Río Cuarto is a city in the

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

of Córdoba, Argentina. Located in the south of the province, it has about 157,000 inhabitants () and is an important commercial and agricultural hub.

Overview

The Río Cuarto River flows through the province of Córdoba; its central location in the Humid Pampas favored the city's development as a transport hub for much of the surrounding

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, and a number of

slaughterhouse In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...

s and

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...

plants opened in Río Cuarto during the twentieth century. Río Cuarto was founded on November 11, 1786, as ''Villa de la Concepción del Río Cuarto'', by the colonial Governor Rafael de Sobremonte. Its first rail connection was by way of the former Andean Railway in 1870, after which the village grew rapidly with the influx of

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and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

immigrants (mainly as

tenant farmer A tenant farmer is a farmer or farmworker who resides and works on land owned by a landlord, while tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and ma ...

s). The municipal government charter establishing the modern system of elected mayors and city council was enacted in 1883; the city's first elected mayor was Moysés Irusta. Father Antonio Cardarelli commissioned the construction of the city's principal Roman Catholic church, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, built between 1883 and 1886. The National University of Río Cuarto, established in 1971, is located here. The city's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams include Estudiantes and

Atenas Atenas () is a district of the Atenas canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Its urban area is referred as Atenas city. Toponymy Its name means Athens ''(Αθήνα)'', the capital of Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Repu ...

. Río Cuarto hosted the International Biology Olympiad in 2006. The city is served by National Routes 8, 36, and 158; as well as Las Higueras Airport, inaugurated in 1954. The

cable-stayed A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern o ...

Bicentennial Bridge, was inaugurated in 2010. Some of the city's principal tourist draws include the Río Cuarto Racetrack, which hosts

Turismo Carretera Turismo Carretera ( Road racing, lit., ''Road Touring'') is a popular stock car racing series in Argentina, and the 2nd oldest auto racing series still active in the world. The series is organized by Asociación Corredores de Turismo Carretera. ...

touring car racing events; and

Estancia An estancia or estância is a large, private plot of land used for farming or raising cattle or sheep. Estancias are located in the southern South American grasslands of Chilean and Argentine Patagonia, while the ''pampas'' have historically bee ...

El Durazno, an estate built in 1917 belonging to former Governor Ambrosio Olmos. The Río Cuarto craters, a group of geologically unusual

impact crater An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...

s, are located nearby. The city's

UN/LOCODE UN/LOCODE, the United Nations Code for Trade and Transport Locations, is a geographic coding scheme developed and maintained by United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). UN/LOCODE assigns codes to locations used in trade and transpo ...

is ARRCU.

University of Río Cuarto

The National University of Río Cuarto was created on 1 May 1971 by a decree signed by President Alejandro Lanusse in accordance with the Taquini Plan enacted the previous year to provide greater access to university education in Argentina. The University of Río Cuarto had an enrollment of 14,000 students in 2013, and employs 2,000 teaching staff. By its nature a multidisciplinary center in its scope a wide variety of activities, the university hosts frequent conferences, congresses, seminars, and graduate courses. Through the operation of 42 graduate and fourth-level racing term (PhD, Masters and Professional), the university provides a diversified curriculum and contributes to the scientific and technical training, vocational training, scientific research, and development of cultural life.

Climate

The climate is temperate, typical of the humid Pampas, with four marked seasons. Summers are warm with frequent thunderstorms; however, the heat is often "cut" by periods of southerly winds, so that the average high is a comfortable 29 °C, despite the fact that it can reach 38 °C. Fall arrives slowly in March, and winter arrives in May with the first frosts. During the very dry winters, temperatures vary according to wind patterns: northwesterly, downsloping winds can bring temperatures of 25 °C (but with cool nights) even in midwinter, whereas southerly winds can leave daytime highs around 6 °C. Temperatures descend to -5 °C sometimes, and snow is uncommon, but not extremely so: in 2007, over 15 cm of snow covered the city, and temperatures plummeted to -11 °C, reaching highs of only 0 °C on one occasion. Spring brings violent thunderstorms and wide temperature swings, with heat waves followed by frost or cool periods. On some years, the normal winter drought extends into the spring, posing a threat to agriculture; however, at 846 mm, Rio Cuarto's climate is generally favourable for crops. Thunderstorm are very common during the summer, and can last for hours, and even days.

Transportation

Rio Cuarto is served by Las Higueras Airport with one commercial airline flying to it. Trains are mostly used throughout the city.

Twin towns – sister cities

Río Cuarto is twinned with: *

Asunción Asunción (, ) 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 Asunción in the north ...

, Paraguay

References

External links

Municipality of Río Cuarto
- Official website. *
University in Río Cuarto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rio Cuarto, Cordoba Populated places in Córdoba Province, Argentina Populated places established in 1786 Cities in Argentina