and the least densely populated in mainland Argentina. It covers a land area of 243,943 km² and had a population of 337,226 at the 2022 Census.

The indigenous people of the province are the Tehuelches, who despite European exploration from the 16th century onwards, retained independence until the late 19th century. Soon after the Conquest of the Desert in the 1870s, the area was organised as the Territory