San Pedro is the largest and most sparsely populated department

Departments of Argentina

Departments form the second level of administrative division in the provinces of Argentina. There are no departments in the city of Buenos Aires, which has so far been divided into neighbourhoods as its administrative divisions, but is to be divided now into communes by a recently passed local act...

 in the Misiones Province

Misiones Province

Misiones is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamiсa region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes Province of Argentina to the southwest.- History :The province was...

, 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...

. It covers an area of 3407 square kilometres and has a population of 24,000 people. San Pedro includes part of the Paraná River

Paraná River

The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina for some . It is second in length only to the Amazon River among South American rivers. The name Paraná is an abbreviation of the phrase "para rehe onáva", which comes from the Tupi language...

 watershed, part of the Uruguay River

Uruguay River

The Uruguay River is a river in South America. It flows from north to south and makes boundary with Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of the Mesopotamia from the other two countries...

 watershed, and the Sierra Central that divides these two systems.

The Capital

The capital of San Pedro Department is the town of San Pedro. It is situated in the Sierra Central, at 26°38'S 54°07'W, 575 m a.s.l. The town is characterized by native Parana Pines or Kuri'y (Araucaria angustifolia

Araucaria angustifolia

Araucaria angustifolia, the Paraná pine or Brazilian pine , is a species in the conifer genus Araucaria. Covering an original area of 233000 km², it is native to southern Brazil Araucaria angustifolia, the Paraná pine or Brazilian pine , is a species in the conifer genus Araucaria. Covering an...

) scattered amongst the houses and small businesses.

Origins

The original inhabitants of San Pedro were the indigenous Kaingangues, not to be confused with the Mbya Guarani on the coast of the Paraná River. The Kaingangues lived by hunting, gathering, and planting crops in small clearings in the forest. Although they were apparently never numerous, the Kaingangues had a reputation as fearful warriors. Europeans were afraid to venture into central Misiones until the late 19th century.

Despite this fear, in 1840, a shortage of yerba mate

Yerba mate

Maté, yerba maté or erva maté , Ilex paraguariensis, is a species of holly native to subtropical South America in northeastern Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay...

(and resulting high prices) inspired an expedition to central Misiones. Yerba mate is a native plant used in infusion

Infusion

An infusion is the outcome of steeping plants with desired chemical compounds or flavors in water or oil.-History:The first recorded use of essential oils was in the 10th or 11th century by the Persian polymath Avicenna, possibly in The Canon of Medicine.-Preparation techniques:An infusion is very...

s, and harvested, at that time, from the Atlantic forest, where it grew wild.

Under the leadership of their chief, Fracran, the Kaingangues massacred the expedition members. The only survivor of the expedition was a young boy, Bonifacio Maidana, who was adopted by an influential member of the Kaingangues.

Over the next decades, Europeans kept away from central Misiones and the Kaingangues. Maidana grew up and gained power in the Kaingangue community. Finally, he disputed Fracran's leadership. Fracran escaped to Brazil, and Maidana replaced him as chief.

From that time on, the Kaingangues began seeking peace with the European colonists in the south, and finally, in 1876, Maidana signed the "pacto de la selva" or "treaty of the forest", permitting Europeans to harvest yerba mate in the area that today is San Pedro. The Treaty however failed to work and a War of extermination occurred. Many Kaingangues were killed and very few remain today.

The village of San Pedro was established. Some Kaingangues settled there; others left for Brazil; today, there are none left in Misiones.

Industry

San Pedro's industry, until recently, was based almost entirely on harvesting natural resources: first wild yerba mate, and later kuri'y or Parana Pine. Around 1983, the public land around the capital was colonized by small-holder farmers. Now, the economy is based mostly on wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

 and tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

.

Population

Today, most people in San Pedro have subsistence farm

Farm

A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...

s or work in forestry

Forestry

Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...

. San Pedro has the highest rate of poverty among Misiones' departments: 40% of people do not have their basic needs satisfied. Outside the town of San Pedro, only 15% of farmer

Farmer

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...

s own their own land.

Natural Heritage

San Pedro's native vegetation

Vegetation

Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...

 is Atlantic forest or Mata Atlantica

Mata Atlântica

The Atlantic Forest is a region of tropical and subtropical moist forest, tropical dry forest, tropical savanna, semi deciduous forest and mangrove forests which extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the north to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south, and...

, one of the world's most diverse and endangered ecosystems (Myers et al. 2000). In San Pedro, much of the remaining forest is protected in five provincial park

Provincial park

A provincial park is a park under the management of a provincial or territorial government in Canada.While provincial parks are not the same as national parks, their workings are very similar...

s and the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 Yaboti Biosphere Reserve. Cruce Caballero Provincial Park, just 6 square kilometres, protects some of the last remaining primary forest in Misiones.

San Pedro is famous for its Parana Pine (Araucaria angustifolia

Araucaria angustifolia

Araucaria angustifolia, the Paraná pine or Brazilian pine , is a species in the conifer genus Araucaria. Covering an original area of 233000 km², it is native to southern Brazil Araucaria angustifolia, the Paraná pine or Brazilian pine , is a species in the conifer genus Araucaria. Covering an...

) forest, protected in Cruce Caballero and Araucaria Provincial Parks. Threatened animal species associated with this forest include the Araucaria Tit-Spinetail (Leptasthenura setaria), the Brown Howling Monkey (Alouatta guariba), and the Vinaceous Amazon (Amazona vinacea).

External links

• INDEC 2001
• Proyecto Selva de Pino Parana. San Pedro, Misiones.
• Fiesta de la Araucaria. San Pedro, Misiones.