View source for Y Wladfa

{{short description|Former Welsh settlement in Argentina}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Refimprove|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Welsh Argentines
| native_name      = {{native name|cy|Ariannin Cymreig}}<br>{{native name|es|Galenses}}
| flag             = Flag of the Welsh colony in Patagonia.svg
| flag_upright     = 0.75
| flag_caption     = Flag of Y Wladfa colony
| total            = 70,000
| total_ref        = <ref name="WAG">{{cite web |url=https://www.itv.com/news/wales/story/2015-05-30/150th-anniversary-of-welsh-voyage-to-patagonia/ |title=150th anniversary of Welsh voyage to Patagonia |publisher=ITV |date=30 May 2015 |quote=The community still exists in Argentina today, with a population of more than 70,000.}}</ref>
| popplace         = [[Chubut Province]]
| langs            = [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Patagonian Welsh]], [[English language|English]]{{cn|date=October 2025}} 
| rels             = [[Protestantism]] (mostly [[Methodism]] and [[Presbyterianism]]) and [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]{{cn|date=October 2025}}
| related          = [[Welsh people|Welsh]], [[Argentines]], [[English Argentine]]s, [[Irish Argentine]]s, [[Scottish Argentine]]s, [[Welsh Americans]], [[Welsh Canadians]], [[Welsh Australians]], [[Afro Argentine]]
}}
{{Location map+ | Argentina
| width = 180
| caption = Welsh speaking settlements in Argentina
| relief =
| float =
| places =
  {{Location map~ | Argentina <!-- Trelew -->
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | lat_deg = 43 | lat_min = 15 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 65 | lon_min = 18  | lon_dir = W
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Argentina <!-- Rawson -->
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | lat_deg = 43 | lat_min = 18 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 65 | lon_min = 6  | lon_dir = W
  }}
  {{Location map~| Argentina <!-- Gaiman -->
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | lat_deg = 43  | lat_min = 17 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 65  | lon_min = 29 | lon_dir = W
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Argentina <!-- Puerto Madryn -->
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | lat_deg = 42 | lat_min = 46 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 65 | lon_min = 3  | lon_dir = W
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Argentina <!-- Trevelin -->
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | lat_deg = 43 | lat_min = 5 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 71 | lon_min = 28  | lon_dir = W
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Argentina <!-- Dolavon -->
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | lat_deg = 43 | lat_min = 18 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 65 | lon_min = 42  | lon_dir = W
  }}
  {{Location map~ | Argentina <!-- Esquil -->
    | mark = Red pog.svg
    | lat_deg = 42 | lat_min = 54 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 71 | lon_min = 19  | lon_dir = W
  }}
}}

'''Y Wladfa''' ({{IPA|cy|ə ˈwladva}}, 'The Colony'),<ref>National Library of Wales' bibliography for [http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=239&L=1 'The Welsh settlement in Patagonia']</ref> also occasionally '''Y Wladychfa Gymreig''' ({{IPA|cy|ə wlaˈdəχva ɡəmˈreiɡ}}, 'The Welsh Settlement'),<ref>''{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140203012056/http://www.glaniad.com/index.php?lang=en&id=34192 Gwladychfa Gymreig]}}'', being an essay by the Rev. Michael D. Jones probably written during the early 1860s, outlining his vision of a Welsh settlement.</ref><ref>''Banner Cymru'', Mercher, Mawrth 4, 1857, Cyf. I, Rhif 1, p. 7, col. C, article about a meeting in Caernarfon to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Patagonia as somewhere to establish "Y Wladychfa Gymreig"; see also Williams, R. Bryn, ''Gwladfa Patagonia: The Welsh Colony in Patagonia 1865–1965'' (Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, Caerdydd, 1965), plate facing p. 33, showing printed money notes for "Gwladychfa Gymreig Patagonia", with one also bearing the stamp "Y Wladychfa Gymreig"</ref> refers to the establishment of settlements by [[Welsh people|Welsh]] colonists and immigrants in the Argentine [[Patagonia]], beginning in 1865, mainly along the coast of the lower [[Chubut River|Chubut Valley]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Chubut Colony |url=https://welshofpatagonia.com/ |website=The Welsh of Patagonia |access-date=12 July 2021}}</ref> [[Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina|In 1881]], the area became part of the Chubut National Territory of Argentina which, in 1955, became [[Chubut Province]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Chubut province, Argentina |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Chubut |publisher=Britannica |access-date=12 July 2021}}</ref>
 
