Santiago del Estero Province facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Santiago del Estero
Province
Flag
Location of Santiago del Estero within Argentina
Country	Argentina
Capital	Santiago del Estero
departments	27
Municipalities	28
Area Ranked 9th
• Total	136,351 km2 (52,645 sq mi)
Population  (2010)
• Total	896,461 (Ranked 12th)
• Density	6.6/km2 (17/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	santiagueño
Time zone	UTC−3 (ART)
ISO 3166 code	AR-G

Santiago del Estero is a province of Argentina. It is in the north of the country. The province is home to the Copo National Park.

Geography and climate

Mature algarrobo, a species nearly ubiquitous to the province.

The province is located almost completely in the flat lands of the Gran Chaco, with some depressions. In these depressions lagoons have formed, mainly at Bañado de Figueroa, Bañado de Añatuya, and those near the basin of the Salado and Dulce Rivers. The Sumampa and Ambargasta sierras are the result of the influence of the Pampas at the southwest.

The soil, rich in lime and salt, is arid and characterised by semi-deserts and steppes. The predominant weather is sub-tropical with a dry season and high temperatures during the entire year; the annual average is 21.5°C, increased to 24°C in the latest years, with maxima of up to 50°C, with visible increases in temperature since 1970. Surprisingly, the maximum was of 38°C before 1910; and minima of -5°C, which has increased to -2°C. The dry season, during the winter, receives an average of 120 mm of precipitation, but the annual average is 700 mm.

Economy

Salinas Grandes, one of the world's largest salt flats.

The economy of the province still leans toward primary production, specially in agriculture, about 12% of the province's output. Centred on the basins of the Salado and Dulce Rivers, the main crops include cotton (20% of the national production), soybean, maize and onion.

Cattle farming is also important, mainly in the east, where weather conditions make it possible, but goats, with 15% of the national production, adapt better to the rest of the province.

The wood industry of quebracho and algarrobo has also added implanted species totaling an annual average of over 300 thousand tons, of which around 100,000 tons are used for timber and the rest for firewood and vegetal coal.

There is little mining but in the salt flats in the southwest. Manufacturing (less than 10% of output) consists of small industrial enterprises centred mainly on food, textiles and leather.

Tourism is somewhat developed, but only around the main tourist attractions. Tourists visit Santiago del Estero (the oldest city in Argentina) and its historical buildings and museums, Termas de Río Hondo and the Río Hondo hot springs with its 200 hotels, and the Frontal dam where water sports are practiced.

The province is home to the Copo National Park, and four protected areas: Bañados de Figueroa, Sierras de Ambargasta, Sierra de Guasayan and Sierras de Sumampa.

Images for kids

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  Lake Los Pozos

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  Composer and lawmaker Amancio Jacinto Alcorta.

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  Argentine artists relax at the Río Hondo Hot Springs, 1958.

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  President Néstor Kirchner (left) signs the order removing Mrs. Juárez from her post as Governor of Santiago del Estero while Aníbal Fernández watches.

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  Pianist Adolfo Abalos, who from 1945 led the Abalos Brothers group, among the best-known folk musicians in South America.

See also

In Spanish: Provincia de Santiago del Estero para niños