Tandil

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Tandil can also be a spider genus, and a German detergent.
Tandil
Tandil is located in Argentina
Tandil
Location in Buenos Aires Province
Coordinates: 37°19′S 59°08′W / 37.317°S 59.133°W / -37.317; -59.133
Country  Argentina
Province Bandera-bonaerense.svg Buenos Aires
Partido Tandil
Founded April 4, 1823
Elevation 188 m (617 ft)
Population (2001 census [INDEC])
 - Total 101,010
CPA Base B 7000
Area code(s) +54 2293

Tandil is the main city of the homonymous partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southwest of Buenos Aires Province, just NNW of the Tandilia Hills.

Contents

[edit] Geography

Tandil is located 180 metres (590 ft) above sea level and its coordinates are 37°19′08″S 59°08′05″W / 37.31889°S 59.13472°W / -37.31889; -59.13472. The city borders Rauch and Azul (to the north), Ayacucho and Balcarce (to the west), Lobería, Necochea and Benito Juárez (to the south) and Azul and Benito Juárez (to the west).

Tandil is situated approximately midway between La Plata (the provincial capital), 330 kilometres (205 mi.) to its SW, and Bahía Blanca, lying the same distance to its NE; it is also 160 kilometres (99 mi) NW of Mar del Plata, and 360 kilometres (220 mi) SSW of Buenos Aires. Tandil is in a zone known as the Humid Pampa.

According to the 2001 census (INDEC), Tandil had a population of 108,109, but its 2009 population is estimated to be 110,000. The total area of the Tandil partido is 4,935 km2 (1,875 mi2 ).

[edit] Climate

Tandil's climate is mild and humid, with an average temperature of 13.7 °C (56.7 °F) and 888.6 millimetres (34.98 in) of precipitation annually. Mornings are often cold in autumn, winter and spring, and generally fresh in the summer. Fog is very common in autumn and winter (when frosts are also common). Minimum temperatures below −5 °C (23.0 °F) have been recorded in the winter months. Rainfall occurs throughout the year but more frequently in summer. Snow and heat waves are not very common.

The climatological data in the table below is from the perdiod 1981-1990:

Weather data for Tandil, Argentina
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 27.9
(82)		 26.9
(80)		 23.9
(75)		 20.2
(68)		 16.2
(61)		 12.7
(55)		 12.3
(54)		 14.4
(58)		 16.3
(61)		 19.7
(67)		 23.0
(73)		 26.6
(80)		 20.0
(68)
Average low °C (°F) 14.4
(58)		 14.1
(57)		 11.8
(53)		 8.9
(48)		 5.4
(42)		 2.8
(37)		 2.5
(37)		 3.3
(38)		 4.5
(40)		 7.8
(46)		 10.5
(51)		 12.9
(55)		 8.2
(47)
Precipitation mm (inches) 124.2
(4.89)		 78.1
(3.07)		 101.7
(4)		 54.0
(2.13)		 75.7
(2.98)		 21.5
(0.85)		 33.8
(1.33)		 42.7
(1.68)		 56.7
(2.23)		 108.4
(4.27)		 103.1
(4.06)		 88.7
(3.49)		 888.6
(34.98)
Source: Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (Argentine Meteorological Service)[1] {{{accessdate}}}

[edit] Place name

Plaza Independencia (Independence Square)

The name of the city comes from the Mapuche words tan ("falling"), and lil ("rock"). It is probably a reference to the Piedra Movediza ("Moving Stone"), a large boulder which stood seemingly miraculously balanced on the edge of a rocky foothill. The Moving Stone toppled on February 29, 1912, and split into two pieces at the bottom of the hill. Some people thought that tan in fact meant "moving". In order to demonstrate the slight movements of the boulder, it was common practice to place bottles or some other things under its base to see them break. As of May 2007, a replica was set up in the same place where the original stood. Although the replica was made by engineering students, it is cemented in place and does not teeter the way the original did. It is a "moving rock" that does not move.

[edit] History

Piedra Movediza
Christ sculpture in Monte Calvario
Lago del Fuerte (Fortress Lake), with its artificial geyser
Tandil at night, taken from the top of Parque Independencia (Independence Park)

The city was founded by Martín Rodríguez on April 4, 1823, named Fuerte Independencia (Independence Fortress). Between that year and 1875, the native aborigins (Pamas and Ranqueles) defended from European usurpation, the invaders thinking they would not pose a threat.

With the annihilation and expulsion of the original inhabitants during a campaign labelled the "Conquest of the Desert", the European presence became stronger in Tandil, which received a large number of immigrants from various countries in Europe.

The vast majority of immigrants came from Spain and Italy but also Basque and Danish people settled, the latter constituting a very active community.

Tandil was designated a city in 1895 and became a popular tourist destination attracting people from Buenos Aires, other parts of the country and also from abroad.

The Piedra Movediza fell down in 1912 and split in two below. Although it is impossible after the fact to ascertain the reason it fell, it is very possible that the delicately balanced rock was thrown off balance by the common practice of placing glass bottles under it and watching them explode. This was the way the locals would prove to visitors that the rock, in fact, moved, since the movement was too subtle to be detected by the naked eye. There have been projects to restore the rock, and a replica stone was placed where the original used to be. Other similar stones like El Centinela are also attractions, but none has the truly astonishing quality of teetering ever so slowly like the "moving rock" once did. . This made easier the creation of other touring places like Sierra del Tigre or Monte Calvario.

[edit] Notable natives

v • d • e
Bandera-bonaerense.svg Main cities of Buenos Aires Province
Capital city
Metropolitan Cities

Mar del Plata · Bahia Blanca · Tandil · Olavarria · Campana · Lujan
Regional Cities
Towns > 10,000 people
v • d • e
Provinces of Argentina
Provinces Argentina
Autonomous city

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Guía Climática para el Turismo (Climate Guide for Tourists)" (in Spanish). http://www.smn.gov.ar/?mod=clima&id=30&provincia=Buenos%20Aires&ciudad=Tandil. Retrieved January 21, 2008. 

[edit] External links

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