Patagonian sheep farming boom

Economic history
of Chile
1933 Chilean escudo
Colonial era
Early republic
Saltpetre Republic
Internal growth
Return of liberalism
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Location of some localities mentioned in the article.

In late 19th and early 20th centuries, sheep farming expanded across the Patagonian grasslands making the southern regions of Argentina and Chile one of the world's foremost sheep farming areas. The sheep farming boom attracted thousands of immigrants from Chiloé and Europe to southern Patagonia.[1] Early sheep farming in Patagonia was oriented towards wool production but changed over time with the development of industrial refrigerators towards meat export.[2] Besides altering the demographic and economic outlook of Southern Patagonia the sheep farming boom also changed the steppe ecosystem.[3]

Sheep farming in Patagonia was carried out in an estancia system.[4] Each of these estancias was administered from a casco central (a central complex of buildings) where administrators, foremen and workers lived.[4]

Sociedad Explotadora de Magallanes possessed more than 200,000 sheep by 1901.[5]

  1. ^ "La economía ovejera en Magallanes (1876–1930)", Memoria Chilena (in Spanish), Biblioteca Nacional de Chile, retrieved June 30, 2013
  2. ^ Villalobos R., Sergio; Silva G., Osvaldo; Silva V., Fernando; Estelle M., Patricio (1995) [1974]. Historia de Chile. Editorial Universitaria. p. 625. ISBN 956-11-1163-2.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference change was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b "Economía ganadera en Magallanes", Memoria Chilena (in Spanish), retrieved June 30, 2013
  5. ^ Schneider, Teodoro (1904), La agricultura en Chile (in Spanish), Santiago: Sociedad Nacional de la Agricultura, p. 80