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Argentine government encouraged emigration from Europe to populate Argentina and south Patagonia particularly, which until the [[Conquest of the Desert]] had sparsely rural and coastal settlements.{{cn|date=October 2024}} Between 1856 and 1875, 34 settlements of immigrants of various nationalities were established in [[Santa Fe Province|Santa Fe]] and [[Entre Ríos Province|Entre Ríos]]. In addition to the main colony in Chubut, a smaller colony was set up in Santa Fe by 44 [[Welsh people]] who left Chubut, and another group settled at [[Coronel Suárez]] in southern [[Buenos Aires Province]].<ref>{{cite book | editor= Diarmuid Ó Néill | first=Paul W. | last=Birt | year=2005 | title=Rebuilding the Celtic Languages | publisher=Y Lolfa | location=Talybont | pages=146 | chapter=Welsh (in Argentina) | isbn=978-0-86243-723-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Wales and Patagonia|url=http://www.wales.com/Patagonia|access-date=4 May 2017|date=2015-06-26}}</ref>

The Welsh-Argentine community is centred on [[Gaiman, Chubut|Gaiman]], [[Dolavon]], [[Trelew]], and [[Trevelin]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cfQRcvqSW7UC&pg=PA176 | first=Peter |last=Berresford Ellis |author-link=Peter Berresford Ellis | year=1983 | title=The Celtic revolution: a study in anti-imperialism  | publisher=[[Y Lolfa]] |location=Talybont | pages=175–178 |isbn=978-0-86243-096-2}}</ref> There are 70,000 Welsh-Patagonians. However,
Chubut estimates the number of [[Patagonian Welsh]] speakers to be about 1,500, while other estimates put the number at 5,000.<ref>''Western Mail'', 27 Dec 2004</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29611380|title=Viewpoint: The Argentines who speak Welsh|date=16 October 2014|access-date=16 October 2014|work=BBC News}}</ref>

== History ==

===First settlers 1865===
[[File:Inmigrantes británicos en Argentina (1914).svg|thumb|Percentage of people registered as British in the 1914 Argentine census. Within this group are Welsh, English, Irish and Scottish.]]
[[File:The Rev. Michael D. Jones (1822-98).jpg|thumb|The Rev. Michael D. Jones (1822–1898)]]
[[File:Flag of Y Wladfa.svg|thumb|Reconstruction of the flag used in the 19th century, at least in 1865. Has gained popularity in recent years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gregoric |first=Francisco |date=2020 |title=Welsh Community (Chubut Province, Argentina) |url=https://www.fotw.info/flags/ar-u_w.html |website=Flags of the World}}</ref>]]

The idea of a Welsh colony in [[Patagonia]] was put forward by [[Michael D. Jones]], a [[Welsh nationalism|Welsh nationalist]] [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformist]] preacher<ref name="Glyn Williams">{{cite book|last1=Williams|first1=Glyn|title=The desert and the dream: A study of Welsh colonization in Chubut 1865 – 1915|date=1975|publisher=University of Wales Press|location=Cardiff|isbn=978-0-7083-0579-9}}</ref>{{rp|23}} based in [[Bala, Gwynedd]], who had called for a new "little Wales beyond Wales". He spent some years in the [[United States]], where he observed that Welsh immigrants assimilated very quickly compared with other peoples and often lost much of their Welsh identity.<ref name="Glyn Williams"/>{{rp|22}} Thus, the original proposal was to establish a new Wales overseas where Welsh settlers and their culture would be generally free from foreign domination.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Powell |first1=R. Daniel |title=Centralization of Irrigation Systems: A Case in the Argentine Frontier |journal=Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies |date=1985 |volume=10 |issue=20 |page=56 |publisher=Taylor & Francis}}</ref> He proposed setting up a [[Welsh language|Welsh-speaking]] colony away from the influence of the [[English language]]. He recruited settlers and provided financing; [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]] and even [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] were considered, but Patagonia was chosen for its isolation and the Argentines' offer of {{convert|100|mi2}} of land along the [[Chubut River]] in exchange for settling the still-unconquered land of Patagonia for Argentina. Jones had no doubt of his right to take possession there, writing "other lands are available and they are in complete possession of savage people, such as Patagonia, and it is undoubtedly possible to make a colony in a land like this...".<ref>"Mae tirogaethau eraill i'w cael ag ydynt yn hollol yn meddiant anwariaid, megys Patagonia, a diau fod yn bosibl gwneud gwladychfa mewn man o'r fath... 'Gwladychfa Gymreig' by the Rev. Michael D. Jones, c.1860 https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/13515#?xywh=-1%2C-91%2C900%2C912&cv=7 accessed 14 April 2025. English translation Lucy Taylor. Global politics of Welsh Patagonia Settler colonialism from the Margins. ISBN 978-1-83772-216-7 University of Wales Press 2025, p.75 </ref> 

