Cordoba is a millionaire city, one of the oldest settlements in Argentina. It is the administrative center of the province of the same name. A favorable climate contributes to the development of agriculture - one of the main sources of income for the region. Mechanical engineering is well developed: automobiles, military equipment, components and assemblies for aviation and spacecraft are manufactured here.
Description
Cordoba in Argentina is the second most populated and first-largest city in the country - 576 km 2 . For comparison, the capital of Buenos Aires within the official borders (excluding suburbs and satellite cities) covers an area of 202 km 2 . About 1.3 million people live in Cordoba; the agglomeration is close to two million. It is an important cultural, economic, educational, financial and entertainment center.
Cordoba, despite its 400-year history, is a modern millionaire city. It has a layout in the form of a square (divided into quarters), each side of which is 24 km long. The landscape is dominated by high-rise buildings and green areas. The average height of buildings is 11-16 floors. In the Nueva Cordoba area, the 37-story skyscraper Radisson Capitalina rises. Meanwhile, slums occupy large areas. A serious problem is the underdevelopment of communication systems. Only half of the inhabitants have access to the benefits of civilization in the form of a central sewage system and water supply system.
Location
The city of Cordoba is located in the heart of the country, on the outskirts of the Pampas - a vast plain in South America. From the west, spurs of the Sierra Pampa mountains approach residential quarters. The metropolis is dissected by the Sukiya River into two parts: the smaller southern and the larger northern. They are connected by 30 bridges. The terrain is hilly, rugged by ravines and sediments formed during the floods.
The main ones are Dean Funes and San Martin Avenues. They intersect in the center at a right angle in the west / east and north / south directions, respectively. Smaller streets leave from them. The layout is dominated by rectangular shapes.
Cordoba "communicates" with other cities through road, rail and air transport. To Rosario along the highway 400 km, Mendoza - 600 km, Buenos Aires - 700 km.
Early story
In the pre-Columbian era, on the territory of Cordoba in Argentina, there were tribes of the Native American Comechions. They differed from their neighbors in the habit of growing beards, lighter skin, high growth and eye color: from brown to green. Their development level was also much higher. They were engaged in organized cattle breeding and farming. These circumstances suggest that once the local tribes were in contact with the inhabitants of Northwest Europe.
After the Spanish conquest of America, the life of the region has changed dramatically. The Inca Empire has fallen. Viceroy of Peru, Francisco de Toledo, appointed monarch of Spain, instructed a military unit to establish a fortified settlement on the banks of the Succia River. Soldiers under the command of conquistador Jeronimo Luis de Cabrera on July 6, 1573 built a small fort.
Locals did not accept strangers, resulting in clashes. Four years of continuous conflict forced the Spaniards to move the settlement to a more convenient place for protection. Cordoba is standing on it today. Argentina was gradually settled by white settlers. The largest diaspora in the city are migrants from Spain and Italy.
Subsequent development
Fertile land and a warm climate contributed to population growth. By the end of the XVI century it was already a large settlement. In 1599, the Jesuits arrived here, who 14 years later founded the National University - the oldest in Argentina. By 1760, the number of inhabitants exceeded 20 thousand.
The French Revolution led to the national upsurge of the inhabitants of the American colonies. The former provinces of Spain have raised the struggle for independence from the mother country. Rio de la Plata was no exception. However, the administration of Cordoba remained faithful to the crown, openly opposing the revolutionaries. However, the victory was for the supporters of independent politics. In 1816, Argentina was formed, and Cordoba became part of it.
Economy
The province of Cordoba is traditionally known as a major producer of grain and vegetable crops, a center of meat and dairy farming. Significant volumes of products are exported abroad. 29% of the land is reserved for orchards, fruit and potato cultivation.
In the middle of the 20th century, the structure of the economy changed dramatically. Thanks to the activities of the country's oldest university in the city, a professional staff of specialists in the field of mechanical engineering has been trained. This made it possible to establish the production of high-tech products, including the aerospace industry. A large automotive cluster has been formed in Cordoba: there are factories of Renault, Fiat, Iveco, Materfer, Volkswagen, which produce a quarter of passenger cars in the country.
Cordoba Attractions
Argentina cannot be called a tourist country, but there is something to see here. The city is an alloy of modern architecture and historic buildings, carefully preserved by the townspeople. The city center is built up with skyscrapers, of which there are more than a hundred.
A number of buildings of the colonial era are of cultural and historical value, for example:
- Unesco World Heritage Site Manzana Jesuitica.
- Former headquarters of the National University. Now a museum and city library.
- Church of the Society of Jesus.
- National School of Montserrat.
- National Academy of Science.
- School of Jeronimo Luis de Cabrera.
- Museum of Religious Art of Juan de Tejeda.
- Theater del Libertador.
The cultural, entertainment and business heart of the area is Nueva Cordoba. It was designed by Jose Ignacio Diaz in the Cordobesa corporate identity. The architectural dominance is the multi-storey buildings "a la 1970s", built of brick of various reddish shades.