Tucumán Province

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**Tucumán**
Coat of Arms
Capital	San Miguel de Tucumán
Area	22,524 km²
Population	1,338,523 (2001)
Density	59.42/km²
Governor	José Alperovich
Demonym	Tucumano
ISO 3166-2	AR-T

Tucumán is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The capital is San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Salta, Santiago del Estero and Catamarca. It is nicknamed "El Jardín de la República" (The Republic's Garden).

1 History
2 Geography
3 Economy
4 Political division
5 External links

[edit] History

Before the Spanish colonisation, this land was inhabited by the Diaguitas and Calchaquíes, who practiced agriculture.

In 1533 Diego de Almagro explored the Argentine Northwest, including Tucumán. By 1565 saw the foundation of San Miguel de Tucumán by Diego de Villaroel, and the creation of the Provincia de Tucumán, Juríes y Diaguitas, whose first governor was Francisco de Aguirre. San Miguel de Tucumán was refounded in 1685 by Miguel de Salas some 65 kilometres from its first location, in order to avoid the constant attacks of the aboriginal malones.

The local aborigines of the region presented a strong resistance to the Spanish, who decided to move the defeated tribes towards Buenos Aires, being the most famous the case of the Quilmes, who were moved to the city of Quilmes.

Tucumán was a mid-point for shipments of gold and silver from the Viceroyalty of Peru, with important cattle, textile, and wood activities that provided supplies for the convoys on their way to Buenos Aires. Because of its important geographical position, and as head of the civil and Catholic governments it acquired special importance during the 18th century.

The creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776 meant the end of the convoys from Peru to the port of Buenos Aires. Tucumán, with 20,000 inhabitants by that time, suffered also from the British imports from the newly opened customs of Buenos Aires, no longer under the monopoly of the Spanish Crown.

In 1783 the Intendency of Tucumán was divided and Tucumán was set under the control of the Intendency of Salta del Tucumán, with its centre in Salta.

San Martín arrived to Tucumán in 1813 and installed the Military School. In 1814 the Intendency of Salta was divided into the present provinces.

On July 9, 1816, at the Congreso de Tucumán, the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata ("United Provinces of the Río de la Plata") declared their independence from Spain, but internal conflicts delayed the final fusion of the provinces into the República Argentina.

The beginning of the 20th century, with the customs restrictions and the arrival of the railway, brought prosperous economic times for the province, and its sugarcane production. But, the sugar crisis of the 1960s hit strongly Tucumán's economy dependent almost exclusively on the sugar production.

[edit] Geography

Tucumán: La Angostura Lake

Tucumán: Villa Nougues Chapel

Tucumán: Typical sugar mill

In spite of the small size of Tucumán, its necessary to distinguish two different geographical systems. The east is associated to the Gran Chaco flat lands, while the west presents a mixture of the Sierras of the Pampas to the south, and the canyons of the Argentine Northwest to the north, being the highest peak the Cerro del Bolsón with 5,550 meters.

Warm sub-tropical temperatures rein almost all over the province, but the mountain region receives more than 1,500 mm of precipitations per year, in contrast with the 600 mm of the plains. This is due to the effect of the mountains on the humid winds from the Atlantic Ocean that elevate the wind to higher, and thus colder air, forcing the condensation of the humidity and later rain.

It is because of the abundant precipitations that Tucumán has a wide area of abundant vegetation that justifies the title of Jardín de la República ("Garden of the Republic").

The Aconquija and Salí are the main rivers of the province. There are a few dams in Tucumán used for hydroelectricity and irrigation; El Cadillal on Salí River, the most important of the province, Embalse Río Hondo and Hondo River and La Angostura on Río de los Sosa River. The Valles Calchaquíes are crossed by the Santa María River.

[edit] Economy

The economy of the province is strongly based in the sugarcane, with 2,300 km², and the sugar production, 60% of the country. After the sugar crisis of the 1960s, Tucumán tried to diversify its crops, and now cultivates, among others, lemon (world 1st. productor), strawberry, kiwi, beans, maize, alfalfa, and soybean.

Cattle, sheep and goats are raised, but mainly for local consumption.

Besides the industrialisation of the sugarcane into sugar, paper and alcohol, there are food, textile and metallurgic industries. Mining is a minor activity, centred on salt, clay, lime and other non-metallic extractions.

Cultural and sport tourism is common in the province and attracts a number of Argentine tourist every year. The Panamerican Highway (Route 9) crosses San Miguel de Tucumán and connects it with Santiago del Estero and Buenos Aires. The city also serves as a mid-stop for tourists visiting other provinces of the Argentine Northwest. The Benjamín Matienzo airport receives over half a million visitors per year.

the most visited destinations of the province are the Campo de los Alisos National Park, Valles Calchaquíes, Tafí del Valle, Quilmes' Ruins, the Diaguitas' community of Amaicha del Valle, and the city of San Miguel de Tucumán.

There are 3 important universities in Tucumán the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán (with 55,000 students), the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional UTN - Facultad Regional Tucumán, and the Universidad del Norte Santo Tomás de Aquino.