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Misiones Province

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Misiones 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 Province of Argentina to the southwest.

History

The province was originally populated by the Guarani culture. The first European to visit the region was Sebastian Cabot who, while navigating the Parana River in December of 1527, found Apipe's falls. In 1541, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca reached the Iguazu Falls.

In the 17th century, members of the Society of Jesus came to the zone. These missionaries began to build a string of Jesuit Reductions, that of San Ignacio being the most famous. In a few years, they managed to create 30 villages, wherein the Guarani, who had long been victims of the jungle and European slave-drivers alike, became skilled in agriculture and the arts, sharing in the Reductions' prosperity. In 1759, however, the Portuguese government, at the insistence of its anti-Jesuit chancellor, the Marquis de Pombal, ordered all Reductions in its territory (which then included much of today's Misiones Province) closed. The Marquis eventually prevailed on Pope Clement XIV to have the Jesuit Order abolished, altogether, in 1773. Once abandoned, the prosperous trade surrounding these Reductions quickly either vanished or degenerated into a brutal plantation economy, with the Guaranies its slaves.

In 1814, Gervasio Posadas, the director of United Provinces, declared Misiones annexed to Argentina's Corrientes (at this time Argentina was quasi-independent but nominally still Spanish territory). However, Argentina did not exert de facto control over Misiones, which was claimed by several countries and effectively governed itself, so in 1830 military forces from Corrientes Province took control of Misiones.

In 1838, Paraguay occupied Misiones, because Paraguay claimed Misiones on the basis that the Misiones population was indigenous Guarani, the major ethnic group of Paraguay. In 1865, Paraguayan forces invaded Misiones again, in what became the War of the Triple Alliance. Following the peace agreement with Argentina eventually signed in 1876, defeated Paraguay gave up its claim to the Misiones territory.

Although Argentina had claimed Misiones since 1814, academics tend to interpret Argentine possession of Misiones as a result of this war. Bethell's account is that "the treaty of alliance [i.e. against Paraguay] contained secret clauses providing for the annexation of disputed territory in northern Paraguay by Brazil and regions in the east and west of Paraguay by Argentina... After a long and harrowing war (1865-70), Argentina got it from a prostrate Paraguay territory in Misiones."Bethell Argentina since Independence Cambridge University Press, 1993, pages 45-6. Scobie's analysis is that "the political status of Misiones remained vague" and that Argentina gained the region "as a by-product of the Paraguayan war in the 1860s"Scobie Argentina Oxford University Press, 1964, pages 22-3.

After the War of the Triple Alliance, Paraguay was much impoverished, so Misiones benefited economically from belonging to Argentina. In 1876, President Nicolas Avellaneda, assisted by his close friend Grl. Pietro Canestro, an Italian military noble who devoted much of its wealth and life efforts to the achievement and maintainability of the peace in the region, proclaimed the Immigration and Colonization Law. This law would foster the immigration of European colonists in order to populate the vast unspoiled Argentinian territories. To comply with this law, several colonizing companies were created. One of them was Adolf Schwelm's Eldorado Colonizacion y Explotacion de Bosques Ltda. S.A.

This is how Eldorado was founded in September 29, 1919 by don Adolfo J. Schwelm, with a port on the Upper Parana. Its agricultural colonies and experimental farms, the orange and grapefruit tree plantations and the cultivation of yerba mate, the mills and the dryers for such product are characteristic from this area. Swedish-Argentines became well known for growing Yerba Mate.

Misiones received many immigrants mostly from Europe coming mainly from Southern Brazil while some came from Buenos Aires, and from Eastern Europe, in particular large numbers of Polish and Ukrainian immigrants. Since then, Misiones has continued to benefit economically and has developed politically within Argentina. It has been successfully integrated into the Argentine state. Today, there is no controversy, either international or internal, surrounding ownership of the province. On December 10, 1953 the "National Territory of Misiones" gained provincial status by the Law 14.294, and its constitution was approved on April 21, 1958.

