Formosa Province

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**Formosa**
Image:Formosa prov arg.gif
Capital	Formosa
Area	72,066 km²
Population	486,559 (2001)
Density	6,75/km²
Governor	Dr. Gildo Insfrán
Demonym	Formoseño
ISO 3166-2	AR-P

Formosa Province 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. It is one of the poorest provinces in Argentina.

1 History
2 Geography and climate
3 Economy
4 Political division
5 Trivia
6 External links

[edit] History

Native inhabitants of these lands include the Pilagás, Wichis and Tobas, whose languages are is 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.

Even though the first settlement was Concepción del Bermejo established in 1585, it was not until the 19th century, after the War of the Triple Alliance that the territory's population started growing.

By 1914 Formosa had less than 20,000 inhabitants, but in 1955, when it acquired province status by a decree of Juan Domingo Perón, it had already more than 150,000.

[edit] Geography and climate

Located within the geographic coordinates 26º - 22º30' South, and 57º30' - 62º25' 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 21ºC, and during the summer it can go up to 45ºC

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 dryer season (80 mm). The humity variation results in the jungle vegetacion 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.

[edit] Economy

Poorly industralized, Formosa's economy is based in cattle and agriculture, the last one centred in the Patino, Pilagás, and Pilcomayo departments.

Cattle counts over 1 million and a half of heads and it has been long the main economy activity of the province.

Cotton cultivation passed from over 100,000 tons 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 hectares.

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 bananas, mainly for national consumption, has a still growing annual average of 70,000 tons. Citrus and juice production for exportation, specially grapefruit, is gaining more space, 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 undeveloped. Sites of interest include Formosa city, the Río Pilcomayo National Park, Bañado La Estrella, Laguna Yema, Herradura town, and Misión Laishí.

[edit] Political division

The province is divided into nine departments:

Department (Capital)

Bermejo (Laguna Yema)
Formosa (Formosa) - The most populous department (40,04% of province population)
Laishí (San Francisco de Laishí)
Matacos (Ingeniero Juárez)
Patiño (Comandante Fontana)
Pilagás (Espinillo)
Pilcomayo (Clorinda)
Pirané (Pirané)
Ramón Lista (General Enrique Mosconi)