Patagonia () is a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes mountains, featuring lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers in the west, and deserts, tablelands, and steppes to the east. Patagonia is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and many bodies of water that connect them, including the Strait of Magellan, the Beagle Channel, and the Drake Passage to the south.
The northern limit of the region is not precisely defined. The Colorado and Barrancas rivers, which run from the Andes to the Atlantic, are commonly considered the northern limit of Argentine Patagonia.The Late Cenozoic of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego Volumen 11 de Developments in quaternary science, p. 13. Author: Jorge Rabassa. Editor: Jorge Rabassa. Elsevier, 2008. , 9780444529541 On this basis, the extent of Patagonia could be defined as the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz, along with Patagones Partido in the far south of Buenos Aires Province. Most geographers and historians locate the northern limit of Chilean Patagonia at the Huincul Fault in the Araucanía Region, extending across the Los Lagos Region, Magallanes Region and Aysén Region. The archipelago of Tierra del Fuego is also frequently included as part of Patagonia.Manuel Enrique Schilling; Richard Walter Carlson; Andrés Tassara; Rommulo Vieira Conceição; Gustavo Walter Bertotto; Manuel Vásquez; Daniel Muñoz; Tiago Jalowitzki; Fernanda Gervasoni; Diego Morata (2017). "The origin of Patagonia revealed by Re-Os systematics of mantle xenoliths". Precambrian Research, volume 294: 15–32.Zunino, H.; Matossian, B.; Hidalgo, R. (2012). "Poblamiento y desarrollo de enclaves turísticos en la Norpatagonia chileno-argentina. Migración y frontera en un espacio binacional", Revista de Geografía Norte Grande, 53: 137–158.Zunino, M.; Espinoza, L.; Vallejos-Romero A. (2016). "Los migrantes por estilo de vida como agentes de transformación en la Norpatagonia chilena", Revista de Estudios Sociales, 55: 163–176.Ciudadanía, territorio y desarrollo endógeno: resistencias y mediaciones de las políticas locales en las encrucijadas del neoliberalismo, p. 205. Authors: Rubén Zárate, Liliana Artesi, Oscar Madoery. Editorial Biblos, 2007. , 9789507866166
At the time of the Spanish arrival, Patagonia was inhabited by multiple indigenous groups. Communities in a small portion of northwestern Patagonia practiced limited agriculture, while most other peoples lived as hunter-gatherers. These groups traveled on foot in the eastern plains and used dugout canoes and dalcas in the western fjords and channels. During the colonial period, indigenous groups in northeastern Patagonia adopted a horseback-based nomadic lifestyle after the reintroduction of the horse. Following independence, Chile and Argentina asserted sovereignty over the region, initiating a period of colonization in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This expansion, coupled with military campaigns, severely disrupted indigenous societies and led to a sharp population decline as immigrants settled the area from mainland Chile, the Chiloé Archipelago, Argentina, and Europe.
Today, the economy of Argentine Patagonia relies heavily on sheep farming and the extraction of oil and natural gas. In Chilean Patagonia, economic activity is dominated by fishing, salmon aquaculture, and tourism.
Etymology and toponomies
The name Patagonia comes from the word patagón.Antonio Pigafetta, Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo, 1524: "Il capitano generale nominò questi popoli Patagoni." A Brief Declaration of the Vyage abowte the Worlde by Antonie Pygafetta Vincentine, Rycharde Eden, The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India, London, William Powell, 1555. The original word was likely in Magellan's native Portuguese (patagão) or the Spanish of his men (patagón). It was later interpreted later as "bigfoot", but the etymology refers to a literary character in a Spanish novel of the early 16th century:
Patagon, said to be engendred by a beast in the woods, being the strangest, most misshapen, and counterfeit creature in the world. He hath good understanding, is amorous of women, and keepeth company with one of whom, it is said, he was engendred. He hath the face of a Dogge, great ears, which hang down upon his shoulders, his teeth sharp and big, standing out of his mouth very much: his feet are like a Harts, and he runneth wondrous lightly. Such as have seen him, tell marvelous matters of him, because he chaseth ordinarily among the mountains, with two Lyons in a chain like a lease, and a bow in his hand.Anthony Munday, The Famous and Renowned Historie of Primaleon of Greece, 1619, cap.XXXIII: "How Primaleon... found the Grand Patagon". Magellan used this term in 1520 to describe the native tribes of the region, whom his expedition thought to be giants. The people he called the Patagons are now believed to have been the Tehuelche, who tended to be taller than Europeans of the time. Argentine researcher Miguel Doura observed that the name Patagonia possibly derives from the ancient Greek region of modern Turkey called Paphlagonia, possible home of the patagon personage in the chivalric romances Primaleon printed in 1512, ten years before Magellan arrived in these southern lands. This hypothesis was published in a 2011 New Review of Spanish Philology report.Nueva Revista de Filología Hispánica 59 (1): pp. 37–78. 2011. ISSN 0185-0121
There are various placenames in the Chiloé Archipelago with Chono etymologies despite the main indigenous language of the archipelago at the arrival of the Spanish being Mapudungun. A theory postulated by chronicler José Pérez García explains this holding that the Cuncos (also known as Veliches) settled in Chiloé Island in Pre-Hispanic times as a consequence of a push from more northern Huilliches who in turn were being displaced by Mapuches. While being outside traditional Huilliche territory the western Patagonian volcanoes Michimahuida, Hornopirén and Chaitén have Huilliche etymologies.
