Misiones Province
Misiones is one of the
23 provinces of
Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the
Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by
Paraguay to the northwest,
Brazil to the north and east, and
Corrientes Province of Argentina to the southwest. Its illiteracy rate is 8.6%.
The province was originally populated by the
Guarani culture. The first European to visit the region was
Sebastian Cabot who, while navigating the
Paraná River in December of
1527, found Apipé's falls. In 1541
Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca reached the
Iguazú Falls.
In 17th century members of the
Society of Jesus came to the zone. These missionaries began to build a string of
Jesuit Reduccions. In a few years, they managed to create 30 villages, wherein the Guarani, who already were starting to practice agriculture, fully adopted a sedentary lifestyle.
In 1814,
Gervasio Posadas, the director of
United Provinces, declared Misiones annexed to Argentina's
Corrientes (At this time Argentina was quasi-independent but still a nominally Spanish territory.) However Argentina did not exert
de facto control over Misiones, which was claimed by several countries and effectively governed itself, so in 1830 military forces from
Corrientes Province took control of Misiones.
In 1838,
Paraguay occupied Misiones, because Paraguay claimed Misiones on the basis that the Misiones population was indigenous Guarani, the major ethnic group of Paraguay. In 1865, Paraguayan forces invaded Misiones again, in what became the
War of the Triple Alliance. Following the peace agreement with Argentina eventually signed in 1876, defeated Paraguay gave up its claim to the Misiones territory.
Although Argentina had claimed Misiones since 1814, academics tend to interpret Argentine possession of Misiones as a result of this war. Bethell's account is that "the treaty of alliance [i.e. against Paraguay] contained secret clauses providing for the annexation of disputed territory in northern Paraguay by Brazil and regions in the east and west of Paraguay by Argentina... After a long and harrowing war (1865-70), Argentina prised from a prostrate Paraguay territory in Misiones." [
Bethell, 'Argentina since Independence'
, Cambridge University Press, 1993, pages 45-6]. Scobie's analysis is that "the political status of Misiones remained vague" and that Argentina gained the region "as a by-product of the Paraguayan war in the 1860's" [
Scobie, 'Argentina'
, Oxford University Press, 1964, pages 22-3].
After the War of the Triple Alliance, Paraguay was much impoverished, so Misiones benefitted economically from belonging to Argentina.
In 1876, President Nicolás Avellaneda proclaimed the Immigration and Colonization Law. This law would foster the immigration of European colonists in order to populate the vast unspoilt Argentinian territories. To comply with this law, several colonizing companies were created. One of them was Adolf Schwelm's Eldorado Colonización y Explotación de Bosques Ltda. S.A. This is how Eldorado was founded in September 29, 1919 by don Adolfo J. Schwelm, with a port on the Upper Paraná. Its agricultural colonies and experimental farms, the orange and grapefruit tree plantations and the cultivation of yerba mate, the mills and the dryers for such product are characteristic from this area.
Swedish-Argentines became well known for growning Yerba Mate.Misones received many immigrants mostly from
Europe coming from Buenos Aires. Since then, Misiones has continued to benefit economically and has developed politically within Argentina. It has been successfully integrated into the Argentine state. Today, there is no controversy, either international or internal, surrounding ownership of the province. On
December 10 of 1953 the "National Territory of Misiones" gained
provincial status by the Law 14.294, and its constitution was approved on
April 21 1958. Misiones today, is very strongly influenced by its French Culture.
Misiones is the second smallest province after
Tucumán.
The Misiones plateau includes a part of
Brazil across the border. The rocks contain significant quantities of iron which forms a part of the soil, giving it a reddish color. At the center of the plateau rises the Sierra de Misiones, its highest peak, 843 m, near Bernardo de Irigoyen, in the Cerro Rincón.
The province is embraced by three big rivers:
Paraná,
Uruguay and
Iguazú, native drains off of big regions with abundant rains.
The
Iguazu Falls are
waterfalls located on the border of Brazilian state of
Paraná (in the Southern Region) and the Argentinian Province of Misiones.
The subtropical climate has no dry season, which makes Misiones one of the most humid provinces in Argentina. The vegetation is the so called "Selva Misionera". Part of it has been transformed by mankind to implant cultures and ranching. The original biome is protected in
Iguazú National Park.
The major contribution to the province's economy comes from the jungle, particularly tourism and logging. The principal exploited trees are the
Paraná pine, Guatambú, Cedar, Petiribí, Incense, Cane water-pipe, Anchico, Eucalyptus and Gueycá. Another source of income is the cultivation of
yerba mate,
tea and, in minor amounts,
tobacco, sugar cane, rice and coffee. Cattle production is rare.
The province is named after the
Jesuit missions (
reducciones), which were established in the area. Of the 15
reducciones established in Argentina, 11 were located in the present Misiones Province. Of these 11, 4 were listed as
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1984:
San Ignacio Mini,
Nuestra Señora de Santa Ana,
Nuestra Señora de Loreto,
Santa María la Mayor.
The province is divided in 17
departments (Spanish:
departamentos):
Department (Capital)
 |
Misiones Province, Political Division |
*
Apóstoles (
Apóstoles)
*
Cainguás (
Campo Grande)
*
Candelaria (
Santa Ana)
*
Capital (
Posadas)
*
Concepción de la Sierra (
Concepción de la Sierra)
*
Eldorado (
Eldorado)
*
General Manuel Belgrano (
Bernardo de Irigoyen)
*
Guaraní (
El Soberbio)
*
Iguazú (
Puerto Esperanza)
*
Leandro N. Alem (
Leandro N. Alem)
*
Libertador General San Martín (
Puerto Rico)
*
Montecarlo (
Montecarlo)
*
Oberá (
Oberá)
*
San Ignacio (
San Ignacio)
*
San Javier (
San Javier)
*
San Pedro (
San Pedro)
*
Veinticinco de Mayo (
Alba Posse)
*
Hito Tres Fronteras*
Yaciretá dam*
Immigrant's Festival*
French Culture in Misiones*
Pictures of Misiones
