Salta Province

"Salteño" redirects here. For the Argentine city of the same kind, see Ciudad de Salta. For the Uruguayan city of the same kind, see Salto (Uruguay). For the Uruguayan department of the same kind, see Department of Jump.

Salta, in the text of the provincial Constitution: Province of Salta, is one of the twenty-three provinces of the Argentine Republic. In turn, it is one of the twenty-four self-governing states or jurisdictions of the first order that make up the country, and one of the twenty-four national legislative electoral districts. Its capital is the homonymous Salta. It is located in the northwest of the country, bordering to the north with the province of Jujuy and with the departments of Potosí and Tarija, in Bolivia, up to the Esmeralda milestone trifinio, where its border begins with the department of Boquerón, in Paraguay, (to the northeast), to the east with the provinces of Formosa and Chaco, to the south with those of Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca, and to the west with the Region of Antofagasta in Chile. With 155,488 km², it is the sixth largest first-order jurisdiction, behind the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Cruz, Chubut, Río Negro and Córdoba.

History

Pre-Hispanic period (until 1535)

Human beings began to populate the region around 10,000 years BC, through successive migrations from the north.

Around the XV century, shortly before the arrival of the Spanish, the Valliserrano and Andean territory was and is inhabited by the Atacamas and Calchaquíes. These last ones constituted a diversity of towns that had the same language in common, the cacan. The Kunza-speaking Atacamas (or more accurately, they call themselves Likanantai) lived and live in the Puna, whose culture was similar to Quechua despite being enemies, since the Quechuas were a group originating from the southern highlands of Peru that at that time was in full expansion. The likanatai also later called "atacamas" They were sedentary, dedicated to agriculture, with advanced irrigation techniques. The city of Tastil, of lickan-antay origin, became an active center of commerce, who installed a kind of administrative center in Sikuani (present-day Chicoana); Tastil was destroyed along with the ancestral cemeteries at the time of the Quechua expansion.

In the Chaco Salteño, meanwhile, lived and live: Wichís, Chorotes, Qom'lek (commonly called by the Guarani: "tobas") and Vilelas, dedicated to hunting and Fishing.

Viceregal period (1535-1810)

Colonial Cabildo, Today Historical Museum of the North.

Colonial horse at night.

The first Spaniards to explore the area were Diego de Almagro (1535), followed by Diego de Rojas (1542), who passed through the south of the province.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish made two attempts to establish a population in what is now central Salta; the first frustrated, and the second successful. In 1566, the captains Jerónimo de Olguín, Diego de Heredia and Juan de Barzocana, mutinied against the governor Francisco de Aguirre, founded a city that they called Cáceres, on the left bank of the Pasaje river (current department of Anta). Although refounded several times, with different names —Nuestra Señora de Talavera del Esteco (1567); Madrid de las Juntas (1592): Talavera de Madrid (1609)— the name Esteco was generalized in memory of the previous Our Lady of Talavera de Esteco, where the inhabitants who populated the later cities came from. Constantly besieged by the natives, it ended up destroyed by an earthquake on September 13, 1692.

Another city had better luck, further west, in the sub-Andean sierras. Hernando de Lerma, following the orders of Viceroy Francisco Álvarez de Toledo, established the first permanent town, called San Felipe de Lerma del Valle de Salta, on April 16, 1582. But for various reasons, its name It was abbreviated to San Felipe de Valle de Salta and later to Salta.

The region was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru until 1776, when the Spanish crown created the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata. The new viceroyalty was later subdivided, and Salta was initially located in the San Miguel de Tucumán Intendant Governorate (1782) and later in the Salta del Tucumán Intendant Governorate (1783), together with Catamarca, Santiago del Estero, Jujuy, Tucumán and the Puna de Atacama, with its capital in Salta (since 1792). The rest of the territory formed the Government of Córdoba del Tucumán, current Córdoba, San Luis, Mendoza, San Juan, La Rioja and small western sectors of the current province of Santa Fe.

In 1794 the strategic city of San Ramón de la Nueva Orán was founded, a link between Salta and Tarija.

In February 1807 by Royal Order, Tarija was incorporated into the Municipality of Salta del Tucumán, which later on July 25 of the same year, Tarija proclaimed its autonomy, and due to a lack of religious organization it remained integrated into the Bishopric of Salta. When the May Revolution broke out, Tarija was established as a Republiqueta, which was linked in military aspects and would depend decentrally on the Salta administration.

Independence and civil strife (1810-1853)

Representation of the Battle of Salta.

In June 1810, the Salta council joined the May Revolution, arriving at the end of 1810 the first contingent of the Army of the North.

During the Argentine War of Independence, the city of Salta was invaded several times by the royalists: January 29-March 10, 1812; April 15-May 4, 1817, by José de la Serna (De la Serna's invasion of Jujuy and Salta); May 31-end of June 1820, by Juan Ramírez Orozco; June 7-July 14, 1821 by Pedro Antonio de Olañeta During these occupations, the caudillo Martín Miguel de Güemes organized the resistance and the patriot offensives, and launched a guerrilla war popularly called gaucho war, until his death, in 1821.

With the decisive battle of Salta (February 20, 1813), Manuel Belgrano managed to free the entire northwest, although sporadic royalist attacks from Upper Peru continued until 1826.

