Rafaela

Rafaela (Spanish pronunciation: [rafaˈela]) is a city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, about 96 km from the provincial capital. It is the head town of the Castellanos Department. It has a population of 99,150 per the 2010 census [INDEC].

Rafaela
City
Coat of arms
Rafaela
Location of Rafaela in Argentina
Coordinates: 31°16′S 61°29′W
Country Argentina
Province Santa Fe
DepartmentCastellanos
Founded byGuillermo Lehmann (colonist)
Government
 • MayorLuis Castellano (Justicialist)
Area
 • Total156 km2 (60 sq mi)
Elevation
90 m (300 ft)
Population
 (2010 census)
 • Total99,150
 • Density640/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Demonym(s)rafaelino
Time zoneUTC−03:00 (ART)
CPA base
S2300
Dialing code+54 3492
WebsiteOfficial website

The city was established in 1881 by Guillermo Lehmann, and officially became a city in 1913. The city has grown 22.2% between 1991 and 2001, and 18.6% in the last census period (2001-2011) according to the official data of the Population Census (INDEC). The city is almost the exact antipode of Wuhu in China.

The city hosts Rafaela Aerodrome airport and the Autódromo Ciudad de Rafaela race track.

Zoning of the city

The city is located in the western-center area of Santa Fe Province and has an area of 156 km2 (60 sq mi). The design of most of the urban area of the city has a shape of a checkerboard with the main plaza (Plaza 25 de mayo) in the middle of the city and four main boulevards coming from there. The street grid of the city is composed by square blocks in most part of the neighborhoods, mainly in the historical and older part of the city.

Photo in main square May 25th

The city has 37 neighborhoods and the downtown area (called Microcentro in Spanish) as the map of the city shows.[1]

Cathedral of Rafaela

Role of citizen participation in planning

In 2008 the municipality of Rafaela created the Department of Administration and Participation (Secretaria de Gestión y Participación, SGP) and after that the government started implementing a process of Participatory budgeting,[2] based on the successful case of Porto Alegre. The main goal of this process is to consolidate and strengthen the importance of citizen participation in the public agenda. The government of the city has implemented the method for three consecutive years. The first one in 2009 was completed; the one for 2010 is now in the stage of implementing the public works that resulted from the participation process; and the third project is in process (SGP, Municipalidad de Rafaela, 2011).[3]

Climate
Climate data for Rafaela (1961–1990, extremes 1970–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 42.0
(107.6)		 40.5
(104.9)		 39.5
(103.1)		 36.9
(98.4)		 34.6
(94.3)		 30.8
(87.4)		 32.4
(90.3)		 37.2
(99.0)		 39.0
(102.2)		 41.7
(107.1)		 39.1
(102.4)		 42.0
(107.6)		 42.0
(107.6)
Average high °C (°F) 32.1
(89.8)		 30.9
(87.6)		 28.1
(82.6)		 24.7
(76.5)		 21.7
(71.1)		 17.9
(64.2)		 18.1
(64.6)		 20.0
(68.0)		 22.2
(72.0)		 25.3
(77.5)		 28.2
(82.8)		 30.7
(87.3)		 25.0
(77.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) 24.7
(76.5)		 23.7
(74.7)		 21.4
(70.5)		 17.9
(64.2)		 15.2
(59.4)		 11.4
(52.5)		 11.4
(52.5)		 12.7
(54.9)		 14.8
(58.6)		 18.2
(64.8)		 21.0
(69.8)		 23.6
(74.5)		 18.0
(64.4)
Average low °C (°F) 18.0
(64.4)		 17.4
(63.3)		 16.0
(60.8)		 12.7
(54.9)		 9.7
(49.5)		 6.4
(43.5)		 6.1
(43.0)		 6.8
(44.2)		 8.5
(47.3)		 11.8
(53.2)		 14.6
(58.3)		 16.8
(62.2)		 12.1
(53.8)
Record low °C (°F) 7.0
(44.6)		 5.5
(41.9)		 3.0
(37.4)		 −1.1
(30.0)		 −5.9
(21.4)		 −6.4
(20.5)		 −8.3
(17.1)		 −5.4
(22.3)		 −4.0
(24.8)		 −0.7
(30.7)		 0.0
(32.0)		 5.4
(41.7)		 −8.3
(17.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 121.1
(4.77)		 130.1
(5.12)		 150.5
(5.93)		 82.0
(3.23)		 42.0
(1.65)		 24.0
(0.94)		 23.6
(0.93)		 24.6
(0.97)		 57.1
(2.25)		 82.8
(3.26)		 102.8
(4.05)		 118.8
(4.68)		 959.4
(37.77)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 8 7 9 7 5 4 5 5 6 8 8 8 80
Average relative humidity (%) 70 74 79 80 81 81 80 77 74 74 73 71 76
Mean monthly sunshine hours 288.3 240.1 229.4 210.0 186.0 159.0 173.6 204.6 216.0 244.9 276.0 291.4 2,719.3
Percent possible sunshine 66.8 64.8 60.5 62.3 57.0 51.9 54.1 60.1 61.0 61.8 67.2 66.4 61.2
Source 1: NOAA,[4] Oficina de Riesgo Agropecuario (record highs and lows)[5]
Source 2: Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (precipitation days),[6] Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (sun, 1961–1990)[7]

Notable natives

Twin towns – sister cities
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Argentina

Rafaela is twinned with:[8]

References
  1. Map 1: Neighborhoods of the city (In Spanish) Archived January 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Program of Citizen Participation (In Spanish)
  3. SGP - Secretaría de Gestión y Participación, Municipalidad de Rafaela (2011) “Presupuesto Ciudadano de Gestión Participativa. Oportunidad para los vecinos, desafío para la gestión municipal y crecimiento equitativo de la ciudad”. Prepared by Municipalidad de Rafaela, Argentina.
  4. "Rafaela INTA Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  5. "Rafaela, Santa Fe". Estadísticas meteorológicas decadiales (in Spanish). Oficina de Riesgo Agropecuario. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  6. "Valores Medios de Temperatura y Precipitación-Santa Fe: Rafaela" (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  7. "Valores promedio (1961–1990) de Estación INTA–Rafaela (EMC)" (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  8. "Hermanamiento". rafaela.gob.ar (in Spanish). Rafaela. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
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