Formosa Province
Encyclopedia
Formosa Province
(forˈmosa) is in northeastern Argentina
, part of the Gran Chaco
Region. Its northeast end touches Asunción, Paraguay, and borders the provinces of Chaco
and Salta
to its south and west, respectively. The capital is Formosa
.
s, Wichi
s and Tobas
, whose languages are still spoken in the province.
Sebastián Gaboto and Diego García first explored the area at the beginning of the 16th century trying to find a route from Viceroyalty of Peru
to Asunción
. Because the rivers Pilcomayo and Bermejo are so shallow, the attempts to set a route towards Asunción was abandoned.
The area's first European settlement, Concepción del Bermejo, was established in 1585. Following the establishment of Argentine and Paraguayan independence in the 1810s, the area fell under dispute between the two nations, a matter not settled until after the War of the Triple Alliance
(1865-70). Commander Luis Jorge Fontana founded the settlement of Formosa in 1879, bringing the remote area into national attention and helping to secure a territorial status in 1884.
Formosa had less than 20,000 inhabitants in 1914; but in 1955, when it acquired the status of Province by decree of President Juan Domingo Perón, it had already more than 150,000. Following the Rincón Bomba massacre by white locals of nomadic Amerindians in 1947, President Perón initiated a program of land reform
in the province; the program, by the time of his 1955 overthrow, had issued only around 4,000 land grants, however. Continuing to grow slowly, though relatively steadily, the Formosa campus of the National University of the Northeast
was established as the National University of Formosa
in 1988.
26° - 22°30' South, and 57°30' - 62°25' West, the plains run between rivers Bermejo
and Pilcomayo
with a slight inclination towards the Southeast. Due to this flatness, riverbeds are not stable, and small lagoons that are slowly reabsorbed arise. The average annual temperature is 21°C, and during the summer it can go up to 45°C
The subtropical weather is characterized with uniform annual rains in the east (1000 mm annual), while in the rest of the country winter is a drier season (80 mm). The humidity variation results in the jungle vegetation on one side, and the Chaqueño
forest in the other. The limit with the Salta Province
is known as the Impenetrable ("Impenetrable").
Formosa's protected areas are the Río Pilcomayo National Park
and the Formosa National Reserve.
Poorly industrialized, Formosa's economy is based on cattle
and agricultural
activities like cotton and fuit cultivation, these mostly centered in the Patino, Pilagás and Pilcomayo departments.
Cattle in Formosa exceed 1.5 million head and ranching has long been the agricultural mainstay of the province. Like elsewhere in Argentina, agriculture has long since been overtaken by other activities and amounts to about 10% of Formosa's output (somewhat more than average).
Cotton
cultivation passed from over 100,000 ton
s at the end of the 1970s to 10,000 at the end of the 1990s because of the drop of the international price, and the fixed exchange rate
. After the 2001 crisis production slightly revived to 50,000 tons a year in 2004. More than 70% of area sown with cotton belongs to small family-run farms of less than 10 hectare
s.
Cotton represents half of the agricultural wealth of the province followed by soybean
(25,000 tons a year) and maize
(55,000 tons), who have experienced a less dramatic invigoration after the 2001 crisis.
The production of banana
s, mainly for domestic consumption, has a steady annual growing of 70,000 tons average. Citrus
and juice production for exportation, specially grapefruit
, is growing rapidly , with 1,200 planted hectares and an annual production of around 15,000 tons.
Others; honey
(273 tons) and derivatives, timber
-wood (140,000 tons) and textile industry (cotton, leather).
Tourist infrastructure is barely developed. Sites of interest include the city of Formosa, the Río Pilcomayo National Park
, Bañado La Estrella, Laguna Yema, Herradura town, and Misión Laishí.
Department (Capital)
Provinces of Argentina
Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...
(forˈmosa) is in northeastern Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, part of the Gran Chaco
Gran Chaco
The Gran Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, where it is connected with the Pantanal region...