Patagonia, including the Chubut Valley, was claimed by Buenos Aires but it had little control over the area (which was also claimed by Chile).<ref name="Glyn Williams"/>{{rp|23–30}} Jones had been corresponding with the Argentine government about settling an area known as [[Bahía Blanca]] where Welsh immigrants could preserve their language and culture. The Argentine government granted the request as it put them in control of a large tract of land. A Welsh immigration committee met in Liverpool and published a handbook, {{lang|cy|Llawlyfr y Wladfa}}, to publicize the scheme to form a Welsh colony in Patagonia which was distributed throughout Wales.{{citation needed|reason=No source for Bahía Blanca, for land grant or for Llawlyfr y Wladfa.|date=November 2016}}

[[File:LewisJones.jpg|left|thumb|140px|Lewis Jones]]

Towards the end of 1862, Captain [[Sir Love Jones-Parry, 1st Baronet|Love Jones-Parry]] and [[Lewis Jones (Patagonia)|Lewis Jones]] (after whom Trelew was named) left for Patagonia to decide whether it was a suitable area for Welsh emigrants. They first visited [[Buenos Aires]] where they held discussions with the Interior Minister [[Guillermo Rawson]] then, having come to an agreement, headed south. They reached Patagonia in a small ship named the ''Candelaria'', and were driven by a storm into a bay which they named ''Porth Madryn'', after Jones-Parry's estate in Wales. The town that grew near the spot where they landed is now named [[Puerto Madryn]]. On their return to Wales they declared the area to be very suitable for colonization.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

[[File:Velero Mimosa, Y Wladfa.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The ''Mimosa''.]]

On 28 July 1865, 153 [[Welsh people|Welsh]] settlers arrived aboard the [[clipper]] ship ''[[Mimosa (ship)|Mimosa]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.casahistoria.net/mimosa1.htm |title=Welsh immigrants in Patagonia: Mimosa, the old ship that sailed into history |access-date=2007-01-05 |last=Wilkinson |first=Susan |date= September 1998 |work=(originally) Buenos Aires Herald }}</ref> The ''Mimosa'' settlers, including [[tailor]]s, [[shoemaking|cobblers]], [[carpentry|carpenters]], [[brickworks|brickmakers]], and [[miner]]s, comprised 56 married adults, 33 single or widowed men, 12 single women (usually sisters or servants of married immigrants), and 52 children; the majority (92) were from the [[South Wales Coalfield]] and English urban centres.<ref name="Glyn Williams"/>{{rp|35}} There were few [[farmer]]s. This was rather unfortunate, particularly when they discovered that the attractions of the area had been oversold and they had landed in an arid semi-[[desert]] with little food; they had been told that the area was like lowland Wales. At the coast there was little [[drinking water]], and the group embarked on a walk across the parched plain with a single wheelbarrow to carry their belongings. Some died and a baby, Mary Humphries, was born on the march. John Williams was the only colonist with any form of rudimentary [[medicine|medical skill]]. So disheartened were some settlers, they requested that the British Government settle them on the Falkland Islands. However, this request was ignored.

Once they reached the valley of the Chubut River, their first settlement was a small fortress on the site which later became the town of [[Rawson, Chubut|Rawson]], now the capital of [[Chubut Province]].<ref name="Glyn Williams"/>{{rp|45}} This was referred to as {{lang|cy|Yr Hen Amddiffynfa}} ('The Old Fortress').<ref name="Glyn Williams"/>{{rp|44}} The first houses, constructed from earth, were washed away by a flash flood in 1865, and new houses of superior quality were built to replace them.<ref name="Glyn Williams"/>{{rp|45–47}} The floods also washed away crops of potatoes and maize.<ref name="Glyn Williams"/>{{rp|52}} The rainfall in the area was much less than the colonists had been led to expect, leading to crop failures.

=== Consolidation 1866–1888 ===
[[File:Welshpeople.jpg|thumb|Welsh traditions in Rawson]][[File:Y Drafod.jpg|thumb|Y Drafod]]
The settlers first made contact with the local [[Tehuelche people]] almost a year after their arrival. After some difficult early years of suspicion and some violence, the Tehuelche people established cordial relationships with the Welsh and helped the settlement survive the early food shortages. The settlers, led by Aaron Jenkins (whose wife Rachel was the first to bring up the idea of systematic use of irrigation canals), soon established Argentina's first{{citation needed|date=December 2017}} [[irrigation]] system based on the Chubut River (in Welsh, {{lang|cy|Afon Camwy}}, 'winding river'), irrigating an area three or four miles (five or six km) to each side of the {{convert|50|mile|adj=on}} long stretch of river and creating Argentina's most fertile wheatlands.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} By 1885, wheat production had reached 6,000 tons, with wheat produced by the colony winning the gold medal at international expositions at [[Paris]] and [[Chicago]].

