La Calera (Cordoba)
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| Basic data | |||
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| location | 31 ° 24 ′ S , 64 ° 28 ′ W | ||
| Height above d. M .: | 469 m | ||
| Population (2001): | 24,796 | ||
| Agglomeration : | Gran Cordoba | ||
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| administration | |||
| Province : |
 Cordoba
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| Department : | Colón | ||
| Mayor: | Aldo Otoniel Pereyra, UpC | ||
| Others | |||
| Postal code : | X5151 | ||
| Telephone code: | 03543 | ||
La Calera is a city in central Argentina , located in the province of Córdoba , about 15 km west of the provincial capital Córdoba in the so-called Sierras-Chicas district.
La Calera is the largest town in this area with an estimated 35,000 inhabitants; the population of the 2001 census (24,796 inhabitants) is already far exceeded because of the high population growth.
Location and geography
The city is located on the eastern edge of the Sierra Chica on the Río Suquía . The river breaks out of a ravine at this point and turns north into a hilly landscape. There it is dammed by the small Mal Paso reservoir.
The built-up area follows the course of the river from the end of the gorge to Saldán in the north and extends east to the border with Córdoba. It is divided into the actual La Calera in the south and the district of Dumesnil in the north on the Mal Paso reservoir. Adjacent municipalities are Saldán in the north, Córdoba in the east, Malagueño in the south and San Roque and Cosquín in the west .
history
La Calera was founded as early as the 17th century when the exploitation of quarries in the Sierra Chica began to build the fast growing city of Cordoba. The ruins of the Jesuit church from the 18th century are the oldest surviving structure in the city. In 1871 the province's first tourist hotel was built in La Calera, which soon developed into a prosperous tourist center. From the 1970s, however, the city's profile tipped: Instead of tourists, it was mainly workers from Córdoba who settled in the city. Since around 1990, La Calera has grown together with the northwestern districts of Córdoba, also with the northern neighboring town of Saldán , with which La Calera forms a communal community, and the Villa El Diquecito district in a side valley . Today tourism no longer plays an essential role.
population
The city's population consists largely of city refugees from nearby Córdoba. While mainly people from the lower social classes live in the central and western part of La Calera, more and more country clubs are being set up in the north-eastern part, which are attracting very wealthy new residents. Thus, the city is characterized by a very large gap between rich and poor, only a few residents belong to the middle class.
Since the 1980s, the city has had a very high population growth (1991-2001 according to the statistics office INDEC an average of six percent per year, six times the average population growth in Argentina). This leads to high construction activity and rapid urbanization of previously uninhabited or sparsely populated areas.
In the south of the urban area there is a large empty space that originally belonged to the armed forces and was converted into a nature reserve in 2010 to prevent further development.
Economy and social situation
The economy is shaped by the quarries in the Sierra Chica and the service sector. The latter includes an above-average number of nightlife establishments, especially discos and nightclubs , but also a few hour hotels . Most of the population is employed in Córdoba, so La Calera can be described as a typical dormitory town .
La Calera is the poorest of the cities in the Sierras-Chicas district (the northwest arm of the Córdoba metropolitan area) and has high unemployment . The population growth leads to infrastructure problems in many places (e.g. only 30 police officers came to the whole city in 2006) and to the formation of small villas miserias (slums), some of which are hidden in mountain valleys.
traffic
La Calera is located at the intersection of two busy roads: the E-55, which leads from Córdoba to Bialet Massé in the Punilla Valley, and the E-57, which leads from the Cordoba - Villa Carlos Paz motorway in the Punilla Valley to Villa Allende .
La Calera is directly connected to Córdoba, Villa Allende and almost all villages in the Valle de Punilla by bus. There are also some city bus routes.
La Calera has two train stations - one in the center and one in Dumesnil. It is on the Córdoba – Cruz del Eje railway line , which was built in 1893, closed in 1980 and reopened in 1993 when Tren de las Sierras was opened; In 2001, however, the company was suspended again. In August 2007, operations to Cordoba were resumed and in 2008 it was released westwards to Cosquín . After the damaged sections of the route have been repaired, the new line will return to Cruz del Eje in stages .
credentials
- ↑ Córdoba sumó 15 mil hectáreas protegidas , Lavoz.com.ar , January 3, 2010
- ↑ Article ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in La Voz del Interior
Web links
- Statistical information at IFAM (Spanish)