Corrientes Province
Corrientes is a
province in northeast
Argentina, in the
Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (from the North, clockwise):
Paraguay, the province
Misiones,
Brazil, and the provinces of
Entre Rios,
Santa Fe and
Chaco.
Before the arrival of the Spanish conquest, the
Guaraníes lived in a big area that also covered most of the current province of Corrientes. The city of Corrientes was founded in 1589 by Juan Torres de Vera y Aragón as a mid-stop between
Asunción and
Buenos Aires; the city flourished thanks to the traffic of the route.
Jesuits erected
missions in the north of the province, where they thoroughly dedicated to the expansion of the faith.
In the wars of inexpediency from
Spain, Corrientes joined
Artigas'
Liga de los Pueblos Libres (1814–1820). The attack of Paraguayan forces to the province in 1865 marked the start of the
War of the Triple Alliance.
In 1819 the
Universidad Nacional del Litoral was founded, to become in 1956 the
Universidad Nacional del Nordeste.
Culture in Corrientes has been primarily informed and influenced by its European roots, also Corrientes boasts its own culture:
chamamé music and dance, Guaraní traditions, and the only place in Argentina, other than
Buenos Aires, to have a significant black culture, which in turn did much to shape the
carnival celebrations, the most colorful in all of Argentina.
Famous
correntinos were independence hero General
José de San Martín (born in 1778 in
Yapeyú), and
Juan Bautista Cabral (born in Saladas), who (according to popular legend) gave his life for the General in the
Battle of San Lorenzo.
Tourist destinations in the Corrientes Province include the
Iberá Wetlands and the
Mburucuyá National Park.
On 28 September 2004,
provincial Law No. 5598 declared
Guaraní to be like an
official language of Corrientes, alongside
Spanish.
As part of the
subtropical area of
Mesopotamia, the province has heavy rains and high temperatures with little daily and
seasonal variation specially in the North, and no dry season. The Southern part of the province presents some signs of the neighbouring more
temperate weather of the
Pampas.
Corrientes is surrounded by two rivers, the
Uruguay River to the east, and the
Paraná River to the northwest, that contour the shape of the province. The low shore of the Paraná produces frequent
floodings. After the specially destructive one in 1982, a protective system has been started with the construction of barriers.
The province is for the most part a plain, with the highest points in the east. To the west, a series of descending platforms go down to the Paraná River. The
Iberá Wetlands, an area of lagoons and swamps, is a vast
depression from
volcanic flow, covered later with
fluvial and
eolic sediments.
Agriculture is one of the main activities in the province, centred in
citrus,
tobacco,
rice,
yerba mate,
tea and
cotton. The
timber industry uses 1,400 km² of
pine and
eucalyptus forests.
Bovine cattle has problems standing the heat and the low quality of the grass specially in the north of the province. For that reason, the
Brangus breed is the most common in the area. In the south, different breeds can be found. 70,000 km² of the province's land are used for more than 4 million heads of cattle.
Of the province net production, tobacco represents 45% of the gross income, food and derivates 30% and
textiles 16%.
On the Paraná River, near the city of
Ituzaingó, the
Yaciretá dam provides energy not only to the province, but to both Argentina and
Paraguay.
The province is divided into 25
departments (
departamentos):
Department (Capital)
# Bella Vista (
Bella Vista)# Berón de Astrada (
Berón de Astrada)# Capital (
Corrientes)# Concepción (
Concepción)# Curuzú Cuatía (
Curuzú Cuatiá)# Empedrado (
Empedrado)# Esquina (
Esquina)# General Alvear (
Alvear)# General Paz (Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Caá Catí)# Goya (
Goya)# Itatí (
Itatí)# Ituzaingó (
Ituzaingó)# Lavalle (
Lavalle)# Mburucuyá (Mburucuyá)# Mercedes (
Mercedes)# Monte Caseros (
Monte Caseros)# Paso de los Libres (
Paso de los Libres)# Saladas (Saladas)# San Cosme (San Cosme)# San Luis del Palmar (San Luis del Palmar)#
San Martín (La Cruz)#
San Miguel (
San Miguel)# San Roque (
San Roque)# Santo Tomé (
Santo Tomé)# Sauce (
Sauce)
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Official site (Spanish)
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History (Spanish)
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Corrientes' Info (Spanish)
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Pictures of Corrientes
