CORRIENTES PROVINCE

'Corrientes' is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (from the North, clockwise): Paraguay, the province of Misiones, Brazil, and the provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fe and Chaco.

Contents

History

Culture

Geography and climate

Economy

Political division

External links

History

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 on April 3, 1588 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

Corrientes is the home of chamamé, a danceable music style with European roots, which uses the accordion as its main instrument. The other main genres are rasguido doble, which shows black influence, and chamarrita, also common in Entre Rĺos and the Uruguayan and Brazilian villages across the border.
Since the 1980s, chamamé has become a mainstay of Argentine music, cross-breeding with rock, candombe, Brazilian rhythms from across the border, chacarera from Santiago del Estero and most notably cumbia, to produce the ''tropical'' genre, much in vogue in all of the country. Even the Correntino term for "dance party", ''bailanta'', has spread to all of Argentina.
Corrientes is the only place in Argentina in which a significant black population and culture can be found. Rasguido doble is a more rhythmic version of chamamé. Blacks were called ''cambá'' (Guaraní for "black") and had their own neighborhoods, notably Cambá-cuá ("Black man's cave") in Corrientes city. The black influence shows in Corrientes's carnival celebrations, the most colorful in all of Argentina.
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 an official language of Corrientes, alongside Spanish.

Geography and climate

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.

Economy

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.

Political division

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 Department (Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Caá Catí)
# Goya Department (Goya)
# Itatí (Itatí)
# Ituzaingó (Ituzaingó)
# Lavalle (Lavalle)
# Mburucuyá (Mburucuyá)
# Mercedes (Mercedes)
# Monte Caseros (Monte Caseros)
# Paso de los Libres (Paso de los Libres)
# Saladas Department (Saladas)
# San Cosme Department (San Cosme)
# San Luis del Palmar Department (San Luis del Palmar)
# San Martín (La Cruz)
# San Miguel (San Miguel)
# San Roque (San Roque)
# Santo Tomé (Santo Tomé)
# Sauce (Sauce)

External links

★ Official site

★ History

★ Corrientes Info

★ Pictures of Corrientes