Bahia Blanca

Bahía Blanca is located in the south-west of the province of Buenos Aires, by the Atlantic Ocean, head town of Bahia Blanca Partido.  It is the main city in the larger Greater Bahía Blanca urban agglomeration. Bahia Blanca is the second largest seaport in Argentina, and is an important commercial and trans-shipping center. Bahía Blanca means “White Bay”. It is named after the colour of the salt covering the shores. The town though is a thriving industrial port

The city has an important sea port with a depth of 40 feet (12 m), kept constant upstream almost all along the length of the bay, where the Naposta Stream drains.

The city was founded as a fortress on 11 April 1828 by Colonel Ramón Estomba under the orders of Brigadier-General and subsequent Governor of Buenos Aires, Juan Manuel de Rosas, being named Fortaleza Protectora Argentina (Argentine Protective Fortress), intended to protect dwellers and their cattle from native rustling, and also to protect the coast from the Brazilian navy, which had landed in the area the previous year. It was visited by Charles Darwin during his travels through South America in September 1833. The fortress was attacked by malones (incursions of nomadic aboriginals on horseback) several times, most notably in 1859 by 3,000 Calfucurá warriors. It became commercially important after the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway linked the town to the city of Buenos Aires in 1885.

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