Region. Its northeast end touches Asunción, Paraguay, and borders the provinces of Chaco
Chaco Province
Chaco is an Argentine province located in the north of the country, near the border with Paraguay. Its capital is Resistencia on the Paraná River opposite the city of Corrientes...
and Salta
Salta Province
Salta is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy...
to its south and west, respectively. The capital is Formosa
Formosa, Argentina
Formosa is the capital city of the Argentine province of Formosa, on the banks of the Paraguay River, about from Buenos Aires, on National Route 11. It has a population of about 210,000 as per the ....
.
History
Native inhabitants of these lands include the PilagáPilagá
Pilagá is a language spoken by 6,000 people in the Bermejo and Pilcomayo River valleys, western Formosa Province.-Sociocultural context:The geographical distribution into communites is permeated bypan-Chacoan social organization of people into bands...
s, Wichi
Wichí
The Wichí are an indigenous people of South America. They are a large group of tribes ranging about the headwaters of the Bermejo River and the Pilcomayo River, in Argentina and Bolivia.-Notes on designation:...
s and Tobas
Toba (tribe)
The Toba are an ethnic group in Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. They are part of a larger group of indigenous inhabitants of the Gran Chaco region, called the Guaycurues. As of 2005, there are 47,951 Toba in Argentina, living in the provinces of Chaco, Formosa and Santa Fe.The Toba name themselves...
, whose languages are still spoken in the province.
Sebastián Gaboto and Diego García first explored the area at the beginning of the 16th century trying to find a route from Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
to Asunción
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
. Because the rivers Pilcomayo and Bermejo are so shallow, the attempts to set a route towards Asunción was abandoned.
The area's first European settlement, Concepción del Bermejo, was established in 1585. Following the establishment of Argentine and Paraguayan independence in the 1810s, the area fell under dispute between the two nations, a matter not settled until after the War of the Triple Alliance
War of the Triple Alliance
The Paraguayan War , also known as War of the Triple Alliance , was a military conflict in South America fought from 1864 to 1870 between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay...
(1865-70). Commander Luis Jorge Fontana founded the settlement of Formosa in 1879, bringing the remote area into national attention and helping to secure a territorial status in 1884.
Formosa had less than 20,000 inhabitants in 1914; but in 1955, when it acquired the status of Province by decree of President Juan Domingo Perón, it had already more than 150,000. Following the Rincón Bomba massacre by white locals of nomadic Amerindians in 1947, President Perón initiated a program of land reform
Land reform
[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
in the province; the program, by the time of his 1955 overthrow, had issued only around 4,000 land grants, however. Continuing to grow slowly, though relatively steadily, the Formosa campus of the National University of the Northeast
National University of the Northeast
The National University of the Northeast is an Argentine national university. It is located in the cities of Corrientes and Resistencia, capitals cities of the Provinces of Corrientes and Chaco respectively, and was established on December 4, 1956...
was established as the National University of Formosa
National University of Formosa
The National University of Formosa is an Argentine national university, situated in the city of Formosa, capital of Formosa Province. Its precursor, the University Institute of Formosa, was established in 1971 as a campus of the National University of the Northeast.-See also:*Argentine...
in 1988.
Geography and climate
Located within the geographic coordinatesGeographic coordinate system
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on the Earth to be specified by a set of numbers. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represent vertical position, and two or three of the numbers represent horizontal position...