[[File:Harvest time in Patagonia.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Harvest time in Patagonia, c.1880]]

The mouth of the [[Chubut River]] was difficult to navigate, being shallow and with shifting sandbanks, and it was decided that a railway was required to connect the Lower Chubut valley to [[Puerto Madryn]] (originally Porth Madryn) on the [[Golfo Nuevo]] on the southern side of the [[Valdes Peninsula]].<ref name="Glyn Williams"/>{{rp|80–81}} Lewis Jones was the driving force, and in 1884 the Argentine Congress authorized the construction of the [[Central Chubut Railway]] by Lewis Jones y Cía. Raising funds for the project locally proved difficult, so Lewis Jones went to the United Kingdom to seek funds, where he enlisted the assistance of Asahel P. Bell, an engineer. Work on the railway began in 1886, helped by the arrival of another 465 Welsh settlers on the steamer ''Vesta''. The town that grew at the railhead was named ''Trelew'' (Town of Llew) in honour of Lewis Jones.<ref name="Glyn Williams"/>{{rp|86}} The town grew rapidly and in 1888 became the headquarters of the {{lang|es|Compañía Mercantil del Chubut|italic=unset}} (Chubut Trading Company).  Initially the settlers were largely self-governing, with all men and women of 18 years of age or over having the right to vote.

In January 1868, the first newspaper of the colony, {{lang|cy|Y Brut}} (''The Chronicle''), appeared; {{lang|cy|Ein Breiniad}} (''Our Privilege'') followed in 1878. Both were short-lived, only six issues of each title being circulated. Lewis Jones established {{lang|cy|Y Drafod}} (''The Discussion'') in 1891, and this had greater longevity: a weekly issue was produced until 1961.<ref name=NLW>{{cite web|title=The Welsh colony in Patagonia|url=https://www.llgc.org.uk/collections/learn-more/printedmaterials/the-press-of-the-welsh-colony-in-patagonia/|website=Collections: Printed materials|publisher=The National Library of Wales|access-date=19 June 2015|date=2015}}</ref>

=== Expansion towards the Andes 1885–1902 ===
[[File:GaimanWelshSchool.JPG|thumb|A Welsh school in Patagonia]]
By the mid-1880s most of the good agricultural land in the Lower Chubut valley had been claimed, and the colonists mounted a number of expeditions to explore other parts of Patagonia to seek more cultivable land. In 1885, the Welsh asked the governor of [[Chubut Province]], [[Luis Jorge Fontana]], for permission to arrange an expedition to explore the [[Andes|Andean]] part of Chubut. Fontana decided to accompany the expedition in person. By the end of November 1885 they had reached a fertile area which the Welsh named {{lang|cy|Cwm Hyfryd}} (Pleasant Valley). By 1888, this site at the foot of the Andes had become another Welsh settlement,<ref name=NLW/> named in Spanish {{lang|es|Colonia 16 de Octubre}}. As the population grew here, the towns of [[Esquel]] and [[Trevelin]] were founded.{{cn|date=August 2025}}

In 1893, a Welsh-language newspaper called ''[[Y Drafod]]'' (The Conversation) was founded by Lewis Jones to promote Welshness in Y Wladfa.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://newspapers.library.wales/browse/4021860 | title=Y Drafod – Welsh Newspapers Online – the National Library of Wales}}</ref>

This area became the subject of the [[Cordillera of the Andes Boundary Case 1902 (Argentina, Chile)|Cordillera of the Andes Boundary Case 1902]] between Argentina and Chile. Initially the border was defined by a line connecting the highest peaks in the area, but it later became clear that this line was not the same as the line separating the watersheds, with some of the rivers in the area flowing westwards. Argentina and Chile agreed that the United Kingdom should act as arbitrator, and the views of the Welsh settlers were canvassed. In 1902, despite an offer of a league of land per family from Chile, they voted to remain in Argentina.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