In Chubut Province modern toponymy comes from the word "chupat" belonging to a transitional language between the southern and northern Tehuelche ethnic groups that were located in that region called Tewsün or Teushen. The word means transparency and is related to the clarity and purity of the river that bears that name and runs through the province. It is also related to the origin of the Welsh pronunciation of the word "chupat" which later became "Chubut". It is called "Camwy" in Patagonian Welsh. Chupat, Chubut and Camwy have the same meaning and are used to talk about the river and the province. Welsh settlers and placenames are associated with one of the projects of the country of Wales, Project Hiraeth.
Due to the language, culture and location, many Patagonians do not consider themselves Latinos and proudly call themselves Patagonians instead. People from Y Wladfa, Laurie Island, the Atlantic Islands, Antarctica (including the Chilean town in Antarctica, "The Stars Village", and the Argentine civilian settlement, "Hope Base"), other non-Latin speaking areas use this term as a patriotic and inclusive demonym. A Patagonian is a person that is part of the Patagonia region, language and culture. That person could be a citizen from Chilean Patagonia, Argentine Patagonia, or of native communities that existed before the land was divided by The Boundary Treaty of 1881.
Patagonia is divided between Western Patagonia (Chile) and Eastern Patagonia (Argentina) and several territories are still under dispute and claiming their rights. Mapuche people came from the Chilean Andes and voted to remain in different sides of Patagonia. Welsh settlers came from Wales and North America and voted to remain in Patagonia; when the treaty was signed, they voted for culture and administration to be apart from the country keeping the settlement, language, schools, traditions, regional dates, flag, anthems, and celebrations. Patagonians also live abroad in settlements like Saltcoats, Saskatchewan, Canada; New South Wales, Australia; South Africa; the Falkland Islands; and North America.
Population and land area Argentine Patagonia Eastern Patagonia consists of five Argentine provinces, together with a single partido (the most southern division) of Buenos Aires Province, all listed below with their areas and their populations at the censuses of 15 May 1991, 17 November 2000, 27 October 2010 and 16 May 2022:Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos de la Republica Argentine, Census of 16 May 2022.
Name Capital Area (km2) Census 1991 Census 2000 Census 2010 Census 2022 Tierra del Fuego Province Ushuaia 21,57169,369101,079127,205185,732 Santa Cruz Province Río Gallegos 243,943159,839196,958273,964337,226 Chubut Province Rawson 224,686357,189413,237509,108592,621 Neuquén Province Neuquén 94,078388,833474,155551,266710,814 Río Negro Province Viedma 203,013506,772552,822638,645750,768 Patagones Partido (of Buenos Aires Province) Carmen de Patagones 13,60027,46927,93830,20737,646 Totals 800,8911,479,4711,766,1892,130,3952,614,807
Chilean Patagonia Western Patagonia at its greatest definition consists of four Chilean regions, all listed below with their areas and their populations at the Censuses of 22 April 1992, 24 April 2002, 19 April 2017 and 9 March 2024:Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas (INE), Chile - Census of 9 March 2024. On a more limited definition, Chilean Patagonia comprises just the two more southern and least populated regions (Zona Austral) of Aysén and Magallanes.
Name Capital Area (km2) Census 1991 Census 2000 Census 2010 Census 2022 Los Ríos Region Valdivia 18,430328,479354,271384,837398,230 Los Lagos Region Puerto Montt 48,584616,682712,039828,708890,284 Aysén Region (a) Coihaique 108,49478,66689,986103,158100,745 Magallanes Region (b) Punta Arenas 132,297141,818147,533166,533166,537 Totals 307,8051,165,6451,303,8291,483,2361,555,796 Notes: (a) official name is Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. (b) official name is Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena,
Largest cities The populations of Argentine cities and agglomerations are from the 2022 Census as referenced above. The populations of Chilean cities and agglomerations are from the 2017 Census as referenced above. City Population of city Population of agglomeration Province / Region Country Neuquén 287,787 500,336 (a) Neuquén Province Argentina Puerto Montt 245,909 Los Lagos Region Chile Comodoro Rivadavia 201,8542022 Chubut Province Argentina Valdivia 182,086 Los Ríos Region Chile Osorno 171,455 Los Lagos Region Punta Arenas 148,391 Magallanes Region San Carlos de Bariloche 134,978 Río Negro Province Argentina Río Gallegos 115,524 Santa Cruz Province Trelew 104,657 Chubut Province General Roca 102,750 Río Negro Province Puerto Madryn 97,625 Chubut Province Río Grande 97,611 Tierra del Fuego Province Cipolletti 95,524 500,336 (a) Río Negro Province Ushuaia 79,409 Tierra del Fuego Province Viedma 57,341 83,323 Río Negro Province Caleta Olivia 56,310 Santa Cruz Province Plottier 52,291 500,336 (a) Neuquén Province Coyhaique 49,968 Aysén Region Chile Cutral Có 40,305 56,225 Neuquén Province Argentina Esquel 36,624 Chubut Province Note: (a) the Neuquén – Plottier – Cipolletti Metropolitan area.
Physical geography