Once independence was consolidated, Salta sank, along with the rest of the country, into the whirlwind of struggles between Unitarians and Federals, being alternately governed by both sides.

Formation of the territory of the Province of Salta (1814-1943)

Very shortly after the May Revolution, in 1814, the old Municipality of Salta del Tucumán began to disintegrate, and a long process began during which the province of Salta was forming its territory, in the midst of disputes with neighboring provinces, disputes between Argentina and neighboring countries, wars with the Chaco tribes, until in 1943 the province acquired the shape and limits it currently has.

By decree of October 8, 1814, the Supreme Director Gervasio Posadas divided the Municipality of Salta del Tucumán into two:

• The province of Salta, north (the present province of Salta, plus Tarija with Chichas and Lípez, Jujuy and the coast of Antofagasta-Atacama).
• La Gobernación Intendencia del Tucumán, al sur (current provinces of Tucumán, Catamarca and Santiago del Estero)

On August 26, 1826, Antonio José de Sucre ordered Francisco O'Connor and Bernardo Trigo to invade Tarija, separating it not only from Salta but from all of Argentina, annexing it to Bolivia. This was facilitated by the Argentine-Brazilian War, the civil strife in Argentina. The National Congress, after the provision of the bill by José Felipe de Echazú from Tarija (at the request of the Tarija population before the invasion), Tarija was elevated to the category of province by law of November 30, 1826, although they realized months later that it had been invaded and annexed to Bolivia.

Map of Argentina, mid-19th century, where Salta and Jujuy still appear as a single province.

On November 22, 1834, Jujuy separated from Salta and became a new Argentine province. But the region of Orán, to the northeast of Jujuy, (current departments of Orán, Santa Victoria, Iruya, Rivadavia and San Martín) remained united to Salta, although there was an attempt (1881) to separate it and transform it into a new Argentine province, with capital in San Ramón de la Nueva Orán, which never prospered. The union of Orán with Salta explains the curious horseshoe shape that the province currently has.

Under the command of the governor, Colonel Juan Solá, in 1879 the Argentine army launched a military campaign in the Chaco, in order to subdue the indigenous people of the region. As a result of it, the Central and Southern Chaco were placed under the orbit of the National State. Thousands of indigenous people were killed in the offensive, and the surviving tribes were dispossessed of their lands, which were handed over to settlers, the origin of the current conflict between creoles and aborigines in the Chaco of Salta. Subsequently, by Law No. 1,532 of the Organization of National Territories (October 16, 1884), the National State established the limits between Salta and the National Territories of Chaco and Formosa. The province widens to the east.

By the May 10, 1889 treaty with Bolivia, Argentina relinquished its claim to Tarija. In compensation, Bolivia ceded the Puna de Atacama —territory that, on the other hand, had been incorporated into Salta as early as 1816 by Martín Miguel de Güemes—, which was in the hands of Chile after the War of the Pacific (1879-1880).. This Bolivian action granted Argentina a territory that was part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, but which was in fact in the hands of Chile, seeking to force a war between Chile and Argentina. As Chile refused to hand over the territories ceded by Bolivia, it was decided to submit the issue to arbitration by American William Buchanan, who in 1899 granted Argentina 75% of the disputed territory and the rest to Chile. Also by the 1889 treaty, Argentina ceded a territory that until then was considered Salteño: the Juntas de San Antonio. The Argentine concessions favorable to Bolivia continued with the rectifications of 1904 (Esmoraca and Estarca) and Yacuiba. Yacuiba was recently accepted as Bolivian (in Tarijeño territory) by the Carrillo-Díez de Medina Boundary Treaty (July 1925).

By Law No. 3906 (January 9, 1900) the Territory of Los Andes was created. By decree of May 12, 1900, the National Executive Branch divided the Territory of Los Andes into three administrative departments: Susques (north), which bordered the Province of Jujuy; Pastos Grandes (center), bordering on the Province of Salta; and Antofagasta de la Sierra (south), bordering the Province of Catamarca.

In 1902, the Province of Salta ceded a part of the Department of La Poma, more precisely the sector of San Antonio de los Cobres (approximately 5,500 km²) by Law No. 4059, so that it became the capital of the territory, forming with her a fourth apartment in the Territory of Los Andes. With regard to this decision, it should be noted that currently, in the departmental division of the Province of Salta, a strange intrusion of the territory of the current Department of Los Andes into the Department of La Poma is being noticed, printing in that sector a kind of & "bottleneck", resulting from the fact that the town of San Antonio de los Cobres never belonged to La Poma again, but, once the National Territory of Los Andes was divided between the provinces of Jujuy, Salta and Catamarca (as indicated below), the part that corresponded to Salta -which came to be called the Department of Los Andes- kept that town as its head.

In 1925, Argentina recognized the sovereignty of the town of Yacuiba to Bolivia, despite being south of the parallel that carries the agreed international boundary, because Bolivia needed to conserve a population in the Chaco area.

As a consequence of the border rectification due to the border treaty between Argentina and Bolivia signed on July 9, 1925, and put into force on October 11, 1938, the province of Salta incorporated the area of Los Toldos in 1941, Until then Bolivian.