=== Setbacks in the Lower Chubut Valley 1899–1915 ===
[[File:Y Wladfa - A flooded settlement in the Welsh colony.jpg|thumb|A flooded settlement in the Welsh colony]]
Serious damage was caused by floods in the 1890s and 1900s, which devastated Rawson and to a lesser extent [[Gaiman, Chubut|Gaiman]], though Trelew was not affected. There was also disagreement between the settlers and the [[government of Argentina]], which introduced [[conscription]] and insisted on males of military age drilling on Sundays. This ran counter to the [[Sabbath in Christianity|Sabbatarian]] principles of the settlers and caused much ill-feeling, though the matter was eventually resolved by the intervention of the [[president of Argentina]], [[Julio Argentino Roca]]. These factors, and a lack of unclaimed farmable land, caused 234 people to leave for [[Liverpool]] aboard the ''Orissa'' on 14 May 1902, with 208 of them subsequently travelling to [[Canada]], arriving at [[Saltcoats, Saskatchewan]], in late June,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.multiculturalcanada.ca/ecp/content/welsh.html |title=Multicultural Canada — Welsh |access-date=2007-07-01 |last=Williams |first=Colin H. |work=Multicultural Canada Project, Simon Fraser University |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070626222921/http://www.multiculturalcanada.ca/ecp/content/welsh.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-06-26}}</ref> although some of these families later returned to Chubut and  later migrated to Australia. Some other settlers moved to [[Río Negro Province]] in Argentina. Many of those who left Chubut were late arrivals who had failed to obtain land of their own, and they were replaced by more immigrants from Wales. By the end of the 19th century there were some 4,000 people of Welsh descent living in Chubut. The last substantial migration from Wales took place shortly before [[World War I]], which put a halt to further immigration. Approximately 1,000 Welsh immigrants arrived in Patagonia between 1886 and 1911; on the basis of this and other statistics, Glyn Williams estimated that perhaps no more than 2,300 Welsh people ever migrated directly to Patagonia.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Glyn Williams | year=1969 | title=The Welsh in Patagonia: A Demographic Note | journal=Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap | pages=238 | volume=Supplementary volume }}</ref>

===Later development===
[[File:Una casa de té en Gaiman.jpg|thumb|A Welsh tea house in Chubut]]

Immigration to the area after 1914 was mainly from [[Italy]] and other southern European countries. Welsh became a minority language. The creation{{when|date=June 2017}} of a [[cooperative|co-operative]], the ''{{lang|cy|Cwmni Masnachol Camwy|italic=unset}}'' ({{langx|es|Compañía Mercantil de Chubut|links=no}}), was important. The Society traded on the settlers' behalf in [[Buenos Aires]] and acted as a bank with 14 branches. The cooperative society collapsed in the [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s. The construction of a dam on the Rio Chubut {{convert|120|km}} west of Trelew, inaugurated on 19 April 1963, removed the risk of flooding in the Lower Chubut Valley.

The Welsh have left their mark on the landscape, with [[windmill]]s and [[chapel]]s across the province, including the distinctive wood and corrugated zinc Capel Salem{{where?|date=November 2020}} and [[Trelew]]'s Salon San David. Many settlements along the valley bear Welsh names.

[[File:Capel Bethel.jpg|thumb|A Welsh chapel in Gaiman]]

During the British Government's [[repatriation]] of the 11,313 [[Argentine people|Argentine]] [[POW]]s taken during the 1982 [[Falklands War]], Welsh-speaking British merchant seamen and British soldiers from the [[Welsh Guards]] were shocked to find themselves addressed in [[Patagonian Welsh]] by an Argentine POW who was on the way home to [[Puerto Madryn]].<ref>Johnson-Allen, J. (2011). ''They couldn't have done it without us''. Seafarer Books. p.168.  {{ISBN|9781906266233}}</ref> Over the years since, close ties between Wales and Y Wladfa have been re-established.

A 2001 [[BBC]] article described in detail the recent visit to [[Chubut Province]] by [[Archdruid]] {{illm|Meirion Evans|cy}} and 30 members of the ''[[Gorsedd Cymru]]'' in order to revive the ''Gorsedd Y Wladfa'' in a ceremony held in a specially constructed [[stone circle]] near [[Gaiman, Chubut|Gaiman]].

Every year, the [[Eisteddfod]] festival takes place in the town of [[Trevelin]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.patagonia.com.ar/Trevelin/811E_The+Eisteddfod+of+Trevelin++.html | title=The Eisteddfod of Trevelin – Trevelin, Patagonia, Argentina}}</ref> BBC reporters attended the 2001 ''Eisteddfod del Chubut'' at [[Trelew]] and watched as the [[Bardic Chair]] was awarded for the first time in ''Y Wladfa'' to a female poet: Gaiman hotel owner Monica Jones de Jones, for an ''[[Awdl]]'' on the subject of ''Rhyddid'' ("Freedom"). The article's author continued, "The Patagonia Eisteddfod itself, while sharing those elements common to Eisteddfodau in Wales itself, nonetheless is, in other respects, quite a different affair. As well as haunting [[Welsh folk music|Welsh folk tunes]], and recitations in the unique [[Patagonian Welsh|Spanish-accented Welsh]] of the Patagonians, there are also rousing displays of Argentine [[folk dancing]] which owe everything to the [[Gaucho culture|culture of the gauchos]] and nothing to the somewhat tamer dance routines of the Welsh homeland."<ref>{{cite web|title=Patagonia, land of song|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1622457.stm|work=[[BBC News]]|date=26 October 2001|access-date=8 June 2020}}</ref>

