Chaco Province

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**Chaco**

Capital	Resistencia
Area	99,633 km²
Population	984,446 (2001)
Density	9.9/km²
Governor	Dr. Roy Nikisch
Demonym	Chaqueño
ISO 3166-2	AR-H

Chaco is an Argentine province located on the north of the country, near the border with Paraguay. Its capital is Resistencia on the Paraná River opposite the city of Corrientes. The second city of the province is Sáenz Peña.

The province is bounded by Salta and Santiago del Estero to the west, Formosa to the north and east, Corrientes and the Republic of Paraguay to the southeast and Santa Fe to the south. From 1950 to 1955, Chaco was named Presidente Juan Perón.

1 History
2 Geography and climate
3 Economy
4 Political division
5 See also
6 External links

Chaco is a Quechua word for hunting, which was the main source of food for the aboriginal people prior to the Spanish colonisation of the Americas. Several native tribes (Guaraní, Toba, Wichí and others) have persisted in the region and have important communities in this province as well as Formosa.

In the 17th century the San Fernando del Río Negro Jesuit mission was founded in the area of the present city of Resistencia, but it was abandoned the late 18th century.

At the end of the 19th century there were numerous confrontations between Argentina and Paraguay in the Gran Chaco area know as the War of the Triple Alliance, and San Fernando was reestablished, this time as a military outpost, and renamed to Resistencia in 1876.

The current international division of the Gran Chaco was achieved in 1884, but it was not until 1951 that Formosa split from Chaco defining the current national division and obtaining provincial status.

Between the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th, the province received a variety of immigrants; among them were Volga Germans and Mennonites from Russia, Germany, and Canada. They (along with the other immigrants) were able to transform the difficult geography of Chaco into a productive farming region known for its milk and beef production.

The province lies in the Gran Chaco plains, also known as the Green Hell for its extreme weather conditions. Frequent droughts make for desert-like parts of the geography. Yet, torrential rains and occasional floods create areas of rainforest habitat.

Differences in vegetation show the unequal distribution of precipitation: An Impenetrable ("Impenetrable") dense dry forest lies in the west, with precipitations of around 600 mm per year, and the more humid east, with 1,100 mm annual precipitation, holds the Selva Chaqueña, a jungle with no dry season.

The rivers of the province end in either the Paraná River or the Paraguay River, and run from west to east. The most important of these are the Bermejo River, Río de Oro, Guaycurú Grande, Guaycurú Chico, Salado River, Negro River, Palometa and Tapenagá.

The area is inhabited by exotic wildlife, including crocodiles, monkeys, tarantulas, wild boars, jaguars, giant armadillos, anacondas, rattlesnakes, and a variety of other poisonous snakes. Transport: Major highways include 11 north from Santa Fé province north via Resistencia to Formosa, 16 across the Paraná from Correntes 322 km north-west via Resistencia and Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña into Santiago del Estero province, and passing through Taco Pozo in the north-east to Salta, and 89 from Avia Terai 245 km south-west via Charata to Quimili in Santiago del Estero province. There is an airport at Resistencia.

Development in Chaco is linked to the quebracho wood, and the cotton production, which currently accounts for 60% of national production.

Agriculture in the region includes crops such as soy, sorghum and maize. Sugar cane is also cultivated in the South, as well as rice and tobacco in lesser proportion.

Cattle consists of mixed races of Argentine cows with zebu, which adapt better to the high temperatures, grass shortage, and occasional flooding.

Industry includes textiles (produced from local cotton), oil mills, and coal production, as well as sugar, alcohol and paper (all produced from sugar cane).

Chaco is home to the Chaco National Park, but tourism is not a developed industry in the province.

The province is divided in 25 departments (Spanish departamentos).

Department (Capital)