In 1943 the National Government resolved to dissolve the National Territory of Los Andes. The departments of San Antonio de Los Cobres and Pastos Grandes were merged and reintegrated into the province of Salta, constituting the current Los Andes Department. (Susques came to belong to Jujuy and Antofagasta de la Sierra to Catamarca).

The boundary with the province of Tucumán was established by National Law No. 22264 issued by the military government and published in the Official Gazette on August 12, 1980.

Institutional organization and contemporary times (1853 to the present)

The city of Salta, at the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th century, seen from the tower of the San Francisco Church

The Constituent Convention held in Santa Fe, which drafted the Constitution of 1853, was chaired by a man from Salta, Dr. Facundo de Zuviría. During the second half of the XIX century the institutions of the State of Salta were established and consolidated (legislature, court, etc.) and the they defined and separated the roles of the government of the Province of Salta and that of the city of Salta, a process in which the Municipality of the City of Salta was established.

At the end of the XIX century and beginning of the XX century, millions of Italian and Spanish immigrants arrived in Argentina, but very few They settle in Salta. Yes, instead, it is established groups of Syrians who gave a new dynamic to the local economy.

In the middle of the XX century, the winds of Peronism blew strongly throughout the country. In the city of Salta, the headquarters of the Club 20 de Febrero club is expropriated, whose building is declared of public utility and belongs to the provincial government, as well as some haciendas in the Calchaquíes Valleys, belonging to influential landowners. During the 1960s and 1970s, the province (and the entire northwestern region of the country) was viewed with suspicion by the national government, given the possibility of the emergence of extreme left movements, such as the Guerrilla Army. from town.

Salta, like the rest of the country, lived through the military dictatorship (1976-1983) and the political violence that preceded it. Some 200 people from Salta disappeared, among them former Justicialist governor Miguel Ragone.

Since the restoration of democracy (1983) the province has enjoyed a certain political calm, while other northern provinces have suffered constant and sudden changes of government. The constitutional deadlines have been met and the administration is renewed every four years. The following governors have succeeded:

• 1983-1987 Roberto Romero - PJ
• 1987-1991 Hernán Cornejo - PJ
• 1991-1995 Roberto A. Ulloa - PRS
• 1995-1999 Juan Carlos Romero - PJ
• 1999-2003 Juan Carlos Romero - PJ
• 2003-2007 Juan Carlos Romero - PJ
• 2007-2011 Juan Manuel Urtubey - Alianza FPV (PJ) - PRS
• 2011-2015 Juan Manuel Urtubey - Alliance Cambiemos (PJ) - PRS
• 2015-2019 Juan Manuel Urtubey - Alianza Cambiemos (PJ) - PRS

Political organization

Constitution

The Province is governed by the Constitution of 1998, which replaced the previous one, of 1986.

In 2003 an article was reformed, the one referring to the election of the governor. There are three branches: executive, legislative and judicial:

On December 20, 2021, the provincial constitution was partially amended, limiting mandates in the executive and legislative branches. I also limit the duration of the mandates of the judges of the judiciary, the conditions for the creation of municipalities, etc.

Executive Branch

It is exercised by the governor, elected by popular vote for a period of 4 years, and who can be re-elected for up to a third consecutive term (according to the 2003 reform). In the same formula, the lieutenant governor is also elected, who exercises the presidency of the provincial Senate on behalf of the Executive Power. The governor is assisted in his functions by a cabinet of 10 ministers.

Legislative Branch

It is exercised by a bicameral legislature:

• Chamber of Deputies: 60 seats, representing the village of the Province
• House of Senators: 23 seats, one for each department of the Province.

Judicial Branch

It is made up of a court of seven magistrates (one president and six members).

Electoral System

Since 2013, 100% of the Province's register has voted with the Single Electronic Ballot System. This makes Salta the first province in Argentina to successfully use this system, which has also been used since 2015 in the City of Buenos Aires.

Through this system, a vote is cast that has electronic support and physical support (on paper). The polling station authority delivers a ballot to the voter, which is blank and has a chip with no information. The voter inserts the ballot into a computer that displays the candidate lists. The voter selects her vote and it is printed on the ballot and stored in the chip. The voter can verify that her vote has been saved correctly with a chip reader presented by the machine and viewing the printout.

The electronic single ballot system prevents ballot theft, greatly reduces the number of contested votes, and reduces the possibility of fraud such as the "ant vote" or "vote chain". Therefore, it results in significant infrastructure savings for political parties, both for generating ballots and for auditing them. It also gives more transparency to the election by having a double check.

Administrative division

The capital of the province is the city of Salta. The province is administratively divided into 23 departments, subdivided into 60 municipalities.

