Overview

Located on land bordering a number of lagoon

Lagoon

A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...

s, and known by the Toba

Toba

Toba may refer to:In Geography:* Lake Toba, a lake in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, and site of the volcanic Toba eruption 75,000 years ago** Toba catastrophe theory, according to which modern human evolution was affected by the Toba eruption...

s as "Puganagay" (green fields), the initial settlement developed with the arrival of the Central Northern Rail

Ferrocarril Central Norte

The Ferrocarril Central Norte was the first railway built in Argentina by the state...

 line at the site in 1910, and its establishment coincides with the 1912 inaugural of the station. Known accordingly as Estación km. 595 for its distance from the line's western terminus in Embarcación (Salta)

Embarcación (Salta)

Embarcación is a town and municipality in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina.-Overview:The area was originally inhabited by the Matacos, who hunted and fished along the Bermejo River. Jesuit missionaries established the first European outposts in the area, fostering commerce along the...

, the village was designated seat of the newly-established county in 1915, and renamed "Pira - ne" in 1919. The Guaraní

Guaraní language

Guaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...

 name, translated as "rotting fish," originated from the sight of parched lagoons during an especially severe drought. The director of the local school, Edmundo Strien, formally named the village "Pirané" in 1926, and the change took effect the following year.

Bounded by the Bermejo River

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...

 to the south, the town is located in the deep 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, and as such, was limited by the area's dense, thorny dry forests and inhospitable summers. Recurring drought

Drought

A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...

s can alternate with torrential rains, and the area's sandy loess

Loess

Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...

 soil is prone to erosion

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

. The surrounding forests are rich in valuable quebracho

Quebracho tree

Quebracho is a common name in Spanish to describe very hard wood tree species. The etymology of the name derived from quiebrahacha, or quebrar hacha, meaning "axe-breaker".-Species:...

, pau d'arco

Pau D'Arco

Pau D'Arco is a town and municipality in the state of Pará in the Northern region of Brazil.-References:...

, astronium

Astronium

Astronium is a genus of flowering plants in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae.-Selected species:*Astronium fraxinifolium - Goncalo alves*Astronium graveolens - Aroeira*Astronium lecointei...

 trees, however, and Pirané became a secondary center for forestry in Argentina

Forestry in Argentina

The forestry sector in Argentina experienced significant growth rates between 2001 and 2006. An estimated 1.115 million hectares were planted as of 2005. It is estimated that this year, between 40,000 to 50,000 hectares will be cultivated mainly in the Mesopotamia region...

.
The extensive wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s surrounding Pirané give the area a notable biodiversity

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...

 which includes such as armadillo

Armadillo

Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"...

, heron

Heron

The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....

, iguana

Iguana

Iguana is a herbivorous genus of lizard native to tropical areas of Central America and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his book Specimen Medicum, Exhibens Synopsin Reptilium Emendatam cum Experimentis circa Venena...

, jabiru

Jabiru

The Jabiru is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It is most common in the Pantanal region of Brazil and the Eastern Chaco region of Paraguay. It is the only member of the genus Jabiru...

, jaguar

Jaguar

The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...

, magpie

Magpie

Magpies are passerine birds of the crow family, Corvidae.In Europe, "magpie" is often used by English speakers as a synonym for the European Magpie, as there are no other magpies in Europe outside Iberia...

, coral snake

Coral snake

The coral snakes are a large group of elapid snakes that can be subdivided into two distinct groups, Old World coral snakes and New World coral snakes...

, stork

Stork

Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family in the biological order Ciconiiformes, which was once much larger and held a number of families....

, tapir

Tapir

A Tapir is a large browsing mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. There are four species of Tapirs: the Brazilian Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, Baird's Tapir and the Mountain...

, toucan

Toucan

Toucans are members of the family Ramphastidae of near passerine birds from the Neotropics. The family is most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and about forty different species...

, and yacaré

Yacare Caiman

The Yacare caiman is a species of caiman found in central South America, including northeastern Argentina, Uruguay eastern Bolivia, central/south-west Brazil, and the rivers of Paraguay...

 among numerous others.

Known in Formosa as the Provincial Capital of Folklore, Pirané is home to lumber

Lumber

Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....

, furniture

Furniture

Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

, and food processing

Food processing

Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry...

 industries. The town is 109 km (68 mi) west of 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 ....

, the provincial capital, and is linked to the latter via National Route 81.