Puerto General San Martín is a small city in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Santa Fe, Argentina, located within the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

Greater Rosario Greater Rosario is the metropolitan area of the city of Rosario, in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. This metropolis has a population of about 1.3 million (1,455,668 million inhabitants) thus being Argentina's third most populated urban s ...

, about north from the center of the city of

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

, on the western shore of the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( ; ; ) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. ...

. It has a population of 13,243 inhabitants according to the . The city is located on a natural port of excellent quality, with an abrupt ravine and great depth (dredged up to in 2006, it is the last deepwater,

Panamax Panamax and New Panamax (or Neopanamax) are terms for the size limits for ships traveling through the Panama Canal. The limits and requirements are published by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) in a publication titled "Vessel Requirements". ...

-capable port on the Paraná). The city is home to an industrial complex and a major commercial terminal for

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is a ...

s (

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed ...

s, etc.), managing 50% of the Argentine exports of

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

. The industrial and agricultural development, secondary to the swift recovery from the

Argentine economic crisis Argentina has faced several economic crises, such as: * The Rodrigazo (1975) * The 1989 hyperinflation in Argentina * The 1998–2002 Argentine great depression The 1998–2002 Argentine great depression was an economic depression in Argenti ...

of the late 1990s, is however an important source of pollution.

History

The acknowledged founder of the town was Guillermo Kirk, a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

that came to Argentina in 1866 and became a farmer, working mainly in cereal crops. On 7 April 1879 Kirk bought a few portions of land on the shore of the Paraná River, for the purpose of laying down a village and devote the rest of the land to agriculture. In 1888 Kirk sent a letter to the provincial governor proposing this idea, calling the town ''Linda Vista'' ("Nice View") and attaching a plan. The government approved the necessary documents on 16 February 1889, deciding on the name ''Kirkton''. In the end the town was not built in the proposed site, and Kirk returned to Scotland in 1898, after his Argentine wife died. Puerto General San Martín officially became a city in 1987. The current name is an homage to General

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (; 25 February 177817 August 1850), nicknamed "the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru", was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and central parts of South America's succe ...

, leader of the

Argentine War of Independence The Argentine War of Independence () was a secessionist civil war (until 1816) fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli, Martín Miguel de Güemes, Martin Miguel de Guemes and José de ...

from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and Liberator of several other

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n countries. The name is often shortened to ''Puerto San Martín'' or (by its residents) simply ''Puerto''.

References

''In Spanish unless otherwise noted.'' * *
LiveArgentina.com
- Historical information.

about industrial development and pollution. {{DEFAULTSORT:Puerto General San Martin Cities in Argentina Populated places in Santa Fe Province Paraná River Port settlements in Argentina