See: Annex: Municipalities of the province of Salta and Municipal organization of the province of Salta

Administrative division of Salta province and its capital

Map	Department	Surface (km2)	Population (Censo 2010)	Municipalities (in bold: departmental headers)
	Department of Anta	21945	57411	Apolinario Saravia The Quebrachal General Pizarro Joaquín Víctor González The Lajitas
	Department of Cachi	2925	7315	Cachi Payogasta
	Department of Cafayate	1570	14850	Cafayate
	Department of Capital	1722	720000	Balance Villa San Lorenzo
	Department of Cerrillos	640	35789	Cerrillos La Merced
	Department of Chicoana	910	20710	Chicoana The Lane
	General Güemes Department	2365	47226	Campo Santo The Bordo General Güemes
	Department General José de San Martín	16257	156910	Aguaray Embarkation General Ballivián General Mosconi Professor Salvador Mazza Tartagal
	Department of Guachipas	2785	3187	Guachipas
	Department of Iruya	3515	5987	Iruya Island of Cañas
	Department of La Caldera	867	7763	The boiler Cowboys
	Department of La Candelaria	1525	5704	The Garden The Tala La Candelaria
	Department La Poma	4447	1738	The Poma
	Department La Viña	2152	7435	Colonel Moldes The Vineyard
	Department of Los Andes	25636	6050	San Antonio de los Cobres Big Tolar
	Department of Metan	5235	40351	The Galpón San José de Metán Rio Pîedras
	Molinos Department	3600	5652	Molinos Seclantás
	Department of Oran	11892	138838	White Waters Colonia Santa Rosa Hippolyte Yrigoyen Pichanal San Ramon de la Nueva Orán Urundel
	Rivadavia Department	25951	30357	Rivadavia Banda Norte Rivadavia Banda Sur Santa Victoria East
	Rosario de la Frontera Department	5402	28993	The Potrero Rosario de la Frontera
	Department of Rosario de Lerma	5110	38702	Campo Quijano Rosario de Lerma
	Department of San Carlos	5125	7016	Angastaco Animaná San Carlos
	Department Santa Victoria	3912	10344	The Toldos Nazarene Santa Victoria West

Interprovincial Treaties

Salta is part of the Greater Argentine North Region, whose creation was signed in the city of Salta on April 9, 1999 between the provinces of Catamarca, Corrientes, Chaco, Formosa, Jujuy, Misiones, Tucumán, Salta and Santiago del Estero in order to promote the "integration of the NOA and NEA provinces, in order to actually achieve an effective system of consensus and joint action between the states parties&# 3. 4;.

Population

Demographics

Evolution of the population up to 1869:

• 1778: 11,565 ha.
• 1820: 60,000 ha.
• 1847: 60,000 ha.
• 1853: 70,000 ha.

Current population:

• Census 1991: 866.153 inhabitants (Indec, 1991) (urban population: 730,652 inhabitants (Indec, 1991), (rural population: 135,501 inhabitants (Indec, 1991).
• Census 2001: 1,079,051 inhabitants (Indec, 2001) (urban population:961,571 inhabitants (Indec, 2001), (rural population:117,480 (Indec, 2001).
• Census 2010: 1,214,441 inhabitants (Indec, 2010) (urban population:1,057,951 inhabitants (Indec, 2010), (rural population:156,490 (Indec, 2010).

2022 Census (Indec, 2022).

• Salta province: 1,440,672 inhabitants
• City of Salta: 627.127

The population is unevenly distributed. The most densely populated area of the province is Valle de Lerma, where the city of Salta, the provincial capital, is located. The density there exceeds 20 inhab./km². It drops to less than 1 inhab./km² in the departments of Los Andes and La Poma.

Analyzing the censuses from 1869 up to now, a worrying trend towards the concentration of the population in the provincial capital is observed. In 1869, of a total of 88,933 inhabitants in the province, only 11,716 (13.17%) lived in the city of Salta and its surroundings. While the last census, of 2001, of a total 1,079,051 people in the province, 468,583 lived in Greater Salta, which represents 43.42%.

Social Features

Temporary housing (positive) of the inhabitants of Incahuasi. The Caves. Dpto. Rosary of Lerma. Jump. Argentina. Built with adobe and straw roof, its height does not exceed 2 m. It has a single door and has no windows.

Typical dress from the villagers of Las Cuevas. Jump. Argentina

Salta, like other provinces in the north of the country, is often described as a feudal province because it still suffers from certain development problems that distance it from the Pampean provinces, much more developed and industrialized.

• Very marked differences between social classes that result in discrimination.
• Notable influence of certain closed families or groups in the economy and politics.
• Notable influence of the Catholic Church in all spheres of social life.

Education

Despite some progress made in the last 20 years, education statistics in Salta are still below national rates.

• Among the population over 10 years of age, 95.33% read and write (the national average is 97.39%)
• Among those over 15 years of age, 16.9% did not complete primary education (national average: 14.2%)
• Of those over 20 years, 5.36% have a university degree (national average: 5%)

Successive governments have declared a fight against illiteracy and school dropout, but the initiatives collide with the problem of child labor, very common in rural areas, and tolerated by the authorities themselves.

For higher education there are four universities: the National University of Salta (headquarters in Salta Capital, sub-headquarters in Orán, Tartagal, San José de Metán and Rosario de la Frontera), the Catholic University of Salta, the Provincial University of Administration Public (first of its kind in all of Argentina, in the process of being organized); and a headquarters of the business university Siglo 21, based in Córdoba. There are also non-university higher education establishments (tertiary), which offer numerous careers.

