.4)
7.0
(44.6)
3.6
(38.5)
1.0
(33.8)
0.3
(32.5)
1.9
(35.4)
3.7
(38.7)
6.6
(43.9)
9.6
(49.3)
12.0
(53.6)
6.9
(44.4)
Record low °C (°F) 3.0
(37.4)
1.5
(34.7)
−1.6
(29.1)
−4.9
(23.2)
−10.7
(12.7)
−12.3
(9.9)
−11.4
(11.5)
−10.6
(12.9)
−8.0
(17.6)
−5.0
(23.0)
−2.0
(28.4)
0.5
(32.9)
−12.3
(9.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 11.9
(0.47)
23.5
(0.93)
21.0
(0.83)
23.3
(0.92)
22.6
(0.89)
25.4
(1.00)
17.4
(0.69)
14.1
(0.56)
14.7
(0.58)
18.1
(0.71)
12.9
(0.51)
13.2
(0.52)
218.1
(8.59)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 3.9 4.3 5.2 3.8 6.6 6.8 5.6 6.1 5.9 5.7 4.6 3.7 62.1
Average snowy days 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
Average relative humidity (%) 42.1 49.8 52.9 56.9 65.0 67.5 66.3 59.7 56.0 49.7 44.4 41.4 54.3
Mean monthly sunshine hours 322.4 279.7 251.1 210.0 161.2 138.0 161.2 179.8 198.0 248.0 282.0 294.5 2,725.9
Mean daily sunshine hours 10.4 9.9 8.1 7.0 5.2 4.6 5.2 5.8 6.6 8.0 9.4 9.5 7.5
Percent possible sunshine 67.0 69.3 65.3 60.3 51.3 50.0 47.3 53.7 55.0 59.7 65.0 55.3 58.3
Source 1: Servicio Meteorológico Nacional[14][15][16][17][18]
Source 2: Meteo Climat (record highs and lows)[19] Secretaria de Mineria (percent sun 1941–1990, April, August and December record highs, and May record low only)[20]
 
Map of the town
 
Homeowner and his Merino sheep.

Notable people edit

Twinned towns edit

References edit

  1. ^ Williams (1975), p. 47.
  2. ^ "The Mimosa". Clwyd Family History Society. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  3. ^ Williams (1975), p. 23.
  4. ^ a b Williams (1975), p. 44.
  5. ^ a b c d Williams, David. "Henry Libanus Jones: Su verdadero origen y otros aspectos de su vida, y sobre el llamado fuerte de Rawson". Historia y Arqueologia Marítima (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  6. ^ Williams (1975), p. 45.
  7. ^ Williams (1975), p. 44.
  8. ^ a b c Williams (1975), p. 149.
  9. ^ "Una ciudad con identidad y acento propio (A city with its own identity and accent)". Diario Jornada (in Spanish). 15 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  10. ^ Pravaz, Sergio (8 July 2012). "Puentes (Bridges)". Diario Jornada (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  11. ^ "Celtic and other Gorseddau". National Museum Wales. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  12. ^ "Se bautizó el Puente del Poeta (The Poet's Bridge was baptized)". Diario Cronica (in Spanish). Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  13. ^ a b c Williams (1975), p. 147.
  14. ^ "Estadísticas Climatológicas Normales - período 1991-2020" (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Estadísticas Climatológicas Normales – período 1991–2020" (PDF) (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. 2023. Archived from the original on 8 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  16. ^ "Estadística climatológica de la República Argentina Período 1991-2000" (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Archived from the original on 9 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  17. ^ "Fin de febrero: lo destacado del mes" (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Archived from the original on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  18. ^ "Clima en la Argentina: Guia Climática por Trelew Aero". Caracterización: Estadísticas de largo plazo (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Station Trelew" (in French). Meteo Climat. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  20. ^ "Provincia de Chubut - Clima Y Meteorologia: Datos Meteorologicos Y Pluviometicos" (in Spanish). Secretaria de Mineria de la Nacion (Argentina). Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  21. ^ "Patagonian dignitaries to visit for twinning | News". Archived from the original on 2015-07-18. Retrieved 2015-06-07.
  • Municipal information: Municipal Affairs Federal Institute (IFAM), Municipal Affairs Secretariat, Ministry of Interior, Argentina. (in Spanish)
Attribution
  • Williams, Glyn (1975). The desert and the dream: A study of Welsh colonization in Chubut 1865 – 1915. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-0579-9.

External links edit

 
Rawson Civic Centre, the provincial parliament.