Current Eisteddfod competitions are [[bilingual]], in both Patagonian Welsh and [[Rioplatense Spanish|Argentine Spanish]], and include poetry, prose, [[literary translation]]s (Welsh, Spanish, English, Italian, and French), musical performances, arts, folk dances, photography, and filmmaking among others. The ''Eisteddfod de la Juventud'' is held every September at Gaiman. The main ''Eisteddfod del Chubut'' is held every October at [[Trelew]]. Other annual eisteddfodau are held at [[Trevelin]], in the [[Andes]] and at [[Puerto Madryn]] along the [[South Atlantic]] coast.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.almargen.com.ar/sitio/seccion/cultura/eiste/|title=Eisteddfod: La cumbre de la poesía céltica.|work=Sitio al Margen|author=Brooks, Walter Ariel|access-date=4 October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061105142507/http://www.almargen.com.ar/sitio/seccion/cultura/eiste/|archive-date=5 November 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2006, the first of a [[2006 mid-year rugby union internationals|two-Test tour]] to [[Argentina national rugby union team|Argentina]] by the [[Wales national rugby union team]] was played in Puerto Madryn, which was a 27–25 win for Argentina.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

In 2019, 1,411 people undertook Welsh courses in the region, which was the highest number on record for the project.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019|title=The Welsh Language Project in Chubut Annual Report 2019|url=https://wales.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/welsh_language_project_annual_report_2019.pdf|access-date=18 April 2021|publisher=British Council|archive-date=18 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418123534/https://wales.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/welsh_language_project_annual_report_2019.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> During 2023-24, there were over 970 registered learners (schools and adult learners) – a rise from 623 in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-28 |title=Welsh language strategy: annual report 2023 to 2024 {{!}} GOV.WALES |url=https://www.gov.wales/welsh-language-strategy-annual-report-2023-2024 |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=www.gov.wales |language=en}}</ref> 

In 2014, Professor E. Wyn James of [[Cardiff University]] estimated that there were perhaps as many as 5,000 people in Patagonia who could speak Welsh.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29611380 | title=The Argentines who speak Welsh| work=BBC News| date=2014-10-16}}</ref>

On 28 July 2015, celebrations took place to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Welsh migrations. The [[First Minister of Wales]],
[[Carwyn Jones]], attended the celebration.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://en.mercopress.com/2015/07/28/the-welsh-are-fully-integrated-to-argentina-and-have-preserved-their-culture | title=The Welsh are fully integrated to Argentina and have preserved their culture | date=28 July 2015 | publisher=MercoPress | access-date=28 September 2019}}</ref>

In October 2018, the [[BBC National Orchestra of Wales]] undertook an historic visit to Y Wladfa to give two concerts in a newly refurbished concert hall, that had previously been a wool factory on the outskirts of Trelew. These performances attracted thousands of local visitors and helped celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Welsh migration. Welsh harpist [[Catrin Finch]] and conductor [[Grant Llewelyn]] were part of the concerts.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

==Welsh relationship with Indigenous people==
The Welsh settlers to Patagonia settled on Indigenous [[Tehuelche people|Tehuelche]] land. The Welsh were able to survive and thrive by bartering Welsh bread for meat, by learning from Tehuelche people how to hunt, and by learning from the Tehuelche how to irrigate their fields with water from the Chubut River.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-33682688 |title=150th anniversary of Welsh emigration to Patagonia |work=BBC News |date=28 July 2015 |accessdate=2023-07-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Prior |first=Neil |date=2015-05-30 |title=Patagonia 150 years on: A 'little Wales beyond Wales' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-32919137 |accessdate=2023-07-30 |publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref>

== Welsh language names for Argentine places ==
[[File:Beach at Puerto Madryn.jpg|thumb|The beach at Puerto Madryn]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! [[Spanish language|Spanish]]
! [[Welsh language|Welsh]]
! [[English language|English translation of Welsh name]]
|-
| [[Argentina]]
|data-sort-value="Ariannin"| Yr Ariannin
|data-sort-value="Argentine"| Argentina
|-
| [[Villa La Angostura]]
| Lle Cul
| narrow place
|-
| [[Arroyo Pescado]]
| Nant y Pysgod
| fish stream
|-
| [[Colonia 16 de Octubre]]
| Cwm Hyfryd/Bro Hydref
| beautiful valley/October community
|-
| [[Fuerte Aventura]]
| Caer Antur
| fort adventure
|-
| [[Paso de Indios]]
| Rhyd yr Indiaid
| Indians' ford
|-
|data-sort-value="Plumas"| [[Las Plumas]]
| Dôl y Plu
| meadow of the feathers
|-
| [[Puerto Madryn]]
| Porth Madryn
| (Port Madryn)
|-
| [[Rawson, Chubut|Rawson]]
| Trerawson
| (Rawson)
|-
| [[Chubut River|Río Chubut]] (from Tehuelche 'Chupat', meaning 'shining, glinting')
| Afon Camwy
| swirling river
|-
| [[Río Corintos]]
| Aber Gyrants
| turning estuary
|-
| [[Valle de los Mártires]]
| Dyffryn y Merthyron
| valley of the martyrs
|-
| [[Valle Frío]]
| Dyffryn Oer
| cold valley
|-
| [[Trelew]]
| Tre Lew(is)
| Lew's town
|-
| [[Dolavon]]
| Dôl Afon
| river meadow
|-
| [[Trevelin]]
| Tre Felin
| mill town
|}