Language

As in the rest of the country, the vast majority of the population speaks Spanish. After 400 years of contact with Spanish, the indigenous languages still coexist today with Castilian but their majority use depends on the area of the province - Cacán, used by the Calchaquíes, Quechua and Aymara. On the other hand, many indigenous place names have been preserved throughout the province, as well as some words used in everyday speech by all social classes: yapa (increase, add), chango (youth, child), etc.

In the eastern region of Salta, bordering Chaco and Formosa, which was incorporated into the province relatively recently, there are thousands of indigenous people who still speak their ancestral languages. The two main ones are Wichí (spoken by around 30,000 people) and Chiriguano, a dialect of Guarani (used by around 20,000 people). There are also five other indigenous languages, spoken by about 15,000 people.

Religion

The Cathedral of Salta

Inside the cathedral.

The majority of the population (around 91%) adheres to the Catholic Church. But while the upper and middle classes profess formal Catholicism, the inhabitants of rural areas tend to profess a syncretic Catholicism, hybridized with ancient indigenous ancestral beliefs. The cult of Pachamama still survives in the province, and it is not unusual to see the figure of an Ekeko in the living room of some houses.

Syrian and Lebanese immigrants in the early 20th century introduced Orthodox Christianity of the Antiochian rite, which features an important number of followers in Salta, Tartagal and other important cities.

Protestants, in their different expressions, also have a notable presence. There are Anglicans, Methodists, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists etc.

The Christian congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses represents 0.46% of devotees in the province, which is a minority of the total population. Their meeting centers are centered in the capital but there are also in the interior of the province, they organize assemblies to invite the inhabitants and do house-to-house preaching with publications in native languages such as Quechua and Aymara for people who do not speak the Spanish.

There are also considerable numbers of Mormons.

The Jewish community of Salta is well organized, and has a rabbi for its religious services.

There are also small groups of Buddhist Muslims (immigrants of Chinese and Korean origin), and in Rosario de la Frontera, where numerous immigrants from India settled, there is even a small Sikh community.

Main Cities

City of Salta, the largest in the province.

A street of San Ramon de la Nueva Orán, second city of the province.

The main urban centers of the province, according to 2021 data, are:

Immigrant Communities

Salta, like the rest of the country, has received a large number of immigrants, although on a smaller scale than other provinces and with different sources of immigration. While other provinces received a majority of European immigrants, in Salta there was a migratory wave, mainly of Hispanic American origin, standing out the Bolivian community whose collective number is around 200,000 people and that of Arab origin, mainly Syrian. The majority European communities in the country are also present, both Spanish and Italian.

Sports

In Salta, as in the rest of Argentina, soccer is the most popular sport. The most important clubs in the province are: Gimnasia y Tiro, Central Norte, and Juventud Antoniana; who at some point in their history came to participate in the First Division. The largest stadium is the Gigante del Norte, with a maximum capacity of 30,000 spectators. In it, the Argentine National Team faced off against Morocco, a match in which Diego Maradona played. In 2001, the Padre Ernesto Martearena Stadium was inaugurated; with capacity for 23,408 spectators; It has hosted the 2001 Youth Soccer World Cup, and the 2011 Copa América. Although several players from Salta became part of the National Team, Alberto Chividini is the only one who has managed to become champion with Argentina (South American Championship 1929), and the only one to play in a World Cup (Uruguay 1930).

In the middle of the 20th century, baseball began to gain a large following. Salta is powerful in this sport, to the point that most of the Argentine National Team players are from Salta. Some talents have even tried their luck abroad, with notable success.

Another popular sport in the province is rugby. Despite the fact that the province has few teams, the Salta Rugby Union team is one of the strongest in the country, being in the Championship Zone of the Argentine Rugby Championship. The most representative teams at club level in the province are Gymnastics and Shooting (champion of the Northwest Regional Tournament in 1999), Jockey, University and Federal Shooting. In Swimming, as in Cycling, Salta is considered a regional power. In swimming, the presence of Roberto Strelkov stands out, who participated in the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympic Games, and in the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. In cycling, the development of the "Clásica 1° de Mayo", a contest held annually, and which has the participation of international athletes with outstanding careers.

Recently, Basketball has grown in popularity. Salta Basket, founded in 2014, participated in La Liga (first division), and came to compete in international tournaments. Currently dispute the National League (second division). El Tribuno Basket, is in the third division.

The Salta Autodromo, inaugurated in 1974, has hosted races of the main national motorsport championships, such as Turismo Carretera, TC 2000, Top Race, and Turismo Nacional. In motorcycling, Kevin Benavides stands out, who participated in the Enduro World Championship, and in the Dakar Rally.

The physiography of the territory makes extreme adventure sports widely practiced. The Llullaillaco volcano, on the border with Chile, is the highest elevation in the province, and the sixth in the country. The Socompa also exceeds 6000 m s. no. m., and there are another 10 mountains that exceed 5000 m s. no. m.. Mountaineering practitioners, therefore, are many, and they gather around very well organized clubs. Mariano Merani from Salta climbed to the top of Cho Oyu, in the Himalayas in 1998, and another from Salta, Christian Vitry, reached the summit of Dhaulagiri, in the same range, in 2008.

In the Juramento river canyon you can practice rafting, however this activity is much more widespread among tourists. Hunting, and sport fishing, are strictly regulated; and fans must inform themselves in a timely manner with the authorities about licenses and closed periods.

