Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a
province of
Argentina, located in the center of the country. Its capital,
Córdoba, is the second largest city in the country.
Neighboring provinces are (clockwise from the north):
Santiago del Estero,
Santa Fe,
Buenos Aires,
La Pampa,
San Luis,
La Rioja and
Catamarca.
Before the
Spanish conquest a few different tribes lived in the region now called Córdoba Province, most notably the
Comechingones and
Sanavirones.
Once settled in
Alto Perú, the Spaniards searched for a route to the
Río de la Plata port in the
Atlantic Ocean to transport the Peruvian gold and silver to
Europe.
Córdoba de la Nueva Andalucía (nowdays
Córdoba) was founded as a middle point on that route on
July 6,
1573 by
Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera.The
Colegio Convictorio de Nuestra Señora de Monserrat is founded by the
Jesuits in
1599, and in
1622 it became the
Universidad de Córdoba ("University of Cordoba") in
1622, the first one in
Argentina. The city continued growing as an important cultural center supported by the traffic of precious metals from
Perú.In
1761 a
printing press was installed in the University.
In
1783, seven years after the consolidation of the
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the
Intendencia de Córdoba became the capital of what now includes the
La Rioja,
Mendoza,
San Juan and
San Luis Province, dividing the former
Tucumán Intendency in two.
Rafael de Sobremonte was its first governor, when Córdoba City had 38,800 inhabitants.
After the
May Revolution in
1810, governor Gutiérrez de la Concha joined a meeting that decided to ignore the authority of the Buenos Aires Junta. Ortiz de Ocampo attacked the city and executed the leaders of the opposition, among whom was
Santiago de Liniers, leader of the resistance during the
British invasions of the Río de la Plata.
Under the hand of
Juan Bautista Bustos, and especially after
1820, Córdoba and Buenos Aires started a struggle for the organization of the Nation that had, by that time, neither
legislative nor
executive branches. Córdoba pleaded for a
federal organization of the
provinces while
Rivadavia pretended a centralised government in
Buenos Aires.For 15 years the province was submerged in internal revolts that started to stabilize in 1868 under the provisional government of
Félix de la Peña.
During the
presidency of
Sarmiento an astronomic observatory (
1871) and the Faculty of Physic Sciences and Mathematics (
1873) were inaugurated.
Córdoba had a second population growth due to the immigration attracted by the arrival of the railways. From
1887 on, several agricultural colonies (San Francisco, Marcos Juárez, etc) emerged, while former rest-point Fraile Muerto (Bell Ville), Ferreira (Villa María) and Los Luceros (Río Segundo), on the route to Buenos Aires, became agricultural, commercial and industrial centers respectively.
The
University Reform movement from Córdoba in
1918 not only influenced the rest of the country but the rest of
South America.Modernization of the curricular contents and the improvement of the students' rights were the main achievements of the movement.
After
World War II, many foreign workers and workers from other provinces in Argentina were seduced by Córdoba's industrial development, which grew thanks to the expansion of the car industry and its deviates. During
Arturo Frondizi's presidency (
1958-
1962), most car industry installations where settled in Cordoba City and its surroundings.
|
Villa Carlos Paz, Cordoba |
Like in the rest of the country,
Peronist groups emerged in
1955 after
the coup that took
Juan Perón out of office. These Peronist groups, together with other socialist and anarchist groups, started opposing the many
military governments of the 1960. Worker and student participation of politics grew due to the popular discontent, resulting in the popular revolt known as
"El Cordobazo". This revolt, mirrored by the
Rosariazo and others in several parts of the country, undermined the power of
Onganía and ultimately caused him to be driven out of office by other military factions.
Agriculture and livestock provide 25% of the province's income. The agriculture is centered in
soybeans,
wheat and
maize, and other
cereals.
Cattle and
sheep enjoy the grass of Cordoba's green hills. The province provides 15% of the national cattle production. The food industry around oil, milk and cereal derivatives is also very important, the candy factory
Arcor being one of the most important.
 |
Jesuitic Estancia in Alta Gracia |
The installation of the
Fábrica Militar de Aviones in 1927, and other state-owned industries placed Córdoba among the most important industrial points in Argentina. In the second half of the 20th century, the industry centered on manufacturing cars and agricultural machinery. Industry represents 20% of the province's income, and the energy production that supports it is based mainly in 15
hydroelectric dams (2,350 millions
kW/hour), and the
Embalse Río Tercero PHWR atomic plant (600
MWe).
