San Luis Province

San Luis

Basic data
( Details )	( Details )
Capital:	San Luis
Surface:  - Total  share in Argentina	Rank 18 of 24 76,748 km² 2.77%
Population :  - Total 2010  - density	Rank 19 of 24 432,310 inhabitants 5.6 inhabitants / km²
ISO 3166-2 code:	AR-D
politics
Region :	Region del Nuevo Cuyo
Structure:	9 departments
Gobernador:	Alberto Rodríguez Saá
Website of the province of San Luis

San Luis is a province in western central Argentina .

Physical geography

The province borders on the following neighboring provinces: in the north on La Rioja , in the east on Córdoba , in the south on La Pampa and in the west on Mendoza and San Juan .

The entire northern half of the province is traversed by low mountain ranges, the largest being the Sierra de San Luis and the Sierra de los Comechingones , which form the border with the neighboring province of Cordoba. The southern half of the province is almost completely flat, where the landscape of the dry pampas and the Monte dominates .

The largest rivers are the Río Quinto , which rises in the Sierra de San Luis and flows through the central eastern part of the province towards Córdoba, and the Río Salado del Oeste (also Río Desaguadero ), which marks the western border with Mendoza and San Juan. Both are not navigable.

The climate is dry and temperate; Rain rarely falls (560 mm annually).

population

The largest part of the population lives on the important east-west connection of the national road Ruta Nacional 7 , on which the two largest cities, San Luis (170,000 inhabitants) and Villa Mercedes (110,000 inhabitants), which together make up two thirds of the provincial population, are located turn off. Almost the entire remaining part of the population lives in the Sierras de San Luis, while the southern part is almost uninhabited.

As in many provinces of Argentina, most of the residents are descendants of Spaniards and Italians. But there is also a large proportion of mestizos . Internal migration as a result of the rapid industrialization of the province led to high population growth after 1982.

politics

The Saá family (later Rodríguez Saá) has played a major role in provincial politics since 1860 and today dominates the provincial association of the Peronist Party (Partido Justicialista), which sees itself as a countercurrent to the Frente para la Victoria , which is dominated by Cristina Kirchner . From 1983 two brothers of the family ruled the province: Adolfo Rodríguez Saá , who in 2001 became president of Argentina for just seven days after Fernando de la Rúa's resignation , handed over the mandate to Alberto Rodríguez Saá in 2002 .

Opponents of the Saá family accuse it of corruption and nepotism. Adolfo Rodríguez Saá is ascribed the quote “Para gobernar una provincia durante más de 40 años, hay que hacerlo con la familia y los amigos”, which translates as “To rule a province for 40 years, you have to do it with family and friends to do "means. In 2003, following popular protests following a controversial opposition election victory in the capital San Luis, a counter-mayor loyal to the Saá family was proclaimed. This irregular situation, which resulted in a legal battle before the Supreme Court, only finally ended in 2007, when a candidate loyal to Saá won the mayoral elections.

Administrative division

Administrative Division of the Province of San Luis

The province of San Luis is divided into nine departments. These are subdivided into municipalities (municipios), the respective borders of which often do not come up against the borders of the neighboring municipality, since the municipality territory only includes the populated centers. Therefore, there are territories that are not subject to any municipal administration (system of non-contiguous municipal territory).

The provincial constitution recognizes the independence of the municipalities.

The departments of the province of San Luis and their capitals are:

Department	Capital	Area in km²	Residents
Ayacucho	San Francisco del Monte de Oro	09,681	019,087
Belgrano	Villa General Roca	06,626	003,985
Chacabuco	Concarán	02,651	020,744
Coronel Pringles	La Toma	04,484	013,157
General Pedernera	Villa Mercedes	15,057	125,899
Gobernador Dupuy	Buena Esperanza	19,632	011,779
Juan Martín de Pueyrredón	San Luis	13,120	204.019
Junín	Santa Rosa de Conlara	02,476	028,933
Libertador General San Martín	San Martín	03,021	004,707

economy

The province was dominated by agriculture until the 1980s and was one of the poorest areas in the country. As a result of the Régimen de Promoción Industrial , which from 1979 onwards declared the structurally weak provinces of San Luis, La Rioja , San Juan and Catamarca to be special economic zones and exempted them from some federal taxes, industry quickly settled in San Luis and Villa Mercedes. As a result, the standard of living in the province rose. Today San Luis is a comparatively rich province. The regulation that declared San Luis a special economic zone expired at the end of 2012.

tourism

The province is known for its very pristine, sparsely populated mountain landscapes. The main tourist center is the small town of Merlo with 10,000 inhabitants in the northeast of the province, which is located on the slopes of the Sierras de los Comechingones and is known for its particularly oxygen-rich microclimate. Other tourist centers are the Potrero de los Funes reservoir near San Luis and the mountain village of El Trapiche in the middle of the Sierra de San Luis.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pablo Rodriguez Leirad: El eterno feudo. (No longer available online.) Sitio Al Margen, archived from the original on March 3, 2009 ; Retrieved March 14, 2009 . 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.  
2. ↑ Alicia Lemme ganó las elecciones para intendente en San Luis , 26noticias.com.ar
3. ↑ El 2013 arrancará sin régimen de promoción industrial para varias provincias , IProfesional, December 3, 2012
4. ↑ Las provincias del noroeste divididas ante el fin de la promoción industrial, , Infobae, January 2, 2013

Coordinates: 34 ° 0 ′  S , 66 ° 0 ′  W