Geography

Salta has the shape of a horseshoe, and in its extensive territory there is a great diversity of relief, climates, flora and fauna. Its limits are precise, to a large extent, except for some limit disputes that it still maintains with the provinces of Catamarca (Salar del Hombre Muerto) and Jujuy.

Know the relief of Salta

The Llullaillaco stratum (6739 s. n. m.), where 3 frozen inca children were found in perfect condition.

Road to the town of Iruya, in the north of the province.

Geographical aspects

Five different landscapes can be distinguished, from west to east:

• Western mountain range The Western cord is attached to the Altiplano, the highest and presents the ice-covered summits up to 5000 m above sea level. Below the snow level the glacial circuses of the last glacial are observed.
• Puna or Altiplano (to the west). It is characterized by height, arid climate and its small number of inhabitants. This region known as Atacama (Argentinian north of Chile and west of Bolivia) is considered as an astronomical paradise where more than 50% of the largest telescopes on the planet are settled, as well as stands out for concentrating 13 of the 15 largest salt rooms in the world (approximately 50,000 km2); three of which are located within the province of Salta: one entirely in the territory (

Also, in the nexus between the Puna and the Valliserrana region is the great Quebrada del Toro where the town of San Antonio de los Cobres is located.

• Cordillera Oriental (in the center-west). It presents two environments:
  • the western cord: it is higher and consists of several laces like the Nevado de Acay.
  • the eastern cord: it is lower and without snowy summits. Among the latter are valleys and ravines, such as the so-called Toro, the Calchaquíes Valleys and the Lerma Valley. This area is the most densely populated area and where the capital is located.
• Sierras Subandinas (in the center-east). It presents a humid and jungle landscape with frequent yungas, where a serrano tropical climate develops.
• Llanura Chaqueña (to the east). It has a low relief. This area, called "Chaco Saleño", has a tropical climate with dry season, forest and mountain biomas, with low population density.

Seismic Activity

Seismic activity in the Salta area is frequent and of low intensity, with a seismic silence of medium to severe earthquakes every 40 years.

• Sismo de 1930: Although such catastrophic geological activity occurs since prehistoric times, the earthquake of December 24, 1930 (92 years), noted an important milestone in the history of Jewish seismic events, with 6,4 Richter. But nothing changed extreme care and/or restricting building codes.
• 1948 earthquake: August 25, 1948 (74 years) with 7.0 Richter destroyed buildings and opened numerous cracks in vast areas
• Sismo de 2010: el 27 de febrero de 2010 (12 años) con 6,1 Richter
• 2019 earthquake: July 15, 2019 (3 years) with 4.0 Richter

Climate and flora

Climate map of Salta Province according to the climate classification of Köppen.

Contrasting climates and landscapes are observed mainly according to altitude: in the western region (the highest) an arid and cold climate predominates with sudden thermal variations between day and night (and even if you go from a sunny place to a place under shade), during the XX century, desertification worsened, leaving the natural vegetation almost reduced to patches of xerophytic plants and psammophilous like the squat tola that forms "mattresses" or the large cacti called cardones, in the Puna and in the driest ravines there are remnants of an ancient forest of low trees (churquis and queñoas), in the area of the Calchaquíes valleys there are hardly any vestiges of the dense forests of criollo carob trees (or “tacos”).

In the area of the latitudinal valleys, the humid winds from the Atlantic Ocean signal a transition towards a humid tropical climate, forming on the eastern slopes a dense nimbosilva and pluvisilva that corresponds to the Yungas biome, with an enormous variety of species, among which the jacarandás (or tarcos), tipas, cebiles, molles, zucchini caspis, urundeles, guayabos etc. stand out, while in the east, already in the Chaco Salteño region, forests of deciduous trees are formed adapted to the seasonal alternations of droughts (in winter) and "rainy season" (in summer) with specimens of chañares, lapachos, quebrachos, guayacán, yuchán, ñandubay, vinal and palms or palm trees such as timbó and caranday.

In some regions of Salta, particularly in the Yungas, the practice of deforestation for agricultural use of the land is common. For this reason, some environmental organizations in Argentina are currently seeking the creation of laws that regulate the use of the jungle areas nationwide.

Yungas in province.

Water resources

With the exception of some areas of the Puna, which form endorheic basins, most of the province of Salta is located within the La Plata basin.

Thanks to the high altitudes (around 6000 m.a.s.l.) of the Andean ranges with, despite the latitude, eternal snow and the condensation of atmospheric humidity in the form of a mist on the easternmost slopes, the province of Salta has important water courses, although heterogeneously distributed in the territory. The three most important and mighty rivers are the Pilcomayo, the Bermejo, (tributaries of Paraguay) and the Juramento (called Salado in neighboring Santiago del Estero, a tributary of the Paraná). Tributaries of these are the Grande de Tarija, Itaú, Yocavil, Horcones, Metán, etc. To them are added a huge number of shorter rivers, streams and streams, which descend from the eastern Andean slopes. Taking advantage of the presence of such a fluvial network, some reservoirs with hydroelectric plants have been built, such as in Cabra Corral and the El Tunal dam.