== Map ==
{{Location map+ |Argentina Chubut Province
| width = 500
| caption = Welsh speaking settlements in Chubut
| relief = 1
| float = center
| places =
  {{Location map~ |Argentina Chubut Province
    | label = [[Trelew]]
    | position = top
    | background = white
    | mark = Purple pog.svg
    | alt = 
    | link = Trelew
    | lat_deg = 43 | lat_min = 15 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 65 | lon_min = 18  | lon_dir = W
  }}
  {{Location map~ |Argentina Chubut Province
    | label = [[Rawson, Chubut|Rawson]]
    | position = right
    | background = white
    | mark = Purple pog.svg
    | alt = 
    | link = Rawson, Chubut
    | lat_deg = 43 | lat_min = 18 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 65 | lon_min = 6  | lon_dir = W
  }}
  {{Location map~|Argentina Chubut Province
    | label = [[Gaiman, Chubut|Gaiman]]
    | position = bottom
    | background = white
    | mark = Purple pog.svg
    | alt = 
    | link = Gaiman, Chubut
    | lat_deg = 43  | lat_min = 17 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 65  | lon_min = 29 | lon_dir = W
  }}
  {{Location map~ |Argentina Chubut Province
    | label = [[Puerto Madryn]]
    | position = top
    | background = white
    | mark = Purple pog.svg
    | alt = 
    | link = Puerto Madryn
    | lat_deg = 42 | lat_min = 46 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 65 | lon_min = 3  | lon_dir = W
  }}
  {{Location map~ |Argentina Chubut Province
    | label = [[Trevelin]]
    | position =
    | background = white
    | mark = Purple pog.svg
    | alt = 
    | link = Trevelin
    | lat_deg = 43 | lat_min = 5 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 71 | lon_min = 28  | lon_dir = W
  }}
  {{Location map~ |Argentina Chubut Province
    | label = [[Dolavon]]
    | position = left
    | background = white
    | mark = Purple pog.svg
    | alt = 
    | link = Dolavon
    | lat_deg = 43 | lat_min = 18 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 65 | lon_min = 42  | lon_dir = W
  }}
  {{Location map~ |Argentina Chubut Province
    | label = [[Esquel]]
    | position =
    | background = white
    | mark = Purple pog.svg
    | alt = 
    | link = Esquel
    | lat_deg = 42 | lat_min = 54 | lat_dir = S
    | lon_deg = 71 | lon_min = 19  | lon_dir = W
  }}
}}

== Anthem ==
[[File:Patagonia Anthem.JPG|thumb|A printed version of ''[[Gwlad Newydd y Cymry]]'']]
Y Wladfa's anthem is a re-working of the Welsh anthem, "{{lang|cy|[[Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau]]|italics=unset}}", called "{{lang|cy|[[Gwlad Newydd y Cymry]]|italics=unset}}" ('"The New Country of the Welsh"'). The new anthem was penned by Lewis Evans and is sung to the same tune as "{{lang|cy|Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau|italics=unset}}".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Axtell |first1=William |title="A song for a new Welsh nation": Patagonian Welsh national anthem discovered in 19th century pamphlet {{!}} Culture24 |url=https://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/art531163-a-song-for-a-new-welsh-nation-patagonian-welsh-national-anthem-discovered-in-19th-century-pamphlet |website=Culture24 |access-date=11 September 2023 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094157/https://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/art531163-a-song-for-a-new-welsh-nation-patagonian-welsh-national-anthem-discovered-in-19th-century-pamphlet |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

==Popular culture==
''[[Patagonia (film)|Patagonia]]'' is a 2011 film about the Welsh settlement in Argentina.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/mar/02/matthew-rhys-patagonia-brothers-sisters | title=Matthew Rhys: From Patagonia with love| newspaper=The Guardian| date=2011-03-02| last1=Booth| first1=Hannah}}</ref>

