Negro River (Chaco)
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The Negro River or Black River, from Castilian: Rio Negro, one of the Chaco's Argentine province is born at the juncture of the Guaycurú and Bermejito rivers. It then crosses the Chaco National Park, and continues its path to cross, near its end, the cities of Puerto Tirol, Resistencia and Barranqueras, where it finally reaches Barranqueras River, arm of the Paraná River.
The flatlands' river has changed it course several times along the years, leaving wet depressions, meanders and lagoons. This took place because of three different factors; frequent draughts, sediments accumulation and human-made deviations of the riverbed. The river is currently contaminated by industrial waste, mainly from the leather tanning.
The Río Negro has historical importance to Resistencia, capital of Chaco Province, since most immigrants that populated Chaco arrived to the city in boats that drove up-river. On February 2 every year the Festival of the Canoes and Boats is celebrated, remembering the day of the arrival of the first vapour that brought Friulian pioneers to the province.
The river is also used for sport such as rowing, and its importance as a means for commercial transport, once the main connection with the rest of the province, has nowadays disappeared.