Río Negro Province, Province in northern Patagonia, Argentina.
Río Negro is a province in northern Patagonia in Argentina, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Andes. The landscape shifts between dry plateaus in the center, forested valleys along waterways, and a chain of lakes in the western mountains.
The area became organized as a national territory in 1884, after the Argentine army displaced the indigenous population during the desert campaigns. The region gained provincial status in 1957 and elected its first local government.
The name comes from the river whose dark water flows through the region and shapes its character. Visitors meet older people in smaller towns and countryside who still speak dialects from northern Italy or Switzerland, while indigenous languages can sometimes be heard in rural areas.
The Río Negro river crosses the province from west to east and allows irrigation in the otherwise dry areas along its course. The best months to visit are from November to April, when the weather is milder and the fruit orchards are ripe.
The town of Villa Regina calls itself the capital of the pear and holds a large festival every February where fruit growers show their varieties. Near Cipolletti lie old canals from the early 1900s that still carry water to the fields today.
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