In the BBC's 2015 ''Patagonia with Huw Edwards'', [[Huw Edwards]] travelled to Patagonia and met with descendants of the original settlers, to discuss what had survived of the uniquely Welsh culture their ancestors aimed to protect.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b05xd52f/patagonia-with-huw-edwards|title=Patagonia with Huw Edwards|via=www.bbc.co.uk|date=1 June 2015 |access-date=2 March 2022}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Argentina|Wales}}
* [[Eluned Morgan (author)]]
* [[Irish Argentine]]
* [[Richard Bryn Williams]]
* [[Conquest of the Desert]]
* [[Scottish Argentine]]
* [[Spanish colonization attempt of the Strait of Magellan]]
* [[Thomas Benbow Phillips]]
* [[Welsh settlement in the Americas]]
* [[Welsh Tract]]
* ''[[A Swiftly Tilting Planet]]''
* ''[[Patagonia (film)]]''

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Other Sources ==
*''[[Western Mail (Wales)|Western Mail]]'' (Cardiff, Wales). 27 Dec 2004. [http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tm_objectid=15015947&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=hola--plans-for-patagonia-welsh-to-watch-gente-de-valle-and-other-s4c-shows-to-improve-their-language-skills-name_page.html Patagonia Welsh to watch S4C shows.]
*{{cite book | author=Glyn Williams | title=The desert and the dream: a study of Welsh colonization in Chubut 1865–1915 | publisher=University of Wales Press | year=1975 | isbn=978-0-7083-0579-9 }}
*{{cite book | author=R. Bryn Williams | title=Gwladfa Patagonia 1865–2000 = La colonia galesa de Patagonia 1865–2000 = The Welsh colony in Patagonia 1865–2000 | publisher=Gwasg Carreg Gwalch | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-86381-653-6 }}
*Walter Ariel Brooks, 'Welsh print culture in y Wladfa: The role of ethnic newspapers in Welsh Patagonia, 1868-1933' (Cardiff University PhD thesis, 2012) - https://orca.cf.ac.uk/46450/1/WelshPrintCultureInYWladfaWalterBrooks.pdf
*E. Wyn James, ‘Identity, Immigration, and Assimilation: The Case of the Welsh Settlement in Patagonia’, ''Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion'', 24 (2018), 76–87. ISSN 0959-3632.
*E. Wyn James, ‘Songs and Identity in Welsh Patagonia’, ''Studia Ethnologica Pragensia'', 1/2023, 85-96. ISSN 1803-9812 (Print); ISSN 2336-6699 (Online): https://studiaethnologicapragensia.ff.cuni.cz/en/magazin/2023-1-2/

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Welsh diaspora in Argentina}}
* [http://project-hiraeth.com/ Project-Hiraeth – Documents the stories of the Welsh colony in Patagonia, Argentina through film, text and illustration.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023152730/http://www.project-hiraeth.com/ |date=23 October 2018 }}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160808130811/http://www.glaniad.com/ Glaniad – A website that tells the story of the Welsh settlements in Patagonia]}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1163503 Y Wladfa — The Welsh in Patagonia] on [[h2g2]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070104024938/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/migration/pages/patagonia.shtml BBC Wales History on the Welsh migration to Patagonia]
* [https://www.andesceltig.com Andes Celtig] A trilingual website with information, maps and photographs of the Welsh settlements in Patagonia
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120426062713/http://www.teithiautango.co.uk/index.php/en_US/home/argentina Teithiau Tango] A bilingual website with in-depth history of the Welsh Patagonia region.
* ''[https://aplaceofmeadowsandtalltrees.blogspot.co.uk/ A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees]'': a novel based on the early years of the Patagonian settlement by Clare Dudman.
* [https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29611380 BBC News: Viewpoint – The Argentines who speak Welsh]
* [http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/art531163-a-song-for-a-new-welsh-nation-patagonian-welsh-national-anthem-discovered-in-19th-century-pamphlet Patagonian Welsh national anthem discovered in 19th century pamphlet]
* Videos of papers at a conference on Wales and the Welsh Settlement in Patagonia held at Aberystwyth University, 6 June 2015.[https://ywladfa150.wordpress.com/conference-the-welsh-in-patagonia-cynhadledd-y-cymry-ym-mhatagonia/ Cynhadledd Patagonia/Patagonia Conference] 
* Videos of papers at a conference on Wales and the Welsh Settlement in Patagonia held at Cardiff University, 6–7 July 2015.
* [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPxx37uA8RSKxlcgaGyBHbM3thMDz1bdu Y Wladfa Gymreig ym Mhatagonia – YouTube]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWrMvo2tLJo&t=3s Imaginaire Celtique YouTube: "The Celtes around the World", with Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, Director of School of Irish Studies, Concordia University.]
{{British diaspora}}
{{European Argentine}}
{{Immigration to Argentina}}
{{Celtic languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wladfa}}
[[Category:Argentine people of Welsh descent| ]]
[[Category:British diaspora in Argentina]]
[[Category:Chubut Province]]
[[Category:European colonization of South America]]
[[Category:Immigration to Argentina]]
[[Category:Welsh emigration]]
[[Category:Welsh settlement in Patagonia| ]]