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Corrientes
Corrientes is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Parana River, about 1,000 km from Buenos Aires and 300 km from Posadas, on National Route 12. It had a population of 328,689 at the .
The city
Corrientes, as the provincial capital, is the most important city in the province, its economical centre, and holds the authorities and governmental institutions.
It has a mix of colonial and modern architecture, several churches and a number of ceibo, jacaranda, and orange trees. Its also home to one of the biggest carnival celebrations in the country.
The annual average temperature is 20 C, with maximum and minimum averages of 33 C and 10 C respectively. The annual rainfall is around 1,200 mm.
Transportation
The General Belgrano Bridge crosses the Parana River that serves as the natural border with the neighbouring Chaco Province. On the other side of the bridge is Resistencia, capital of Chaco. To the west and up the Parana, between Paraguay and Argentina, lies the Yacireta dam, one of the largest hydroelectric power generators in the world.
The Doctor Fernando Piragine Niveyro International Airport at coordinates , 5 km away from the city, serves the city.
History
In 1516, Juan Diaz de Solis commanded the first expedition to reach the area populated mainly by Guarani aboriginals, but his expedition was attacked and Solis perished in the adventure.
Sebastian Gaboto established in 1527 the Sancti Spiritu fort upstream of the Parana River, and in 1536 Pedro de Mendoza reached further north into the basin of the river, searching for the Sierras of Silver.
Juan Torres de Vera y Aragon founded on April 3, 1588 San Juan de Vera de las Siete Corrientes ("Saint John of Vera of the Seven Currents"), which was later shortened to Corrientes. The "seven currents" refer to the seven peninsulas on the shore of the river at this place, that produced wild currents that made difficult the navigation of the river through this part.
Nevertheless, its position between Asuncion in present Paraguay, and Buenos Aires made it an important middle point, specially because of its 55-metre-high lands that prevent flooding when the water level rises.
In 1615 Jesuits settled near the Uruguay River. In 1807 the city resisted the British invasions. During the Argentine War of Independence it was in permanent conflict with the centralist government of Buenos Aires, but the War of the Triple Alliance united them after the city was attacked by Paraguayan forces in 1865.
In Fiction
The Graham Greene spy novel "The Honorary Consul" (1973) takes place in Corrientes.
References
Municipality of Corrientes - Official website (Spanish).
External links
Sights (English)
Map
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Corrientes
