Sunchales is a city in the

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

of Santa Fe, Argentina. It has 21,304 inhabitants per the . It lies in the center-west of the province, from the provincial capital Santa Fe, on National Route 34. Sunchales is located in the most fertile part of Argentina, at the core of the

Humid Pampa The Humid Pampas ( es, Pampa Húmeda) is an extensive ecoregion of flat, fertile grassland of loessic origin in Argentina. It has a precipitation average of 900 mm per year, in contrast with the Dry Pampas to the west, which average less tha ...

, and within the so-called "central milk basin", which manufactures most of the country's production of

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

and exports it through the ports on the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...

(mainly

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

and

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

). It is an important station of the

Nuevo Central Argentino Nuevo Central Argentino S. A. (abbreviated NCA) is an Argentine company that utilises the operation and infrastructure of the national railway system of the former Mitre Railway division of Ferrocarriles Argentinos, by a concession granted on 23 ...

railway. The town was the starting point of

SanCor SanCor is one of the leading dairy producers in Argentina (along with competitor La Serenísima). It holds one fifth of the total production in the country, and 90% of the Argentine exports of dairy products. It is a large cooperative made up man ...

, a dairy

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

and the leader in its field in Argentina. It is named the Provincial Capital of Cooperativism, and holds important celebrations of the International Day of Cooperatives during the first week of July. Sunchales is also the seat of the National Festival of Children's Soccer in October, and celebrates the feast of its patron saint,

Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat ...

, on November 4. The city has a local basketball team,

Libertad Sunchales Club Deportivo Libertad (usually called simply Libertad or Libertad de Sunchales) is a sports club from Argentina, with homebase in the Sunchales city of Santa Fe Province. The club is better known for both its association football and basketbal ...

, which belongs to Argentina's National Basketball League.

History

A fort was established in the site of Sunchales on 11 April 1796 to prevent attacks by aboriginal tribes and guard the road used to carry

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

to be at the mines in present-day

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. The fort also guarded a settlement of about 1,000 people. In 1810, on the wake of the

May Revolution The May Revolution ( es, Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the terri ...

, a number of the stationed soldiers were recruited for the independentist expedition led by

Manuel Belgrano Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. The settlement was disbanded by an aboriginal incursion. In 1867, under the provincial government of

Nicasio Oroño Nicasio V. Oroño (July 20, 1825 in Coronda, Santa Fe – October 12, 1904 in Santa Fe) was an Argentine politician and lawyer, and governor of Santa Fe between 1865 and 1868. Youth in the military Oroño was born to Unitarian Coronel Santiago ...

, colonists came into the area from

Esperanza Esperanza is the Spanish word for hope, and may refer to: Places Philippines * Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, a municipality * Esperanza, Masbate, a municipality * Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat, a municipality United States * Esperanza, Mississippi, ...

. The fort was again depopulated when its forces were sent to combat the aboriginal tribes in the north of the province and the south of Chaco, and the colonists disbanded. A few years later, sponsored by governor

Mariano Cabal Mariano Cabal (12 April 1830 – 1885) was the governor of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina between 9 April 1886 and 7 April 1871. Major achievements of Cabal's administration were, among others, the opening of the first telegraph line betwee ...

, a group of

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

(Italian, French, Swiss, German, Spanish, British and Belgian) came into the area, but bad harvests, food shortages and native attacks caused the settlement to fail once again. The last attempt was conducted by Carlos Christiani, with the first immigrants arriving in 1884. The land plan of the new colony was approved by governor José Gálvez on October 19, 1886. The town was declared a city on the 81st anniversary of its official foundation, in 1967.

Sports

In addition to Libertad Sunchales, which has a basketball and soccer team, the town is the home of

Club Atlético Unión de Sunchales Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

Transportation

Sunchales is served by Sunchales Aeroclub Airport, which has had service in the past by airlines such as

Aerochaco Aerochaco was an airline based in Resistencia, Chaco, Resistencia, Chaco Province, Chaco, Argentina. Destinations Aerochaco operated the following service: * **Córdoba, Argentina, Córdoba – Ingeniero Ambrosio L.V. Taravella International Ai ...

but which has no commercial air service as of 2017.

References

Municipality of Sunchales
— Official website.
SunchalesMz
— Most complete website of the city. * *
sunchaleshoy
— News of the city. {{Authority control Populated places in Santa Fe Province