In addition to rivers and streams, the province of Salta has important lagoons, especially in the Puno sector, but the widespread desertification has transformed a large part of such lagoons into extensive salt flats such as those of Arizaro, Pocitos, Barreal, Quirón, Tolillar, Rincón, Incahuasi, Antofalla, Ratones, Llullaillaco etc. Some of the singularities of such lagoons-salt flats are the often very high alkalinity of their waters and the fact that they constitute the core of endorheic basins. On the other hand, in the Chaco Salteño there are extensive wetlands such as the Los Colorados marshes and the Quirquincho estuaries.

The Calchaquí River, at its turn to the southwest of the province. Feed the river basin Pasaje

River in the desert

Economy

Convent of San Bernardo, Salta, important tourist place of the province.

A vineyard near the town of Cafayate

Bishop's body, on his way to Cachi.

The Los Cardones National Park has a large number of pre-punished vegetation characteristic of the province, as well as a number of important paleontological remains and cave pistures

Tour for the Quebrada de las Conchas.

The economic activities of the province together represent approximately 1% of Argentina's GDP. But if it is considered that the population of Salta is somewhat higher than 3% of the country's population, this means that the GDP per capita of the province is well below the national average. One of Salta's main problems is the called "informal economy" or "in black." In rural areas, many people work in unregistered businesses or farms. And in the provincial capital you can see thousands of "street vendors." According to INDEC statistics from March 2009, black employment in Salta is the fourth highest in the country.

Primary Activities

The base of the economy is given by industrial crops such as cocoa, coffee, tobacco, custard apple, sugar cane, banana, mango, papaya, citrus (grapefruit), legumes (beans and soybeans), vegetables (those produced year-round), vines, chili peppers, onions, potatoes and cotton, while a promising crop for the Puno region is still maintained at the level of subsistence agriculture: quinoa.

Livestock is represented by cattle breeding in the Lerma Valley region and the cleared areas of the Chaco region, on the other hand the presence of goats in mountainous areas is frequent and remains a valuable resource the breeding of auquénidos (particularly the vicuña) in the areas of higher altitude and aridity, while the breeding of horses is reduced, although the specimens of Salteño horses are usually well-deserved for their resistance.

Mining and the production of hydrocarbons (oil, butane) are of great importance, especially in the north of the Chaco Salteño, with one of the largest shale gas reserves in the world in the Los Monos gas field. In the Puna region there are rich deposits of various minerals (gold, copper, lead, silver, tin, lithium, borax, saltpeter, potassium, etc.), still unexploited or that have just begun to be exploited.

Industries

The few existing industries are directly related to local agricultural-livestock activities: sugar and its by-products (in the north of the province), wine (in the Calchaquíes valleys), beers, dairy products and pasta (in the Lerma valley), etc. In recent years, the establishment of numerous foreign firms has introduced state-of-the-art technology in the wine industry. Today, for example, sugar and wine are exported to Europe and the United States, and in the case of wine from Salta, it enjoys an excellent international reputation.

Local manufacturing is also related to mining activities: in the north there are oil and natural gas refineries. The borax that is extracted in the Valle de Lerma is used in the manufacture of detergent, etc.

Many industries still have a very traditional character, and are destined for the local market: goat cheese, quesillos, leather clothing, etc.

Tourism and services

In the provincial capital and the main towns, a large part of the population is dedicated to the service sector: commerce, banks and financial activities, education, health, transportation, communications, gastronomy and entertainment, etc. Tourism has gained great importance, and numerous hotels have been opened, some of them of great category.

Tourist destinations

(distances have as reference point the central square (plaza 9 de julio) of the city of Salta -km 0-)

• Cafayate -Museo de la Vid y el Vino- (186 km) - `Quebrada de las Conchas - Quebrada de Las Flechas
• Iruya (315 km) - Salinas Grandes (73 km from San Antonio de Los Cobres by provincial route 38)
• Valles Calchaquíes
• Train to the Clouds
• Cabra Corral reservoir (84 km) and Embalse El Tunal (184 km)
• Cuesta del Obispo - Cachi (157 km) - Los Cardones National Park (122 km)
• Molinos (206 km) - Valle de Las Cuevas - Laguna de Brealito
• Ruins of Tastil (106 km), San Antonio de los Cobres (160 km) and Viaducto La Polvorilla (20 km from San Antonio de los Cobres)
• Thermal Baths of Rosario de la Frontera (174 km)
• The Caldera (22 km - to Jujuy by way of ledge crosses the Yungas-)- Embalse Campo Alegre (5 km from La Caldera)
• El Rey National Park (190 km)
• Baritú National Park (220 km)

Iruya, important tourist center.

Way to Cachi

Salta Wine Route

Infrastructure

Public services

Electricity

The electrical service has been in charge of the distribution company EDESA since 1996, a company belonging to the DESA Group (Desarrolladora Energética S.A.), whose CEO and president is the businessman Rogelio Pagano. Due to the geography of the province, there are scattered rural areas to which EDESA's energy systems do not have access. This is why ESED S.A. was created. – Empresa de Sistemas Eléctricos Dispersos- concessionary company controlled by EDESA, in charge of providing this new public service, exclusively, to all the inhabitants of Salta who request it.

Transportation

Terrestrial

National Route 40 runs west of the province.

