BREVE RESEÑA History

Bahía Blanca appears mentioned for the first time in a map of 1804. It is called like that for the salt deposits that cover the shores of this entrance of the sea into the continent.
No one knows for sure who named the place like that. Some think the natives did. Then the seal and sea wolf hunters translated the name into Spanish. This bay was often visited by European and USA sail ships that loaded their holds with seal oil.
In 1823 Governor Martín Rodríguez started to think of the foundation of a settlement in the south of the Buenos Aires province. Next year he sent an expedition to that zone to build a fort. The village settled near the fort.
In 1827 another governor, Manuel Dorrego, sanctioned a law that favored transit to the bay and legally opened its port. On the 11th of April of 1828 Colonel Ramón Estomba named the settlement Fortaleza Protectora Argentina (Argentine Protective Fort) through its foundational act. The minister Mariano Balcarce did not approve the decision of the founder and established the locality should be called Nueva Buenos Aires (New Buenos Aires).
The city’s name was chosen beforehand and was Ciudad Belgrano (Belgrano City). One year after Belgrano died a group of citizens sent a petition to the Buenos Aires governor asking that the first city founded south of Buenos Aires should be called after the general’s name. Governor Rodríguez said he would do that.
Despite the official dispositions the name that prevailed was Bahía Blanca, the name chosen by the settlers.
The Legión Agrícola Militar (Agro Military Legion) that arrived in 1856 founded Colonia Nueva Roma (New Rome Colony) the first immigrant’s settlement.
The arrival of the railway in 1884 favored the expansion of cattle and agriculture, the port development and boosted immigration.
Bahía Blanca became a city in 1895.
Geography

Location

Bahía Blanca is located at the southwest of the Buenos Aires province.
How to get there

The access roads are Routes Nr. 3, 22, 33 and 35. The city counts with an airport and bus terminal that connects it to the country’s main cities.

Distance from Bahía Blanca to Buenos Aires: 689 km. (428 miles).

Topography, fauna and flora

Bahía Blanca is located on a plain with mild undulations that slides down towards the coast line.
The native vegetation is thick grasses and some of the species that have adapted to the area are: tamarisk, eucalyptus, willow, poplar, sycamore, cypress and molle. These trees adorn parks and squares. The coast is covered by vegetation that thrives in salty habitats and there are peladales (barren areas) where the flow of the tides activates erosive processes. Crabs live in these habitats. The nearby islands (Trinidad, Ariadna and Conejos) present herbal and a bush ecosystems where endangered species such as guanacos, hares and armadillos survive. In 1991 it was declared Provincial Natural Reservation.

Climate

The climate is mild with enough rainfalls.

Economy

Bahía Blanca is an administrative, financial, cultural, rural, commercial, industrial and educational center.
The city is the seat of the Universidad Nacional del Sur that due to its academic standard is among the top five in the country. It also hosts a faculty of the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional.
Its port channels economic flux from the southwest of province of Buenos Aires and the Río Negro valley.
On the coast line you can see the thermo electrical plant, the port, the petrochemical complex and the industrial park where over 30 plants operate.
The Ingeniero White port articulates cattle and agrarian activities. It has two distinct areas: the corn and sub-products loading area and the rest of the merchandise loading area. It also counts with a dock for coastal fishing ships. You can find the same sectors at Galván port where there is also a special sector for inflammable merchandise that isolates dangerous merchandise from the rest of the installations. When the Ferrocarril Transandino del Sur (South Trans Andean Railway) is finished containers will be transported directly from the Bahía Blanca port to Talcahuano port in Chile.
The city is part of Mercociudades (Mercocities) a network of MERCOSUR municipalities that has over 120 localities in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay,Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.