La Rinconada, Peru
| La Rinconada | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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View of the town | |||
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  La Rinconada | |||
| Coordinates: 14°37′57″S 69°26′45″W / 14.63250°S 69.44583°WCoordinates: 14°37′57″S 69°26′45″W / 14.63250°S 69.44583°W | |||
| Country |
 Peru | ||
| Region | Puno | ||
| Province | San Antonio de Putina | ||
| District | Ananea | ||
| Elevation | 5,100 m (16,700 ft) | ||
| Population (2012) | |||
| • Total | 50,000 | ||
La Rinconada is a town in the Peruvian Andes located near a gold mine.[1] At 5,100 m above sea level, it is the highest permanent settlement in the world.[2]
Geography
The town is located in the Ananea District, San Antonio de Putina Province. It lies at a height of 5,100 m (16,700 feet) above sea level. It sits at the foot of La Bella Durmiente, "The Sleeping Beauty" glacier. Some successful miners in La Rinconada have homes in Juliaca which has municipal services and is at a lower altitude.[3]
Climate
Located high in the Andes, La Rinconada has an alpine/tundra climate (ET, according to the Köppen climate classification) with no month having average temperatures even close to the 10°C threshold that would permit tree growth and a subtropical highland classification for the city. Far above the tree line, La Rinconada is unique in its high elevation and population with the highest city of comparable population (Cerro de Pasco) being located over 700m closer to sea level. Due to the extreme elevation of the town climate conditions more closely resembles that of west coast Greenland than anything located only 14 degrees from the equator. The town has wet/rainy 'summers' and dry winters with a large diurnal variation seeing cool to cold days and freezing night time temperatures throughout the year, with common snowfalls. The average annual temperature in La Rinconada is 1.2 °C and the average annual rainfall is 707 mm.
| Climate data for La Rinconada | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 8.3 (46.9) |
7.7 (45.9) |
8.0 (46.4) |
8.6 (47.5) |
8.5 (47.3) |
8.2 (46.8) |
8.2 (46.8) |
9.6 (49.3) |
9.6 (49.3) |
11.0 (51.8) |
10.3 (50.5) |
8.7 (47.7) |
8.89 (48.02) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 2.6 (36.7) |
2.5 (36.5) |
2.4 (36.3) |
1.7 (35.1) |
0.5 (32.9) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
−1.5 (29.3) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
1.3 (34.3) |
2.5 (36.5) |
2.4 (36.3) |
2.7 (36.9) |
1.25 (34.25) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −3.1 (26.4) |
−2.6 (27.3) |
−3.2 (26.2) |
−5.1 (22.8) |
−7.5 (18.5) |
−11.6 (11.1) |
−11.2 (11.8) |
−10.3 (13.5) |
−7.0 (19.4) |
−5.9 (21.4) |
−5.5 (22.1) |
−3.3 (26.1) |
−6.36 (20.55) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 135 (5.31) |
113 (4.45) |
106 (4.17) |
50 (1.97) |
19 (0.75) |
7 (0.28) |
6 (0.24) |
15 (0.59) |
34 (1.34) |
51 (2.01) |
67 (2.64) |
104 (4.09) |
707 (27.84) |
| Source: Climate-data.org[4] | |||||||||||||
Demographics
Between the years of 2001 and 2009, the population increased to 30,000 people from just a small prospector camp because the price of gold rose 235% in the same time.[5]
Economy and infrastructure
The economy is mainly based on the production of gold from nearby gold mines, many artisanal.[3]
Many miners work at the gold mine owned by Corporación Ananea. Under the cachorreo system they work for 30 days without payment. On the 31st day they are allowed to take with them as much ore as they can carry on their shoulders.[5] Whether the ore contains any gold or not is a matter of luck. Pocketing of nuggets or promising chunks of rich ore is tolerated. Women are banned from the mines, but pallaqueras can be seen working though rock on the mine dumps.[3]
Environmental issues
The town lacks plumbing and sanitation systems.[5] There is also significant contamination by mercury, due to the mining practices. Local miners refine the ore by grinding and treating it with mercury and pressing the mass through a cloth to filter it. The resulting amalgam is heated, to remove the mercury.
See also
- List of highest cities in the world
- Gorakshep - a base camp in Nepal at 5,164 m (16,942 ft), near Mount Everest.
References
- ↑ Altitude of Human Survivability, Maximum (Vertical Limit).
- ↑ West, John B. (July 6, 2004). "Highest Permanent Human Habitation". High Altitude Medicine & Biology. 3 (3): 401–407. doi:10.1089/15270290260512882. PMID 12631426. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
- 1 2 3 William Finnegan (April 20, 2015). "Tears of the Sun The gold rush at the top of the world." (The New Yorker). Retrieved April 13, 2015.
Many mining towns are company towns. La Rinconada is the opposite. Nearly all the mines and miners here are "informal", a term that critics consider a euphemism for illegal. Ilasaca prefers "artisanal." The mines, whatever you call them, are small, numerous, unregulated, and, as a rule, grossly unsafe. Most do not pay salaries, let alone benefits, but run on an ancient labor system called cachorreo. This system is usually described as thirty days of unpaid work followed by a single frantic day in which workers get to keep whatever gold they can haul out for themselves.
- ↑ "Climate: La Rinconada, Puno". Retrieved 2 November 2014.
- 1 2 3 National Geographic Magazine, January 2009
External links
Media related to La Rinconada, Puno at Wikimedia Commons
La Rinconada travel guide from Wikivoyage- Documentary film shown on www.dev.tv