Y Wladfa, also occasionally Y Wladychfa Gymreig, refers to the establishment of settlements by Welsh colonists and immigrants in the Argentine Patagonia, beginning in 1865, mainly along the coast of the lower Chubut Valley. In 1881, the area became part of the Chubut National Territory of Argentina which, in 1955, became Chubut Province.
Chubut is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south, the 46th parallel south, the Andes range to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The province's name derives from the Tehuelche word chupat, meaning "transparent", their description of the Chubut River.
Trelew is a city in the eastern part of the Chubut Province of Argentina. Located in Patagonia, the city is the largest and most populous in the low valley of the Chubut River, with 97,915 inhabitants as of 2010. The Trelew municipality is part of the Rawson Department, whose capital, Rawson, is also the provincial capital.
Puerto Madryn, usually known as Madryn, is a city in the province of Chubut in Argentine Patagonia. It is the capital of the Viedma Department, and has about 103,175 inhabitants according to the last census in 2022.
Michael Daniel Jones was a Welsh Congregationalist minister and principal of a theological college, but is best remembered as a founder of the Welsh settlement in Patagonia known as Y Wladfa and as one of the fathers of modern Welsh nationalism.
Trevelin is a town in the western part of the Patagonian Argentine province of Chubut. The town lies on the eastern banks of the Percy River. It is located in the department of Futaleufú, 22 kilometres (14 mi) south of Esquel, and had 6,395 inhabitants at the time of the 2001 census [INDEC] and 7,908 inhabitants in the 2010 census [INDEC].
Gaiman is a town in the Chubut Province of Patagonia in Argentina. It has a population of 6,627 as per the 2010 census [INDEC]. It is located in the River Chubut's lower valley, about 15 kilometres (9 mi) west of Trelew. Gaiman is a cultural and demographic centre of the main region of the Welsh settlement in Argentina, known in Welsh as Y Wladfa Gymreig.
Esquel is a city in the northwest of Chubut Province in Argentine Patagonia. It is located in Futaleufú Department, of which it is the government seat. Esquel is the home station for “La Trochita,” a historic narrow gauge railway known in English as “The Old Patagonian Express.” Esquel is also known for its ski area, “La Hoya,” and as a gateway city to Los Alerces National Park, a UNESCO protected reserve featuring some of the oldest trees in South America. The name Esquel derives from one of two Tehuelche words: one meaning "marsh" and the other meaning "land of burrs", which refers to the many thorny plants including the pimpinella, and the other meaning herbaceous plants whose fruits, when ripe, turn into prickly burrs that stick to the animals' skins and wool or people's clothes as a way of propagation.
A Cymanfa Ganu is a Welsh festival of sacred hymns, sung with four-part harmony by a congregation, usually under the direction of a choral director.
The Chubut River is located in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina. Its name comes from the Tehuelche word chupat, which means "transparent". The Argentine Chubut Province, through which the river flows, is named after it. Welsh settlers called the river "Afon Camwy", meaning "twisting river".
Lewis Jones was one of the founders of the Welsh settlement in Patagonia. The city of Trelew was named after him.
Mimosa was a clipper ship that gained fame for carrying the first Welsh emigrants to South America in 1865.
La Trochita, in English known as the Old Patagonian Express, is a 750 mm narrow gauge railway in Patagonia, Argentina using steam locomotives. The nickname La Trochita means literally "The little gauge" though it is sometimes translated as "The Little Narrow Gauge" in Spanish while "trocha estrecha", "trocha angosta" in Argentina, is often used for a generic description of "narrow gauge."
Eluned Morgan was a Welsh-language author from Patagonia. She was raised in Y Wladfa, a Welsh colony in Patagonia, and was taught to speak both Welsh and Spanish. Her father eventually enrolled her in Dr Williams' School in Wales, where she had to learn the English language. She led student protests against the school's English-only policy, which prohibited the use of Welsh by its students.
The Central Chubut Railway was a British-owned company that built and operated a 1,000 mmmetre gauge railway line in the Argentine province of Chubut in the Patagonia region at the end of the 19th. century.
Ysgol yr Hendre is a Welsh/Spanish-medium primary school in the large town of Trelew in Chubut Province, Argentina. It was opened on 6 March 2006, initially to teach children between three and five years of age in Spanish and Welsh in order to grow the school to become bilingual. The Chubut education authorities authorised the establishment of the school and supports its aims. The school is twinned with Ysgol Pentreuchaf near Pwllheli in Wales.
The 1902 Arbitral award of the Andes between Argentina and Chile was a British arbitration in 1902 that established the present-day boundaries between Argentina and Chile. In northern and central Patagonia, the borders were established between the latitudes of 40° and 52° S as an interpretation of the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina.
Richard Bryn Williams, or Bryn Williams (1902–1981), was a Welsh-Argentine writer, poet, playwright and historian. From 1975 to 1978 he was Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
National Route 25 is a 534-kilometer-long paved highway that runs through the center of Chubut Province, Argentina. It extends from the juncture with National Route 40 in Tecka to the bridge on the Chubut River in the city of Rawson. The highway crosses the Patagonian Steppe, joining sparsely populated areas.
Elvey Jones MacDonald was a native of Y Wladfa that settled in Wales. He worked for the National Eisteddfod of Wales before becoming head of the Urdd National Eisteddfod for 23 years. He also suggested the creation of Radio Ceredigion, which started broadcasting in 1992.
