San Pedro Department is the largest and most sparsely populated department in the

Misiones Province Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes ...

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 ...

. It covers an area of 3407 square kilometres and has a population of 24,000 people. San Pedro includes part of the Paraná River watershed, part of the

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...

watershed, and the Sierra Central that divides these two systems.

The Capital

The capital of San Pedro Department is the town of San Pedro. It is situated in the Sierra Central, at 26°38'S 54°07'W, 575 m a.s.l. The town is characterized by native

Parana Pine ''Araucaria angustifolia'', the Paraná pine, Brazilian pine or candelabra tree (, or ), is a critically endangered species in the conifer genus '' Araucaria''. Although the common names in various languages refer to the species as a "pine", it ...

s or Kuri'y ( Araucaria angustifolia) scattered amongst the houses and small businesses.

Origins

The original inhabitants of San Pedro were the indigenous Kaingangues, not to be confused with the Mbya Guarani on the coast of the Paraná River. The Kaingangues lived by hunting, gathering, and planting crops in small clearings in the forest. They had a reputation as fearsome warriors, which kept Europeans out of central Misiones until the late 19th century. Despite this fear, in 1840, a shortage of

yerba mate Yerba mate or yerba-maté (''Ilex paraguariensis''; from Spanish ; pt, erva-mate, or ; gn, ka'a, ) is a plant species of the holly genus '' Ilex'' native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The lea ...

(and resulting high prices) inspired an expedition to central Misiones. Yerba mate is a native plant used in

infusion Infusion is the process of extracting chemical compounds or flavors from plant material in a solvent such as water, oil or alcohol, by allowing the material to remain suspended in the solvent over time (a process often called steeping). An in ...

s, and harvested, at that time, from the Atlantic forest, where it grew wild. Under the leadership of their chief, Fracran, the Kaingangues massacred the expedition members. The only survivor of the expedition was a young boy, Bonifacio Maidana, who was adopted by an influential member of the Kaingangues. Over the next decades, Europeans kept away from central Misiones and the Kaingangues. Maidana grew up and gained power in the Kaingangue community. Finally, he disputed Fracran's leadership. Fracran escaped to Brazil, and Maidana replaced him as chief. From that time on, the Kaingangues began seeking peace with the European colonists in the south, and finally, in 1876, Maidana signed the " pacto de la selva" or "treaty of the forest", permitting Europeans to harvest yerba mate in the area that today is San Pedro. The Treaty however failed to work and a War of extermination occurred. Many Kaingangues were killed. The village of San Pedro was established. Some Kaingangues settled there; others left for Brazil.

Industry

San Pedro's industry, until recently, was based almost entirely on harvesting natural resources: first wild yerba mate, and later kuri'y or Parana Pine. Around 1983, the public land around the capital was colonized by small-holder farmers. Now, the economy is based mostly on

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

Population

Today, most people in San Pedro have subsistence

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

s or work in

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

. San Pedro has the highest rate of poverty among Misiones' departments: 40% of people do not have their basic needs satisfied. Outside the town of San Pedro, only 15% of

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

s own their own land.

Natural Heritage

San Pedro's native

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characte ...

is Atlantic forest or Mata Atlantica, one of the world's most diverse and endangered ecosystems (Myers et al. 2000). In San Pedro, much of the remaining forest is protected in five

provincial park Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to t ...

s and the

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 ...

Yaboti Biosphere Reserve. Cruce Caballero Provincial Park, just 6 square kilometres, protects some of the last remaining primary forest in Misiones. San Pedro is famous for its Parana Pine ('' Araucaria angustifolia'') forest, protected in Cruce Caballero and Araucaria Provincial Parks. Threatened animal species associated with this forest include the Araucaria Tit-Spinetail ('' Leptasthenura setaria''), the Brown Howling Monkey ('' Alouatta guariba''), and the Vinaceous Amazon ('' Amazona vinacea'').

References

*Ambrosetti, Juan B. 1895. Los Indios Kaingangues de San Pedro (Misiones). Revista del Jardin Zoológico.

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 ...

. 2:305-387. In Portuguese: Os índios Kaingang de San Pedro (Missiones). Campinas: Editora Curt Nimuendajú, 2007 (www.curtnimuendaju.com) *Myers N., Mittermeier R. A., Mittermeier C.G., da Fonseca G.A.B. and Kent J. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' 403: 853-858.

External links

INDEC 2001
San Pedro, Misiones.

San Pedro, Misiones. {{coord, 26, 38, S, 54, 07, W, source:enwiki-plaintext-parser, display=title Departments of Misiones Province