Chilecito
Overview and History
The city is located in the valley formed by the Sierras de Velazco to the east, and the Sierras de Famatina to the west. The city was founded in 1715 by Spanish colonizers. Chilecito still preserves the cable-car of La Mejicana mine built by Bleichert which is part of the city mining past that saw its peak at the end of the 19th century.
Chilecito is surrounded by an oasis of irrigation, which has been expanded by way of supplements from underground waters. A great part of agricultural land is used for the cultivation of vineyards because the most significant industrial activity is based in wine-cellars. Walnut and fruit trees are also cultivated and their product is locally processed.
The Argentine educator, lawyer, senator, governor and historian Joaquín V. González was raised in the vicinity of Chilecito. He also used to spend his vacation in a home that he built here in his later years. The property, which he called Samay Huasi (Quechua Samay Wasi, "rest house") was donated to the University of La Plata for use as an artists' retreat.
By the end of the 1990s, the university of Chilecito which was still part of the National University of La Rioja became the National University of Chilecito. This decision was highly criticized by different academic and political sectors, especially those concerning to the President of Argentina at the time, Carlos Menem.
Geography
Population
According to statistics, Chilecito has 58,798 inhabitants (data provided from the INDEC 2022 census). This data includes facts from the localities of Anguinán, Malligasta, San Miguel, Los Sarmientos and La Puntilla.
Climate
| Climate data for Chilecito (1991–2000, extremes 1961–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 43.1 (109.6) |
42.0 (107.6) |
40.5 (104.9) |
38.5 (101.3) |
38.2 (100.8) |
35.5 (95.9) |
35.3 (95.5) |
38.5 (101.3) |
40.0 (104.0) |
41.5 (106.7) |
43.7 (110.7) |
44.3 (111.7) |
44.3 (111.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 32.9 (91.2) |
31.1 (88.0) |
29.6 (85.3) |
25.3 (77.5) |
21.2 (70.2) |
17.6 (63.7) |
17.2 (63.0) |
21.4 (70.5) |
24.6 (76.3) |
28.1 (82.6) |
31.1 (88.0) |
33.8 (92.8) |
26.2 (79.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 24.9 (76.8) |
23.5 (74.3) |
22.3 (72.1) |
17.8 (64.0) |
13.9 (57.0) |
10.2 (50.4) |
9.1 (48.4) |
12.8 (55.0) |
16.5 (61.7) |
20.2 (68.4) |
22.6 (72.7) |
25.7 (78.3) |
18.3 (64.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18.7 (65.7) |
16.9 (62.4) |
16.3 (61.3) |
11.1 (52.0) |
7.1 (44.8) |
2.5 (36.5) |
0.6 (33.1) |
3.6 (38.5) |
7.3 (45.1) |
11.9 (53.4) |
15.5 (59.9) |
18.4 (65.1) |
10.9 (51.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 9.3 (48.7) |
8.5 (47.3) |
2.4 (36.3) |
0.4 (32.7) |
−5.1 (22.8) |
−7.7 (18.1) |
−7.7 (18.1) |
−6.9 (19.6) |
−5.4 (22.3) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
1.3 (34.3) |
6.8 (44.2) |
−7.7 (18.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 51.1 (2.01) |
35.5 (1.40) |
16.4 (0.65) |
7.4 (0.29) |
5.2 (0.20) |
1.7 (0.07) |
2.4 (0.09) |
2.4 (0.09) |
4.4 (0.17) |
6.1 (0.24) |
7.9 (0.31) |
23.7 (0.93) |
162.5 (6.40) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 4.3 | 4.6 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 3.8 | 23.5 |
| Average snowy days | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 58.4 | 60.7 | 64.3 | 64.7 | 65.8 | 67.2 | 63.3 | 55.7 | 53.4 | 51.7 | 52.3 | 53.2 | 59.6 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 272.8 | 223.2 | 198.4 | 195.0 | 195.3 | 171.0 | 220.1 | 238.7 | 231.0 | 248.0 | 279.0 | 291.4 | 2,763.9 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 64.3 | 60.4 | 53.0 | 57.9 | 59.6 | 56.6 | 68.4 | 69.9 | 64.4 | 62.6 | 68.8 | 67.8 | 62.5 |
| Source: Servicio Meteorológico Nacional | |||||||||||||
Notable people
- Joaquín V. González, known for his contributions and ideas that have benefited the town of Chilecito and its province, La Rioja
References
- ^ "Municipio de Chilecito". Argentina.gob.ar (in Spanish). 2020-08-26. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
- ^ "Estadística climatológica de la República Argentina Período 1991-2000" (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Archived from the original on 9 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ "Clima en la Argentina: Guia Climática por Chilecito Aero". Caracterización: Estadísticas de largo plazo (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
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