San Ramón de la Nueva Orán (usually referred to simply as Orán) is a city in northwest , about from
the provincial capital, Salta. It is the head town of the Orán Department, and it has about 73,000 inhabitants as per the , which makes it the second-most populated in the province.
Orán is the seat of a
Catholic diocese and a regional center of the
Universidad Nacional de Salta
The National University of Salta ( es, Universidad Nacional de Salta, or UNSa) is an Argentine public national university in Salta. It was founded on 11 May 1972 as a part of the ''Plan Taquini'', a reorganization plan for education. It has arou ...
. It is linked to other cities in the area by National Route 50 near National Route 34. Air traffic to the provincial capital is serviced by the
Orán Airport .
The city of Oran is the most important geopolitical center in the north of the province of Salta. Having AFIP, ANES, Banco Nación, INTA, and a Federal Court, among other important offices, makes the city a point of reference to the entire Bermejo Region. It has active commercial centers, and methods of transit to the Bolivian border. Currently there is construction of a freeway from the south of the town connecting it to the city of
.
History
The city was founded on August 31, 1794, by the
Spanish military man and governor of Salta,
Ramón García de León y Pizarro
Ramón García de León y Pizarro (born Oran, now Algeria, 1745; died Charcas, Bolivia, December 1815), was a Spanish military officer and administrator. As president of the Real Audiencia of Charcas, he governed the Intendancy of Chuquisaca d ...
, who named the settlement after
Saint Raymond Nonnatus
Raymond Nonnatus, O. de M. ( ca, Sant Ramon Nonat, es, San Ramón Nonato, french: Saint Raymond Nonnat, mt, San Rajmondo Nonnato), (1204 – 31 August 1240) is a saint from Catalonia in Spain. His nickname ( la, Nonnatus, "not born") refers to ...
(on the saint's feast day) and his own birthplace, the city of
Oran
Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...
(in modern
Algeria).
Economy
Oran is center to an important agroindustry region where several different products are produced:
Sugar cane, with most product going to sugar production in the Tabacal Sugarmill, which is located close to the city;
Citrus (mainly
oranges and
grapefruit
The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink.
Grapefruit is ...
), being primarily used for the manufacture of concentrated juice for the fruit company, Zenta, which also sells whole, natural fruits. These include
peppers,
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
s,
cherimoya
The cherimoya (''Annona cherimola''), also spelled chirimoya and called chirimuya by the Inca people, is a species of edible fruit-bearing plant in the genus '' Annona'', from the family Annonaceae, which includes the closely related sweetsop a ...
,
papaya
The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus ''Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...
s and
mango
A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...
es- all of which are also cultivated in Oran.
Coffee was also produced in the area, although with relatively small production, until it was exploited by the company Salta Café.
Soy is one of the most important produced agricultural products. The department of Oran has the largest bean production in the country. They have recently incorporated soy production, along with their ongoing production of sugar cane and corn, to produce
biofuel
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (E ...
s, mainly for agro-industrial use, due in large part to the deficiency in the supply of
gasoil
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...
in the zone.
Naturally surrounded by
ecotonic forests: between the
Yungas jungles and the Chaco tropical forests, the environment of Oran has been and is an important forest area to the timber industry.
Livestock also plays an important role in the economy. Historically the city of Oran has been a stopover on a
cattle and
horse route to
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
.
Climate
Orán has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
with definite dry season (Köppen: ''Cwa''). In the regional classification is defined as "tropical serrano" from the west–east transition of the
Andes to the northern plains of the country.
With hot, rainy summers and mild, dry winters.
Notable people
*
Marcelo Mendieta (born 1937), Argentine journalist
References
External links
Municipality of Orán- Official website.
Orán Department - San Ramón de la Nueva Orán- Official website of the Chamber of Deputies of Salta, information portal.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oran, Salta
Populated places in Salta Province
Populated places established in 1794
Cities in Argentina
1794 establishments in the Spanish Empire