Chaco Province
From Freepedia
| Image:Flag of Chaco province in Argentina.gif | |
| Capital | Resistencia |
| Area | 99,633 km² |
| Population | 984,446 (2001) |
| Density | 9.9/km² |
| Governor | Dr. Roy Nikisch |
| Demonym | Chaqueño |
| Image:Provincia de Chaco, Argentina.png | |
Chaco is an Argentine province located on the north of the country, near the border with Paraguay. Its capital is Resistencia on the Paraná River in front of Corrientes.
The province is bounded with Salta and Santiago del Estero to the west, Formosa to the north and east, Corrientes and the Republic of Paraguay to the southeast and Santa Fe to the south. From 1950 to 1955, Chaco was named Presidente Juan Perón.
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History
Chaco means, in Quechua, hunting, of which lived the aboriginal people prior to the Spanish colonisation of the Americas. The natives (Guaraní, Toba, Wichí and others subsisted along the time and have important communities in this province as well as in that of Formosa.
In the 17th century the San Fernando del Río Negro Jesuit mission was founded in the area of the present city of Resistencia, but it was abandoned the late 18th century.
At the end of the 19th century there were numerous confrontation between Argentina and Paraguay on the Gran Chaco area know as the War of the Triple Alliance, and San Fernando was reestablished now as a military outpost, and renamed to Resistencia in 1876.
The current international division was achieved in 1884, but it was not until 1951 that Formosa split from Chaco defining the current national division and obtaining provincial status.
Between the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th the province received a variety of immigrants; among them where Mennonites from Russia, Germany, and Canada. The Mennonites (along with the other immigrants) were able to transform the difficult geography of Chaco into a productive farming region known for its milk and beef production.
Geohraphy and climate
The province lies in the Gran Chaco plains, also known as the Green Hell for its extreme weather conditions. Frequent droughts make for desert-like parts of the geography. Yet, torrential rains and occasional floods create areas of rainforest habitat.
The vegetation shows the unequal distribution of precipitations with The Impenetrable ("Impenetrable") dense rain-forest lays on the on the west, with precipitations of around 600 mm per year, and the more humid east with 1,100 mm holds the Selva Chaqueña jungle without dry season.
The rivers of the province end in either the Paraná River or on the Paraguay River, and run from west to east. The most important ones are the Bermejo River, Río de Oro, Guaycurú Grande, Guaycurú Chico, Salado River, Negro River, Palometa and Tapenagá.
A variety of poisonous snakes inhabit the area, including other exotic wildlife such as crocodiles, monkeys, tarantulas, wild boars, anacondas, and rattlesnakes.
Economy
Development in Chaco is linked to the quebracho wood, and the cotton production, which is currently means 60% of the national production.
Agriculture has included crops such as soy, sorghum and maize to the zone. Sugar cane is also cultivated in the South, as well as rice and tobacco in lesser proportion.
Cattle consists of mixed races of Argentine cows with zebu, that adapt better to both the high temperatures and grass shortage, and the occasional flooding.
Industry includes textiles from local cotton production, oil mills, coal from wood and sugar, alcohol and paper from the sugar cane.
Chaco is home to the Chaco National Park, but tourism is not a developed industry in the province.
Political division
The province is divided in 25 departments (spanish departamentos).
Department (Capital)
- Almirante Brown (Pampa del Infierno)
- Bermejo (La Leonesa)
- Chacabuco (Charata)
- Comandante Fernández (Presidente Roque Sáenz Peña)
- Doce de Octubre (General Pinedo)
- Dos de Abril (Hermoso Campo)
- Fray Justo Santa María del Oro (Villa Sylvina)
- General Belgrano (Corzuela)
- General Donovan (Makallé)
- General Güemes (Juan José Castelli)
- Independencia (Campo Largo)
- Libertad (Puerto Tirol)
- Libertador General San Martín (General José de San Martín)
- Maipú (Tres Isletas)
- Mayor Luis Jorge Fontana (Villa Ángela)
- Nueve de Julio (Las Breñas)
- O'Higgins (San Bernardo)
- Presidente de la Plaza (Presidente de la Plaza)
- Primero de Mayo (Margarita Belén)
- Quitilipi (Quitilipi)
- San Fernando (Resistencia)
- San Lorenzo (Villa Berthet)
- Sargento Cabral (Colonia Elisa)
- Tapenaga (Charadai)
- Veinticinco de Mayo (Machacai)
External links
- Official website (Spanish)
| Provinces of Argentina | Image:Flag of Argentina.svg |
|---|---|
| Buenos Aires | Buenos Aires Province | Catamarca | Chaco | Chubut | Córdoba | Corrientes | Entre Ríos | Formosa | Jujuy | La Pampa | La Rioja | Mendoza | Misiones | Neuquen | Río Negro | Salta | San Juan | San Luis | Santa Cruz | Santa Fe | Santiago del Estero | Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands | Tucumán | |
