El Maitén facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
El Maitén
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 El Maitén
Location in Argentina
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| Country | Argentina |
| Province | Chubut |
| Department | Cushamen |
| Founded | 22 December 1942 |
| Elevation | 625 m (2,051 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 3,782 |
| Demonym(s) | Maitenense |
| Time zone | UTC-3 (ART) |
| CPA base |
U9210
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| Dialing code | +54 2945 |
| Climate | Csb |
El Maitén is a town in Argentina. It is located in the Cushamen Department of Chubut Province, in the region called Patagonia. The town sits by the Chubut River. Long ago, El Maitén was an important stop on the Old Patagonian Express train line. This train connected the towns of Ingeniero Jacobacci and Esquel.
Where is El Maitén?
The town is about 5 kilometers (3 miles) south of the 42nd parallel. This parallel marks the border between the Río Negro and Chubut provinces. El Maitén is about 625 meters (2,051 feet) above sea level.
Provincial Route 40 goes through the town, running north to south. This road connects El Maitén to the city of Esquel, which is about 135 kilometers (84 miles) south.
Other roads connect El Maitén to nearby places. National Route 243 leads to El Bolsón and Bariloche in Río Negro Province. Provincial routes RP 4 and RP 71 connect to Cushamen and Epuyén.
El Maitén is about 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Ñorquincó. It's also about 55 kilometers (34 miles) east of El Bolsón. Cushamen is about 70 kilometers (43 miles) northwest, and Epuyén is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast.
Land and Weather
El Maitén is on the right side of the Chubut River. The river valley was formed by glacial ice long ago. In this area, the river flows north to south. To the west are the lower parts of the Andes mountains. To the east are older landforms of Patagonia. The area has mountains, but they are not very high, usually under 2,000 meters (6,562 feet).
This region shows how the land changes from the wet, wooded Andes in the west to the dry steppes of central Patagonia in the east. Some native trees you might see here are the Austrocedrus chilensis, Coihue (Nothofagus dombeyi), and Ñire (Nothofagus antarctica). Higher up, above 2,000 meters, you can find the Lenga (Nothofagus pumilio).
The climate here is like a semi-steppe. Winters are wet and sometimes have heavy snow. The area gets between 300 and 500 millimeters (12 to 20 inches) of rain each year.
| Climate data for El Maitén | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 33.7 (92.7) |
34.4 (93.9) |
32.2 (90.0) |
26.1 (79.0) |
21.6 (70.9) |
17.7 (63.9) |
16.6 (61.9) |
19.7 (67.5) |
22.6 (72.7) |
26.8 (80.2) |
29.9 (85.8) |
33.6 (92.5) |
34.4 (93.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 23.5 (74.3) |
22.9 (73.2) |
20.6 (69.1) |
15.9 (60.6) |
11.4 (52.5) |
8.6 (47.5) |
7.6 (45.7) |
9.0 (48.2) |
12.5 (54.5) |
15.2 (59.4) |
17.6 (63.7) |
20.5 (68.9) |
15.1 (59.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 16.2 (61.2) |
15.1 (59.2) |
12.8 (55.0) |
8.8 (47.8) |
5.7 (42.3) |
4.0 (39.2) |
3.0 (37.4) |
3.9 (39.0) |
6.2 (43.2) |
8.7 (47.7) |
11.2 (52.2) |
13.8 (56.8) |
8.9 (48.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.3 (45.1) |
6.5 (43.7) |
4.4 (39.9) |
2.0 (35.6) |
0.6 (33.1) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
−0.7 (30.7) |
0.2 (32.4) |
1.6 (34.9) |
3.9 (39.0) |
5.9 (42.6) |
2.3 (36.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −1.6 (29.1) |
−1.8 (28.8) |
−5.0 (23.0) |
−8.1 (17.4) |
−12.4 (9.7) |
−12.7 (9.1) |
−19.9 (−3.8) |
−12.0 (10.4) |
−8.6 (16.5) |
−7.6 (18.3) |
−5.2 (22.6) |
−5.0 (23.0) |
−19.9 (−3.8) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 17.9 (0.70) |
18.1 (0.71) |
20.5 (0.81) |
47.7 (1.88) |
86.6 (3.41) |
99.4 (3.91) |
109.6 (4.31) |
106.2 (4.18) |
38.8 (1.53) |
29.4 (1.16) |
28.7 (1.13) |
40.9 (1.61) |
606.0 (23.86) |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 47.3 | 50.3 | 54.5 | 63.5 | 68.7 | 70.6 | 71.5 | 67.8 | 60.5 | 53.6 | 50.8 | 49.9 | 59.4 |
| Source: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria | |||||||||||||
History and Economy
El Maitén started as a small farming community. But everything changed when the General Roca railroad arrived in 1939. A train line was built to connect to Esquel, and it was finished in 1945. El Maitén was chosen as the place for the train's repair shops and where the locomotives were kept.
Because of the railroad, the town's economy became all about trains. This lasted until the 1970s, when the train industry in Argentina started to slow down.
Even though most of the old train system closed in 1993, a special train still runs from El Maitén. It goes in a loop from El Maitén to the Bruno J. Thomae train station and then back to El Maitén. This train is a popular attraction for visitors.
See also
In Spanish: El Maitén para niños
