Formosa Province () is a

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

in northeastern

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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, part of the

Gran Chaco The Gran Chaco or Dry Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland natural region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato ...

Region. Formosa's northeast end touches Asunción, Paraguay, and the province borders the provinces of Chaco and Salta to its south and west, respectively. The capital is

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territori ...

Source of the provincial name

The name of the city (and the province) comes from the archaic Spanish word ''fermosa'' (currently ''hermosa'') meaning "beautiful". The name ''Vuelta Fermosa'' or ''Vuelta la Formosa'' was used by Spanish sailors in the 16th century to describe the area where the

Paraguay River The Paraguay River (Río Paraguay in Spanish, Rio Paraguai in Portuguese, Ysyry Paraguái in Guarani) is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. It flows about from its headwaters i ...

makes a turn, right in front of the actual city. These sailors were searching for the legendary Sierra del Plata.

History

Native inhabitants of these lands include the Pilagás, Wichis and Tobas, whose languages are still spoken in the province. Sebastian Cabot and

Diego García de Moguer Diego García de Moguer (1484 or 1496–1544) was a Spanish explorer who also sailed for the Portuguese Crown later in life. Biography Spanish sources indicate that Diego García was born in Moguer in 1484 (or 1496), but there are Portugue ...

first explored the area at the beginning of the 16th century trying to find a route from

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed fro ...

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...

. Because the Pilcomayo and Bermejo Rivers are so shallow, the attempts to set a route towards Asunción was abandoned. The area's first European settlement, ''Concepción del Bermejo'', was established in 1585. Following the establishment of Argentine and Paraguayan independence in the 1810s, the area fell under dispute between the two nations, a matter not settled until after the

War of the Triple Alliance The Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It was the deadlies ...

(1865–70). Commander Luis Jorge Fontana founded the settlement of Formosa in 1879, bringing the remote area into national attention and helping to secure a territorial status in 1884. Formosa had less than 20,000 inhabitants in 1914; but in 1955, when it acquired the status of Province by decree of President Juan Domingo Perón, it had already more than 150,000. Following the

Rincón Bomba massacre Rincon or Rincón (Spanish for ''corner'') may refer to: * Rincon (meadow) * Rincon (abandoned meander) People * Rincon (surname) * Rincón (footballer, born 1977), born Gilvan Santos Souza, Brazilian football striker * Rincón (footballer, ...

by white locals of nomadic Amerindians in 1947, President Perón initiated a program of

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultura ...

in the province; the program, by the time of his 1955 overthrow, had issued only around 4,000 land grants, however. Continuing to grow slowly, though relatively steadily, the Formosa campus of the

National University of the Northeast The National University of the Northeast (Spanish: ''Universidad Nacional del Nordeste'', UNNE) is an Argentine national university. It is located in the cities of Corrientes and Resistencia, capital cities of the Provinces of Corrientes and Chac ...

was established as the

National University of Formosa The National University of Formosa ( es, Universidad Nacional de Formosa, UNF) is an Argentine national university, situated in the city of Formosa, capital of Formosa Province. Its precursor, the University Institute of Formosa, was established ...

in 1988.

Geography

Located within the

geographic coordinates The geographic coordinate system (GCS) is a spherical or ellipsoidal coordinate system for measuring and communicating positions directly on the Earth as latitude and longitude. It is the simplest, oldest and most widely used of the various ...

26° 22°30' south, and 57°30' 62°25' west, the plains run between the Bermejo and Pilcomayo Rivers with a slight inclination towards the southeast. Due to this flatness, riverbeds are not stable, and small lagoons that are slowly reabsorbed arise.

Climate

The average annual temperature is 21 °C; during summer it can rise to 45 °C. The

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

weather is characterized with uniform annual rains in the east (1000 mm annual), while in the rest of the country winter is a drier season (80 mm). The humidity variation results in the jungle vegetation on one side, and the Chaqueño forest in the other. The limit with the

Salta Province Salta () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy. To the north it borders Bolivi ...

is known as the ''Impenetrable'' ("Impenetrable"). Formosa's protected areas are the

Río Pilcomayo National Park The Río Pilcomayo National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Río Pilcomayo) is a national park located in the northeastern part of the Argentine province of Formosa, on the border with Paraguay. Established on September 29, 1951 to protect the natural ...

and the

Formosa National Reserve Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

The antipode relationship with Taiwan

Coincidentally, part of the province is the antipode to northern

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

, which was also known as "Formosa". (Taiwan was named "Formosa" by Portuguese explorers since at least 1542.)

Economy

Remote and saddled by its inhospitable geography and climate, Formosa's economy has long been one of Argentina's poorest. Its economy in 2006 was estimated at US$2.082 billion, or, US$4,278 per capita. Its economy is the third-smallest and second-least developed in Argentina, yet it has shared in Argentina's recovery since 2002 very well.I.A.D.E.R
/ref> Poorly industrialized, Formosa's economy is based on

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

and

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

activities like cotton and fruit cultivation, these being mostly centered in the Patino, Pilagás and Pilcomayo departments. Cattle in Formosa exceed 1.5 million head and ranching has long been the agricultural mainstay of the province. Like elsewhere in Argentina, agriculture has long since been overtaken by other activities and amounts to about 10% of Formosa's output (somewhat more than average).

Cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

cultivation passed from over 100,000

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

s at the end of the 1970s to 10,000 at the end of the 1990s because of the drop of the international price, and the fixed exchange rate. After the 2001 crisis, production slightly revived to 50,000 tons a year in 2004. More than 70% of the area sown with cotton belongs to small family-run farms of less than 10

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

s. Cotton represents half of the agricultural wealth of the province followed by

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, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu ...

(25,000 tons a year) and

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

(55,000 tons), who have experienced a less dramatic invigoration after the 2001 crisis.

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", disting ...

s, grown mainly for domestic consumption, amount to a steady annual average crop of 70,000 tons.

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

and juice production for exportation, specially

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 growing rapidly, with 1,200 planted hectares and an annual production of around 15,000 tons. Others;

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

(273 tons) and derivatives,

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

-wood (140,000 tons) and textile industry (cotton, leather). Tourist infrastructure is barely developed. Sites of interest include the city of Formosa, the

, ''Bañado La Estrella'', ''Laguna Yema'', ''Herradura'' town, and ''Misión Laishí''.

Government

The provincial government is divided into the usual three branches: the executive, headed by a popularly elected governor, who appoint the cabinet; the legislative; and the judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution of Formosa Province forms the formal law of the province. In Argentina, the most important law enforcement organization is the

Argentine Federal Police The Argentine Federal Police ( es, Policía Federal Argentina or PFA) is the national civil police force of the Argentine federal government. The PFA has detachments throughout the country. Until January 1, 2017, it also acted as the local la ...

but the additional work is carried out by the

Formosa Provincial Police Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

Political division

The province is divided into nine departments: City of Formosa, Argentina

State anthem

Formosa has its own anthem, called "Himno Marcha Formosa". On April 8, 1955, the Anthem "Marcha Formosa" was sung for the first time, in 1964 the definitive arrangement of it was made and it became official as a song. By decree No. 1471 of July 21, 1988, compulsory education was established in primary, secondary and tertiary establishments and its intonation in public events.

References

External links

Provincial government
(Spanish)

economic info, with a map (can be enlarged)
Tourist Office
(Spanish)
Encyclopedia Libre article
(Spanish only)
Provincial portal
(Spanish only) {{coord, 26, 11, 00, S, 58, 10, 30, W, source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Provinces of Argentina States and territories established in 1955 1955 establishments in Argentina