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Purmamarca is a town in the Tumbaya Department of the
EJE DE CAPRICORNIO
- IIRSA via Cuesta del Lipán to
On the other hand, the
Jujuy Province
Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south.
Geography
There are three main areas in Jujuy:
...
in Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
Etymology
The name of the town can be interpreted as the combination ofAymara language
Aymara (; also ) is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Bolivian Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over one million speakers.The other native American languages with more than one millio ...
words purma (desert) and marca (city), though desert in that language can refer to ''uncivilised'' or ''not touched by human hand'', thus the name is often interpreted as ''Town of the virgin land''.
Geography
The locality lies on Provincial Route 16, 4 km West of National Route 9, 65 km from Provincial capitalSan Salvador de Jujuy
San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...
and 22 km from Tilcara
San Francisco de Tilcara (usually referred to as Tilcara) is a city in the province of Jujuy, Argentina, and the head town of the Tilcara Department. It had 6,249 inhabitants at the . Traces of human habitation in the area date back more than 10,00 ...
.
It is located at the Quebrada de Purmamarca, sometimes considered part of the Quebrada de Humahuaca
The Quebrada de Humahuaca is a narrow mountain valley located in the province of Jujuy in northwest Argentina, north of Buenos Aires (). It is about long, oriented north–south, bordered by the Altiplano in the west and north, by the Sub-Andean ...
. The Cerro de los Siete Colores (Hill of the Seven Colours) shows its colourful face to the nearby town.
Economy
Historically relegated from the commercial axis of the province, the area gained some economic thrust mainly due to two different yet related events: On the one hand, the town's road connection has been greatly improved by the so-called ''Capricorn Axis'' asphalted commercial route- IIRSA via Cuesta del Lipán to
Paso de Jama
The Paso de Jama is a mountain pass through the Andes between Chile and Argentina, at an elevation of at the border. It is the northernmost road border crossing between the two countries. The pass is reached via Chile Route 27 and via National ...
towards Atacama
The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the w ...
, and the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
. Even though this brought little direct benefit for the local industry, it did improve the influx of tourism.
On the other hand, the Quebrada de Humahuaca
The Quebrada de Humahuaca is a narrow mountain valley located in the province of Jujuy in northwest Argentina, north of Buenos Aires (). It is about long, oriented north–south, bordered by the Altiplano in the west and north, by the Sub-Andean ...
was declared World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
in 2003, increasing the interest of both national and international tourism
International tourism is tourism that crosses national borders. Globalisation has made tourism a popular global leisure activity. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual en ...
to the area. The colonial style and the ''Cerro de Siete Colores'', as well as limited yet growing lodging options, make the town an interesting destination for tourists visiting the Argentine North.
Most other economic activities are linked to the tourism, including the manufacturing of handicrafts that are then sold at the local market in the main ''plaza'', to lodging and tours.
Tourism
The city's attraction include the aforementioned Cerro de los Siete Colores and the town handicraft market. It also serves as a starting point for treks such as the Paseo de los Colorados and Purmamarca River, and tours to Salinas Grandes, the Huachichocana archaeological site and the Laguna de Guayatayoc with its pink flamencos and wild geese.
See also
* Cerro de los Siete Colores * Iruya * Second Malón de la Paz *Army of the North
The Army of the North ( es, link=no, Ejército del Norte), contemporaneously called Army of Peru, was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was fre ...
* Purmamarca media at Commons
References
{{Authority control Populated places in Jujuy Province