Salta Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Salta

(From top to bottom; from left to right) View of the city from top of San Bernardo Hill; Colonial Cabildo; Cathedral of Salta; Ninth of July Plaza and the Victoria Theatre.

Coat of arms

Salta

Location in Argentina

Salta

Capital

Elevation

1,152 m (3,780 ft)

Population

(2010 census)

• Urban

535,303

• Metro

619,000

Demonym(s)

Salteño

Time zone

UTC−3 (ART)

CPA base

A4400

Dialing code

+54 387

Climate

Cwb

Website

Official website: http://www.gobiernodelaciudad.gob.ar/

Salta is a city located in the Lerma Valley, at 1,152 metres (3780 feet) above sea level in the northwest part of Argentina. It is also the name for the capital city of Salta Province. Along with its metropolitan area, it has a population of 619,000 inhabitants, which makes it the second most populated city in the northwest of the country.

Overview

It is situated in the Lerma Valley, 1,152 metres (3,780 ft) above sea level, at the foothills of the Andes mountains.

The weather is warm and dry, with annual averages of 756 millimetres (29.8 in) of rainfall and an average temperature of 16.4 °C (61.5 °F) (20.4 °C [68.7 °F] in summer, 10.8 °C [51.4 °F] in winter). January, February and March are the months with the greatest rainfall. During the spring, Salta is occasionally plagued by severe, week-long dust storms.

Nicknamed Salta la Linda ("Salta the beautiful"), it has become a major tourist destination due to its old, colonial architecture, tourism friendliness, excellent weather and natural scenery of the valleys westward. Attractions in the city proper include the 18th century Cabildo, the neo-classical style Cathedral, and the 9 de julio central square along with San Bernardo hill and its surroundings. The city's museums exhibit a wide range of artifacts and art work from the native civilizations that flourished in the area (Salta is located in the southernmost region of what was the Inca empire, belonging to the Collasuyu, one of the four areas of the empire until the Spanish conquest), as well as from the 16th century Spanish conquest and the colonial and post-colonial periods. Salta used to be the starting point of the "Train to the Clouds" (Tren a las nubes), and on the way to red-soiled Cafayate, as well as to other nearby tourist destinations.

The Martín Miguel de Güemes Airport, 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) southwest of the city, has regular domestic flights to Buenos Aires, Tucumán, Jujuy, Córdoba, Puerto Iguazú; and international flights to Asunción, Rio de Janeiro, Iquique, Lima and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.