Mining includes many different minerals, and construction material such as
marble and
lime.
Uranium is also extracted to feed the three Argentine atomic plants.
Tourism, as in the rest of Argentina, is a growing industry favored by the mild weather, a number of small rivers, and low height green hills. Around 3 million tourists from the rest of Argentina and other countries visit Córdoba every year. The province has 500,000 beds within hotels, hostels, farms for tourists and other types of accommodation. Important festivities include the
Cosquín National Folk Music, and
Jesús María Folk and
Taming Festivals.Transport: Major highways include 1 north from San Francisco to San Guillermo (Santa Fé province), 7 west from Rufino 275 km to Mercedes (San Luis), 8 west from Venado Tuerto (Santa Fe) 355 km via Rio Curato to Mercedes, 9 north-west from Rosario (Santa Fé) 409 km to Córdoba and north 224 km to Villa Ojo de Agua (Santiago del Estero), 15 north from Mina Clavero on 34 about 90 km across 28 at Salsacate to join 38 at Soto, 19 west from San Francisco on the border with Santa Fé province 210 km to Córdoba, 28 west from Córdoba 270 km to La Rioja province, 34 south-west from Córdoba 208 km to join 20 and 148 to San Luis and Mercedes, 35 north from Realicó on the border with La Pampa province 226 km to Rio Cuarto, 36 north from Rio Cuarto 217 km to Córdoba, 38 north from Córdoba via Cosquín and west via Soto 271 km to Chamiel (La Rioja province), 60 north-west from Jesús María (70 km north of Córdoba) 166 km to La Guardia (Catarmarca province), and 158 north from Rio Cuarto 292 km to San Francisco.Córdoba is connected by rail with Buenos Aires, Rosario, Mendoza and Tucumán.There is an international airport at Cordoba, and a domestic airport at Rio Cuarto.
Córdoba has a unicameral Legislature, or state parliament, elected by universal suffrage. Until December 2001, there was also a Senat, or Senate, whose members were chosen in the Departments , but following
the 2001 Constitutional Reform, this institution was abolished. The head of government is the Governor.
Córdoba has long been a bastion of the left-centrist
Unión Cívica Radical Party, but since 1999 the Governor is the Peronist
José Manuel De la Sota.
|
Capuchinos Franciscan Church in Córdoba city |
The province is divided in 26
departments (
Spanish:
departamentos) here listed with their capitals.#
Calamuchita (San Agustín)# Capital (
Córdoba)# Colón (Jesús María)# Cruz del Eje (
Cruz del Eje)#
General Roca (Villa Huidobro)# General San Martín (
Villa María)# Ischilín (Deán Funes)# Juárez Celman (La Carlota)# Marcos Juárez (Marcos Juárez)# Minas (San Carlos)# Pocho (Salsacate)# Presidente Roque Sáenz Peña (Laboulaye)#
Punilla (
Cosquín)# Río Cuarto (
Río Cuarto)# Río Primero (Santa Rosa de Río Primero)# Río Seco (Villa de María del Río Seco)# Río Segundo (Villa del Rosario)# San Alberto (Villa Cura Brochero)# San Javier (Villa Dolores)# San Justo (San Francisco)# Santa María (
Alta Gracia)# Sobremonte (San Francisco del Chañar)# Tercero Arriba (Oliva)# Totoral (Villa del Totoral)# Tulumba (Villa Tulumba)# Unión (Bell Ville)
*
Alta Gracia*
Villa Carlos Paz*
Bialet Masse*
Cosquín*
Villa General Belgrano*
Capilla del Monte*
Río Cuarto*
Río Segundo*
Río Tercero*
Jesús María*
Salsipuedes, Cordoba*
Villa Allende*
Villa María*
Bell Ville*
Agua de oro*
Quilino*
Ischilín*
Laboulaye*
La Falda*
Las Varillas*
Leones*
Malvinas Argentinas, Córdoba*
Miramar*
Cruz del Eje*
Santa Rosa de Calamuchita*
Villa Cura Brochero*
Mar Chiquita*
official Executive Power Site (Spanish)
*
official Legislative Power Site (Spanish)
*
official Judicial Power Site (Spanish)
*
La Voz del Interior daily Newspaper (Spanish)
*
La Mañana de Córdoba daily Newspaper (Spanish)
*
El Diario del Sur de Córdoba daily Newspaper edited in Villa María (Spanish)