26° - 22°30' South, and 57°30' - 62°25' West, the plains run between rivers Bermejo
Bermejo River
The Bermejo River is a river in South America that flows from Bolivia to the Paraguay River in Argentina. The river is generally called Bermejo in spite of its different names along its way, but it also has its own Native American names; in Wichí it is called Teuco, and in Guaraní it is called Ypitá...
and Pilcomayo
Pilcomayo River
The Pilcomayo River is a river in central South America. At long, it is the longest western tributary of the Paraguay River. Its drainage basin is in area, and its mean discharge is ....
with a slight inclination towards the Southeast. Due to this flatness, riverbeds are not stable, and small lagoons that are slowly reabsorbed arise. The average annual temperature is 21°C, and during the summer it can go up to 45°C
The subtropical weather is characterized with uniform annual rains in the east (1000 mm annual), while in the rest of the country winter is a drier season (80 mm). The humidity variation results in the jungle vegetation on one side, and the Chaqueño
Gran Chaco
The Gran Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, where it is connected with the Pantanal region...
forest in the other. The limit with the Salta Province
Salta Province
Salta is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy...
is known as the Impenetrable ("Impenetrable").
Formosa's protected areas are the Río Pilcomayo National Park
Río Pilcomayo National Park
The Río Pilcomayo National Park is a national park located in the northeastern part of the Argentine province of Formosa, on the border with Paraguay...
and the Formosa National Reserve.
Economy
Remote and saddled by its inhospitable geography and climate, Formosa's economy has long been one of Argentina's poorest. Its economy in 2006 was estimated at US$2.1 billion, or, US$4,280 per capita. Its economy is the third smallest and second least developed in Argentina yet has shared in Argentina's recovery since 2002 very well.Poorly industrialized, Formosa's economy is based on cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
and agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
activities like cotton and fuit cultivation, these mostly centered in the Patino, Pilagás and Pilcomayo departments.
Cattle in Formosa exceed 1.5 million head and ranching has long been the agricultural mainstay of the province. Like elsewhere in Argentina, agriculture has long since been overtaken by other activities and amounts to about 10% of Formosa's output (somewhat more than average).
Cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
cultivation passed from over 100,000 ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s at the end of the 1970s to 10,000 at the end of the 1990s because of the drop of the international price, and the fixed exchange rate
Argentine Currency Board
The Argentine Currency Board pegged the Argentine peso to the U.S. dollar between 1991 and 2002 in an attempt to eliminate hyperinflation and stimulate economic growth. While it initially met with considerable success, the board's actions ultimately failed. In contrast of what most people think,...
. After the 2001 crisis production slightly revived to 50,000 tons a year in 2004. More than 70% of area sown with cotton belongs to small family-run farms of less than 10 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s.
Cotton represents half of the agricultural wealth of the province followed by soybean
Soybean
The soybean or soya bean is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean which has numerous uses...
(25,000 tons a year) and maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
(55,000 tons), who have experienced a less dramatic invigoration after the 2001 crisis.
The production of banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s, mainly for domestic consumption, has a steady annual growing of 70,000 tons average. Citrus
Citrus
Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
and juice production for exportation, specially grapefruit
Grapefruit
The grapefruit , is a subtropical citrus tree known for its sour fruit, an 18th-century hybrid first bred in Barbados. When found, it was named the "forbidden fruit"; it has also been misidentified with the pomelo or shaddock , one of the parents of this hybrid, the other being sweet orange The...
, is growing rapidly , with 1,200 planted hectares and an annual production of around 15,000 tons.
Others; honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
(273 tons) and derivatives, timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
-wood (140,000 tons) and textile industry (cotton, leather).
Tourist infrastructure is barely developed. Sites of interest include the city of Formosa, the Río Pilcomayo National Park
Río Pilcomayo National Park
The Río Pilcomayo National Park is a national park located in the northeastern part of the Argentine province of Formosa, on the border with Paraguay...
, Bañado La Estrella, Laguna Yema, Herradura town, and Misión Laishí.
