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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

diocese and a regional center of the Universidad Nacional de Salta. 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 Pichanal.

History

The city was founded on August 31, 1794, by the

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 ...

military man and governor of Salta,

Ramón García de León y Pizarro Ramón García de León y Pizarro (born Oran, now Algeria, 1745; died Sucre, Charcas, Bolivia, December 1815), was a Spanish military officer and administrator. As president of the Real Audiencia of Charcas, he governed the Intendancy of Chuquisac ...

, who named the settlement after Saint Raymond Nonnatus (on the saint's feast day) and his own birthplace, the city of

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

(in modern

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Economy

Oran is center to an important agroindustry region where several different products are produced:

Sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

, with most product going to sugar production in the Tabacal Sugarmill, which is located close to the city;

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

(mainly

oranges The orange, also called sweet orange to distinguish it from the bitter orange (''Citrus × aurantium''), is the fruit of a tree in the family Rutaceae. Botanically, this is the hybrid ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', between the pomelo (''Citrus m ...

and

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The flesh of the fruit is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark red. Grapefru ...

), being primarily used for the manufacture of concentrated juice for the fruit company, Zenta, which also sells whole, natural fruits. These include

peppers Pepper(s) may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plants ** Black pepper ** Long pepper ** Kampot pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ...

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

cherimoya The cherimoya (''Annona cherimola''), also spelled chirimoya and called chirimuya by the Quechua people, is a species of edible fruit-bearing plant in the genus ''Annona'', from the family Annonaceae, which includes the closely related sweetsop ...

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, and also the name of its fruit. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within ...

s and

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

es- all of which are also cultivated in Oran.

Coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

was also produced in the area, although with relatively small production.

Soy The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of f ...

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 (energy), biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricu ...

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 (bunker fuel), marine fuel ...

in the zone. Naturally surrounded by ecotonic forests: between the

Yungas The Yungas ( Aymara ''yunka'' warm or temperate Andes or earth, Quechua ''yunka'' warm area on the slopes of the Andes) is a bioregion of a narrow band of forest along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains from Peru and Bolivia, and extends i ...

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 Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

and

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

route to

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Climate

Orán has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

with definite dry season (Köppen: ''Cwa''). In the regional classification is defined as "tropical serrano" from the west–east transition of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

to the northern plains of the country. With hot, rainy summers and mild, dry winters.

Notable people

* Marcelo Mendieta (born 1937), Argentine journalist *

Nicolás Vuyovich Nicolás Vuyovich ( Orán, Salta, June 29, 1981 – Córdoba, Argentina, 8 May 2005) was a sportscar driver from Argentina. Vuyovich died the same day he clinched his first win in TC2000 series at the wheel of a Toyota Corolla. He was one of the ...

(1981–2005), Argentine racing driver

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