Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego

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See Rio Grande (disambiguation) for other meanings

Rio Grande in Tierra del Fuego

Río Grande is a town in Argentina, on the northern part of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. It has a population of 80,000 and it is the industrial capital of the Tierra del Fuego Province.

Sheep, as in many places in Patagonia, are the reason for population settlements since the end of the 19th century.

Abundant rivers, sea coasts and good pastures are some of the reasons that justify the population growth. Río Grande was founded on July 11, 1921, when the central government issued a decree recognizing this locality as the "Agricultural Colony of Río Grande".

In the beginning the land was subdivided among a few families owning large estates until the agrarian reform of 1925. Cattle raising became one of the most important economic activities in the area.

Following measures to promote industrial development, Tierra del Fuego was excluded from the IVA (Impuesto al Valor Agregado) which is the tax that is applied on all Argentina. This is why several companies involved in the manufacture of electronic products have opened their factories in this city.

Nowadays, the population is growing unmeasurably, as many people come from the northern parts of Argentina, and other countries, as Bolivia, mainly to work on factories as they offer really good wages.