Given the province's exceptional location as an international connection point, the routes that run through its territory are heavily traveled by vehicles of various nationalities.

The province is linked to the rest of the country by several routes. National Route 9 and National Route 34 head south towards the large cities of the Pampas, and to the north towards Jujuy and Bolivia. National Route 50, meanwhile, links the city of Orán with the Bolivian town of Bermejo. To the east, National Route 16 and National Route 81 join Salta with Chaco and Formosa respectively. To the west, National Route 51 goes to San Antonio de los Cobres, and connects, in Chilean territory, with the CH23 highway that reaches the city of Antofagasta, on the Pacific coast.

In the interior of the province, National Route 68 connects the city of Salta with the town of Cafayate. The famous National Route 40, "the longest route in the country", runs through the western part of the province, from the Department of Los Andes, bordering Jujuy, to the Department of Cafayate, bordering with Tucumán, which reaches its highest point in the Abra del Acay (at km 4601): 5061 m s. no. m. (16,604 feet), at geographic coordinates: 24°26′S 66°14′W / -24.433, -66.233.

Railway

The Train to the clouds, which circulates through the peaks of the Andes Mountain Range showing stunning landscapes, reaches in its route a height of 4,200 m n. m., which makes it one of the highest trains in the world.

Viaducto La Polvorilla, end point of the Train to the clouds in the railway line that joins Salta with the Chilean city of Antofagasta.

The General Belgrano Railway connects Salta with the entire north of Argentina and with neighboring countries.

The La Polvorilla Viaduct bridge is a steel beam structure 222.4 m long, with an average height of 70 m above the ground and weighing 1,600 tons, on land located at 4,200 m a.s.l. no. m. —thus constituting one of the highest bridges and railway sections in the world with respect to sea level. Since its inauguration around 1930, it was considered a monumental engineering work, becoming a tourist attraction. In the 1970s, the company Ferrocarriles Argentinos devised a tourist passenger service, the Train to the Clouds, with a terminus just beyond La Polvorilla.

Many passenger trains that linked Salta Capital with Antofagasta passed through this bridge, such as the express 1721 - 1722 of the company Ferrocarriles Argentinos. This service stopped running definitively in August 1977; From that date, only freight trains with 4 Materfer cars at the end of the train known as the Mixed ran. El Mixto stopped running together due to lack of funds from the municipality of San Antonio de los Cobres in 2005.^{[citation required]}

Aerial

The Martín Miguel de Güemes airport, in the city of Salta, is the busiest in northern Argentina. Several airlines operate in it that connect Salta with Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza and Iguazú; with the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the Chilean port of Iquique, the city of Lima, Peru, with Asunción, the capital of Paraguay and with the City of São Paulo, Federative Republic of Brazil, providing these destinations, through the necessary connections, permanent air communication with the rest of the world. The cities of Orán, Gral. Mosconi and Cafayate also have airports and there are landing strips in Cachi, Rosario de la Frontera, Metán, Los Toldos, Rivadavia Banda Sur and Santa Victoria Este. The government of the Province maintains regular flights, of a sanitary nature, from the provincial capital to the most remote populations of the Salta territory and even due to the proximity of the province of Jujuy it is possible to use the airport Gobernador Horacio Guzmán International Airport to fly from and towards some areas of Salta, including the departments of Iruya, Rivadavia, General San Martin, Santa Victoria and a good part of the department of Orán.^{[citation required]}

Provincial Symbols

Flag

Flag of the Province of Salta

Through Law No. 6946, the Flag of Salta was adopted as a provincial symbol in 1996, after the contest that was called for its design and which was won by the 7th “A” students of the Nicolás Avellaneda school. On the flag, observe the color of the traditional poncho from Salta (similar to that of the Infernales led by Martín Miguel de Güemes) and the 23 departments are represented by golden stars like those of the gaucho spurs called Nazarenas that surround the shield of the province.

Shield

Escudo de la Provincia de Salta

The Coat of Arms of the Province of Salta is an oval-shaped image, following the general shape of the national coat of arms, with a star and a sun in the center. The shield is designed on three basic concepts: the Güemesian ideal, the struggle of the men and women who gave their lives for the independence of Argentina and the identity of Salta.

The Province of Salta has used various shields throughout its history, until adopting the definitive shield in 1946 by Law No. 749.

Anthem

Gloria a Salta is officially the Anthem of the Province of Salta, Argentina. Its intonation is mandatory in all schools dependent on the provincial government and in all official acts after the Argentine National Anthem. The lyrics were composed by Sara Solá de Castellanos and the music by Amy Paterson.

Popularly, the zamba La López Pereyra is reconsidered the anthem of the Province. The music was composed in 1901 by Artidorio Cresseri and the lyrics by Juan Francia, René Ruiz, Arturo Gambolini, José Gambolini, Carlos López Pereyra and Artidorio Cresseri.

Geographic location

Northwest: Chile / Bolivia / Jujuy	North: Bolivia / Paraguay / Jujuy	Northeast: Paraguay / Formosa
West: Chile / Catamarca / Jujuy		This: Formosa / Chaco / Santiago del Estero
Southwest: Chile / Catamarca	South: Catamarca / Tucumán / Santiago del Estero	Sureste: Chaco / Santiago del Estero