Misiones received more attention by national policy makers following an agreement providing for the construction of a hydroelectric dam on a point in the Parana River shared by Paraguay and Corrientes Province. When the dam became fully operative, Parana waters all along the Misiones shores rose and flooded lands that the Yacireta's authorities failed to clean and condition adequately, resulting in onsets of mosquito-transmitted illnesses, such as leishmaniasis, yellow fever, dengue, and malaria. All of Misiones shores along the Parana River are now confined by two dams, one of them being Yacireta downstream of the river and the other Itaipu, located in Brazil and Paraguay, upstream of the river and North of Puerto Iguazu. Currently, an agreement is being pursued with Paraguay which would allow reservoir expansion works that could double the facility's electric production.

Geography

Misiones is the second smallest province after Tucuman.

The Misiones plateau includes a part of Brazil across the border. The rocks contain significant quantities of iron which forms a part of the soil, giving it a reddish color. At the center of the plateau rises the Sierra de Misiones, its highest peak, 843 m, near Bernardo de Irigoyen, in the Cerro Rincon.

The province is embraced by three big rivers including the Parana, Uruguay and Iguazu. Iguazu Falls are spectacular waterfalls on the Iguazu River in the northwest corner of the province, near the city of Puerto Iguazu. Misiones shares the falls with the Brazilian state of Parana (in that nation's Southern Region). Meanwhile, the international border with Paraguay is close by.

Climate

The subtropical climate has no dry season, which makes Misiones one of the most humid provinces in Argentina. The vegetation is the so called "Selva Misionera". Part of it has been transformed by mankind to implant cultures and ranching. The original biome is protected in Iguazu National Park.

Population

There are 965,522 people living in Misiones. The majority of the residents of Misiones are descendants of immigrants. Unlike many regions of Argentina where the immigrants came through Buenos Aires, most of the immigrants who settled in Misiones came through Southern Brazil. The ethnic groups that settled in Misiones are Italians, Germans, Spaniards, Poles, Ukrainians, French, Swiss, Russians, Swedes, Danes, Arabs, and Japanese.

The illiteracy rate is 8.6%.

Economy

Misiones' economy, like most in northern Argentina, is relatively underdeveloped yet fairly well-diversified. Its 2006 output was estimated at US$4.8 billion or US$4,940 per capita (over 40% below the national average).

Though its rainy, erosion-prone geography discourages intensive crop farming, agriculture makes an important contribution to the province's economy, adding about 10% to the total. Misiones' thick forests have long provided for the ample production of roundwood without excessive impact on its ecosystem. The principal exploited trees are the Parana pine, Guatambu, Cedar, Petiribi, Incense, Cane water-pipe, Anchico, Eucalyptus and Gueyca.

Misiones' chief source of agricultural income, however, has long been the cultivation of yerba mate: Misiones is Argentina's leading producer . Tea, citrus fruit and, in minor amounts, tobacco, sugar cane, rice and coffee are also cultivated in Misiones.

Light manufacturing and tourism also contribute to the local economy, each adding about 13% to the total.

Political division

The province is divided in 17 departments :

Department (Capital)

Apostoles (Apostoles)

Cainguas (Campo Grande)

Candelaria (Santa Ana)

Capital (Posadas)

Concepcion de la Sierra (Concepcion de la Sierra)

Eldorado (Eldorado)

General Manuel Belgrano (Bernardo de Irigoyen)

Guarani (El Soberbio)

Iguazu (Puerto Esperanza)

Leandro N. Alem (Leandro N. Alem)

Libertador General San Martin (Puerto Rico)

Montecarlo (Montecarlo)

Obera (Obera)

San Ignacio (San Ignacio)

San Javier (San Javier)

San Pedro (San Pedro)

Veinticinco de Mayo (Alba Posse)

External links

Gobierno de la Provincia de Misiones Official website (in Spanish)

French Culture in Misiones

Pictures of Misiones

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Misiones Province