Catamarca (province) - Catamarca (Provinz)

The province Catamarca lies in the northwest Argentina. It is a mountain province with a share of the steppe-like plateau of the Puna as well as fertile valleys in the east.

Regions

• Sierras Pampeanas in the East
• The Andean region with the Puna high steppe in the north and the central cordillera in the west, in which, among other things, the highest volcano on earth, the Ojos del Salado lies

places

• San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, 200,000 inhabitants, the capital
• Santa María del Yocavil, 20,000 inhabitants, the only significant city in the north, situated in a very idyllic mountain landscape
• Belén, 15,000 inhabitants, in the center of the province in a subtropical gorge
• Andalgalá, 15,000 inhabitants, in the east, in a fertile agricultural area
• Tinogasta, 15,000 inhabitants, in a wide Andean valley in the west, starting point in Chile

Other goals

• El Rodeo and Las Juntas, small mountain villages in a green high valley. Popular local recreation destination, only 30 km from the capital.
• Antofagasta de la Sierra, the only significant place in the Puna region.
• Londres, second oldest place in Argentina

background

history

The settlement of the region goes back to at least the epoch around the turn of the times, as is evident from the finds near Palo Blanco. It is believed that state-hierarchical social systems emerged in the region around this time, when the population made the move from hunters and gatherers to a sedentary, agriculture-dependent culture. The Diaguita area was inhabited since the 11th century.

Around 1480 the Inca conquered the west of the area and incorporated it into their empire. Today's provincial territory was then in the provinces of Tukma (from whose name probably Tucuman derived), Chicoana (the north) and Kire-Kire. The Spanish arrived in the region in 1535 and founded the first settlement in 1554 San Pedro Martirwhich, however, could not last. The one founded four years later fared better Londreswhich is now the second oldest city in Argentina after Santiago del Estero is. After numerous conflicts with the natives, including the Gran Alzamiento Calchaquí (Great Calchauquí Uprising) in 1630, the Spanish gained the upper hand in the mid-17th century. 1683 became the provincial capital San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca founded.

In 1782, the province in the newly founded viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata became the territory of San Miguel de Tucuman incorporated. As early as 1783 it was separated again and the one further north Salta del Tucumán slammed. The dependence on Tucumán continued until after independence in 1816.

In 1821 the area was split off from Tucumán, giving it the status of a province. It was not until 1853 that today's provincial area was largely unified, with the exception of the northwest, which initially belonged to Chile, then from 1899 to the Territorio Nacional de los Andes. This area was only dissolved in 1943 and the present Antofagasta de la Sierra Catamarca department was added.

The province's development stagnated for a long time in the 20th century. Even today it is one of the poorest in the country despite a development spurt from around 1980. In 1990 the murder of a schoolgirl María Soledad Moralesto pave the way for the intervention of the province, which until then in a quasi-feudal manner by the family Saadi who controlled the Peronist Party in the province and was implicated in this scandal. Since then, the province's politics have been dominated by the formerly opposition UCR.

language

getting there

mobility

Tourist Attractions

activities

kitchen

nightlife

security

climate

literature

Web links

• http://www.catamarca.gov.ar/ - Official website of the Province of Catamarca