Abra Pampa

Abra Pampa is the capital of the department Cochinoca in the Province of Jujuy in the far northwest of Argentina. After La Quiaca it is the second largest city in the Argentine Puna.

Abra Pampa is a dusty place with low houses on the Ruta Nacional 9, the place with the provincial capital San Salvador de Jujuy (224 km) and the border town of La Quiaca (73 km), on the border with Bolivia, connects. Cochinoca, the ancient capital, is only 22 km away. Abra Pampa is located at an altitude of 3484 meters, at the foot of the seven km south of Cerro Huancar.

History

Abra Pampa was founded on 30 August 1883 as a new Departamentshauptstadt. Your establishment name was Siberia and Argentina should remember the penetrating winter cold of the Puna. Since this name does not prevailed, we returned back to that name, under which this location was already known before the city's founding: Abra Pampa.

Population growth accelerated with the construction of the railway Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano in 1907. The last growth spurt was recorded in 1986, when the lead mine Pirquitas was closed in the department of Rinconada and a portion of the workers decided to move to Abra Pampa.

Economy

Livestock is the primary economic activity, followed by crafts. The breeding of llamas, vicuna and sheep provide the wool to be processed into the family farms of the Puna to cooperative agents. There are also clay, wood and stone work. Some painters exhibit their pictures. As a culinary specialty of the region is the feta cheese.

Tourism

The tourist infrastructure Abra Pampas is not very highly developed. Daily bus services run by Cochinoca, Rinconada and Casabindo, where every year the only Argentine bullfighting attracts a nationwide audience. The lived for centuries, almost unchanged lifestyle of Punabewohner place as well as the Laguna de los Pozuelos (50 km) the interest of tourists.

At Cerro Huancar sand board - riding is practiced on the bright, fine-grained sand dunes.

Others

• Archaelogical Museum of Leopoldo Aban ( Sarmiento, Salón Parish, opposite the Plaza). Opened in August 1997, this museum is one of the newest in the region. In addition to archaeological finds, the museum displays paintings by local painters as well as objects of daily life of people in the Puna.
• Abra Pampa Miraflores. Agricultural Experimental Station. Here vicuña are grown in semi-liberty.
• Ruta Nacional 40 in Abra Pampa began or ended before the Ruta Nacional 40

Events

• Festival Folklórico del Huancar (January). Festival at the foot of Cerro Huancar.
• Fiesta in honor of San Antonio de Padua (June 13 )
• Inti Raymi ( June 20-21. ). The Inca Sun Festival opens the new agricultural cycle with a folk festival at Cerro Huancar.
• Feria Andina de la llama (August). Exhibition and sale of camelids as part of a folk festival.