ISS014-E-5615 Click the photo number to access all resolutions available and the database record.
The name Bahía Blanca (“White Bay”) derives from the white color of the salt. The name applies to the major bay (which was noted by Magellan as he probed the coast of South America for a passage to the Pacific Ocean in 1520) and the city at the head of the bay. Highways, airline routes, and pipelines from oil and gas fields to the west and south all converge on Bahía Blanca. The city is a major cultural center and historically has acted as a gateway for immigration. Higher ground on the north side of the estuary affords stable ground for the growth of the city and for intensive agriculture, a mainstay of the Argentine economy. The city sits back from the waterfront, where an industrial park, a petrochemical center, and dockyards are located.