Political division
The province is divided into nine departments:Department (Capital)
| Departament | City Header | Other Municipalities |
|---|---|---|
| Bermejo | Laguna Yema Laguna Yema (Formosa) Laguna Yema is a settlement in northern Argentina. It is located in Formosa Province.... |
Los Chiriguanos, Pozo de Maza, Pozo del Mortero |
| Formosa | Formosa Formosa, Argentina Formosa is the capital city of the Argentine province of Formosa, on the banks of the Paraguay River, about from Buenos Aires, on National Route 11. It has a population of about 210,000 as per the .... |
Colonia Pastoril, Gran Guardia, San Hilario, Mariano Boedo, Mojón de Fierro, Villa del Carmen, Villa Trinidad |
| Laishi | San Francisco de Laishi San Francisco de Laishi San Francisco de Laishi is a settlement in northern Argentina. It is located in Formosa Province.... |
Banco Payaguá, General Lucio V. Mansilla, Herradura, Tatané, Villa Escolar |
| Matacos | Ingeniero Juárez | |
| Patiño | Comandante Fontana Comandante Fontana Comandante Fontana is a settlement in northern Argentina. It is located in Formosa Province.... |
Bartolomé de las Casas, Colonia Sarmiento, El Recreo, Estanislao del Campo, Fortín Leyes, Fortín Lugones, General Manuel Belgrano, Ibarreta, Juan G. Bazán, Las Lomitas, Posta Cambio Zalazar, Pozo del Tigre, San Martín, Subteniente Perín, Villa General Güemes |
| Pilagás | El Espinillo El Espinillo (Formosa) El Espinillo is a settlement in northern Argentina. It is located in Formosa Province.... |
Buena Vista, Misión Tacaaglé, Portón Negro, Tres Lagunas |
| Pilcomayo | Clorinda Clorinda, Formosa Clorinda is a city in the province of Formosa, Argentina. It is the head town of the Pilcomayo Department, and has 47,240 inhabitants as per the . It is located 115 km north-northeast from the provincial capital Formosa, at the easternmost tip of the province, 4 km from the Paraguayan border, on... |
Laguna Blanca, Laguna Naick Neck, Palma Sola, Puerto Pilcomayo, Riacho He-Hé, Riacho Negro, Siete Palmas |
| Pirané | Pirané Pirané -Overview:Located on land bordering a number of lagoons, and known by the Tobas as "Puganagay" , the initial settlement developed with the arrival of the Central Northern Rail line at the site in 1910, and its establishment coincides with the 1912 inaugural of the station. Known accordingly as... |
El Colorado, Mayor Vicente Villafañe, Palo Santo, Villa Dos Trece |
| Ramón Lista | General Mosconi | El Potrillo |
Trivia
- The name of the city (and the province) comes from the archaic SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
word fermosa (currently hermosa) meaning "beautiful". The name Vuelta Fermosa or Vuelta la Formosa was used by Spanish sailors in the 16th century to describe the area where the Paraguay RiverParaguay RiverThe Paraguay River is a major river in south central South America, running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina...
makes a turn, right in front of the actual city. These sailors were searching for the legendary Sierra del PlataSierra del PlataSierra de la Plata , was a legendary treasury of silver that was believed to be located in South America. The legend probably originated when the European survivors of a shipwreck were given abundant gifts of silver by the native peoples.In the early 16th century, the estuary of the Uruguay and...
.
- Formosa is mentioned in the novel Travels with My AuntTravels with My AuntTravels with My Aunt is a novel written by English author Graham Greene.The novel follows the travels of Henry Pulling, a retired bank manager, and his eccentric Aunt Augusta as they find their way across Europe, and eventually even further afield...
, by Graham GreeneGraham GreeneHenry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
.
- The antipodeAntipodesIn geography, the antipodes of any place on Earth is the point on the Earth's surface which is diametrically opposite to it. Two points that are antipodal to one another are connected by a straight line running through the centre of the Earth....
of Formosa is TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, which, coincidentally, was also known as Formosa.
External links
- Provincial government (Spanish)
- One-page info: enconomic info, with a map (can be enlarged)
- Tourist Office (Spanish)
- Encyclopedia Libre article (Spanish only)
- Provincial portal (Spanish only)