Salta Province

( Details)

( Details)

- Total - Percentage of Argentina

155,488 km ² 5.61

- Total 2001 - Density

1,079,051 inhabitants 6.9 inhabitants / km ²

Salta is a province in northwestern Argentina.

Capital is the same place on the Rio Arenales Salta, a source of the river Río Salado.

Geography

The province is mountainous in the west to share in the Atacama Desert, is powered by four parallel mountain ranges, the Cordillera, and is traversed in the east plains (western part of the Gran Chaco ). The West irrigate the headwaters and tributaries of the Río Bermejo and Rio Salado. The valleys are fertile. In the northeast of coming from Bolivia Pilcomayo River forms the border with Paraguay.

Population

The majority of the population lives in the subtropical, fertile valleys in the center of the province. Major cities beside the provincial capital of Salta is the agri- industrial and agriculturally important Tartagal ( 85,000 inhabitants), San Ramón de la Nueva Oran ( 75,000 inhabitants), Rosario de Lerma ( 35,000 inhabitants) and Rosario de la Frontera ( 25,000 inhabitants), the tourist attraction in the wine-growing Cafayate (10,000 inhabitants) and the border town with Bolivia, Pocitos (also Salvador Mazza, 15,000 inhabitants).

History

Around 1400, filed the southern extent of the Inca Empire to the area around Salta and San Miguel de Tucumán.

The Spanish conquerors entered Salta for the first time on your way of Perú in today's Argentina, but could not settle in Salta, but first founded the towns of Santiago del Estero and Tucumán. Hernando de Lerma, since November 13, 1577 Governor of Tucumán, was commissioned by the Spanish Crown to build a city as a stopover between Perú and the Tucumán province to defend and care. He founded on April 16, 1582 Ciudad de Lerma (La Ciudad de Lerma en el Valle de Salta ), today's provincial capital of Salta.

Administrative divisions

The Salta Province is divided into 23 departments, which in turn into municipalities ( municipios ) are divided. The following list gives the names of the Departments ( in parentheses are the respective capitals ) and are size, population and density after the last national census of 2001.

Economy

Tourism is, next to tropical agriculture and related industries, one of the main sources of income of the province. Many international and Argentinean guests visit the historic center of the provincial capital and the Andean foothills.

Tourism

In Salta one of the most famous train journeys in the world begins: The Tren a las Nubes ( train to the clouds ), which leads over the Andes to the bridge La Polvorilla. Today, along the same line a tourist train from Salta to an altitude of 4,300 meters. Stark visited tourist destinations are also the Calchaquíes and the 183 km long road in the wine growing region of Cafayate.

Agriculture

Salta has a wide range of agricultural products. Main crops are tobacco, sugar cane, beans, soy, Grapefruit and wine.

Tobacco

Salta is, next to the neighboring province of Jujuy, the main producer of tobacco in Argentina. Attached is mainly the kind of " Virginia " on about 14000-20000 acres in the central departments of the province ( Capital, Cerrillos, Chicoana, General Güemes, Guachipas, La Caldera, La Candelaria, Rosario de la Frontera and Rosario de Lerma ). 2003/2004 production of approximately 870 medium and large scale tobacco farmers reached a volume of 46,000 tonnes, representing an increase of 36 percent for the previous year's harvest and a share of 29 percent of the country's production accounted for. Salta sat down with it in front of Jujuy at the forefront of tobacco production in the country. The tobacco trade is organized in the province of Salta to the manufacture of cigarettes. The tobacco exports reached a volume of $ 49 million in 2004.

Sugar

Main areas for growing sugar cane are the two adjacent to the province of Jujuy departments General Güemes and Oran. Covering more than 20,000 hectares in 2004 226 447 tonnes of cane were harvested at the Zafra (sugar cane harvest), which corresponds to a 12 percent share of the country's production. The sugar cane is (sugar factories ) processed in two Ingenios, the mid-90s were bought by leading sugar industrialists of the neighboring province of Jujuy. The change of ownership has led to the modernization of the sector, coupled with increased investments and increase in acreage.

Beans

70 percent of the annual production of Argentina beans has its origins in the province of Salta. The main growing areas are the central and eastern departments ( Capital, Anta, Cerrillos, General Güemes, General José de San Martín, La Candelaria, Metán, Oran and Rosario de la Frontera). The processing of the production takes place in the province of Salta. This applies both for its own production as for the neighboring provinces. The bean production is in the hands of medium producers who work with more traditional technology 350-850 hectares and edit the large producers with the latest technology, the areas from 1,000 hectares. The total area under cultivation increased during the 90 years from 125 hectares to 232 hectares in 1999, but increased in the following years due to changes in the world market and the relocation of production towards soy from. Since Argentina - almost as an exception in Latin America - has only a low energy consumption, the bean production is adapted flexibly to meet expected demand in the major exporting countries. This applies both to the extension or restriction of acreage as for the change between the two main varieties " Alubia " (white bean) and " Poroto negro" (black bean). The main market for the black bean is Brazil, the white bean has a stable market in Europe. In 2004 there was a decline in the bean production, mainly due to the better chances of winning through the expansion of soybean cultivation. The production reached a volume of 65 million tonnes and black bean from 23.4 million tons in the white bean. The total value of the bean exports amounted to 54.6 million dollars.

Soy

The soybean cultivation learned - thanks to increased demand on the world market - a significant expansion, partly at the expense of other agricultural crops, such as beans. The preferred soybean growing areas in the province of Salta lie in the two departments Anta and General José de San Martín. During the 2003/ 04 harvest, the area under cultivation was 437,000 acres, and the yield reached 821 million tons. The soybeans Salta be either sold to the edible oil industry in Santa Fe or exported directly. The main customers are Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. The export value in 2004 was over 45 million dollars. In 2001, it was taken with an investment of $ 2,000,000 in a sorting operation, which allows to store the needs of the northwestern and northeastern provinces of Argentina.

Grapefruit and orange

The citrus production Salta is concentrated in the northern departments Oran and General José de San Martín. The total acreage doubled in the 90 years from 7,500 acres to 15,000 acres, with approximately 50 percent of the acreage of grapefruit, orange and 30 percent of 20 percent was devoted to other citrus fruits. Due to the constant demand from Europe, the pink grapefruit developed by an edge product within the citrus production of the province for export hit. Today, 20 percent of the total acreage of citrus fruits for the pink grapefruit are reserved. The total value of the exports of citrus products in 2004 reached $ 11.6 million

Wine

Wine is grown in the Calchaquíes, especially in the departments of San Carlos and Cafayate. The cultivated area reached 2,000 hectares, on which especially the Torrontes Riojano grape, but also downstream of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec are grown. In the region, efforts were made to stabilize the quality of the wines to make them more marketable in the domestic as on the world market. This seems to be succeeding. The exports reached a value of $ 4.7 million in 2004. See also the article viticulture in Argentina.

Origin of the name

About the origin of the name Salta there are several theories. Firstly, Salta is the name for the beautiful location and pleasant to settle in the Quechua language ( lindo lugar, para agradable asentarse ). For the locals, the name is synonymous with Salta " La Linda " (in Spanish ): Salta, la linda = " Salta, the Beautiful / The Pretty ". For others, the concept of Salta is the name of the Sahta - clan of the Lule Indians.