Formosa Province

The name of the city (and the province) comes from the archaic Spanish word fermosa (currently hermosa) meaning "beautiful". The name Vuelta Fermosa or Vuelta la Formosa was used by Spanish sailors in the 16th century to describe the area where the Paraguay River makes a turn, right in front of the actual city. These sailors were searching for the legendary Sierra del Plata.[3]

Commander Luis Jorge Fontana, founder of the city of Formosa and the territory's foremost early promoter.

Native inhabitants of these lands include the Pilagás, Wichis and Tobas, whose languages are still spoken in the province.

Sebastián Gaboto and Diego García first explored the area at the beginning of the 16th century trying to find a route from Viceroyalty of Peru to Asunción. Because the rivers Pilcomayo and Bermejo are so shallow, the attempts to set a route towards Asunción was abandoned.

The area's first European settlement, Concepción del Bermejo, was established in 1585. Following the establishment of Argentine and Paraguayan independence in the 1810s, the area fell under dispute between the two nations, a matter not settled until after the War of the Triple Alliance (1865–70). Commander Luis Jorge Fontana founded the settlement of Formosa in 1879, bringing the remote area into national attention and helping to secure a territorial status in 1884.

Formosa had less than 20,000 inhabitants in 1914; but in 1955, when it acquired the status of Province by decree of President Juan Domingo Perón, it had already more than 150,000. Following the Rincón Bomba massacre by white locals of nomadic Amerindians in 1947, President Perón initiated a program of land reform in the province; the program, by the time of his 1955 overthrow, had issued only around 4,000 land grants, however.[4] Continuing to grow slowly, though relatively steadily, the Formosa campus of the National University of the Northeast was established as the National University of Formosa in 1988.

The Port of Formosa along the Paraguay River.

Remote and saddled by its inhospitable geography and climate, Formosa's economy has long been one of Argentina's poorest. Its economy in 2006 was estimated at US$2.082 billion, or, US$4,278 per capita.[5] Its economy is the third smallest and second least developed in Argentina yet has shared in Argentina's recovery since 2002 very well.[6]

Poorly industrialized, Formosa's economy is based on cattle and agricultural activities like cotton and fruit cultivation, these mostly centered in the Patino, Pilagás and Pilcomayo departments.

Cattle in Formosa exceed 1.5 million head and ranching has long been the agricultural mainstay of the province. Like elsewhere in Argentina, agriculture has long since been overtaken by other activities and amounts to about 10% of Formosa's output (somewhat more than average).

Cotton cultivation passed from over 100,000 tons at the end of the 1970s to 10,000 at the end of the 1990s because of the drop of the international price, and the fixed exchange rate. After the 2001 crisis production slightly revived to 50,000 tons a year in 2004. More than 70% of area sown with cotton belongs to small family-run farms of less than 10 hectares.

Freight rail station in the city of Formosa.

Cotton represents half of the agricultural wealth of the province followed by soybean (25,000 tons a year) and maize (55,000 tons), who have experienced a less dramatic invigoration after the 2001 crisis.

The production of bananas, mainly for domestic consumption, has a steady annual growing of 70,000 tons average. Citrus and juice production for exportation, specially grapefruit, is growing rapidly, with 1,200 planted hectares and an annual production of around 15,000 tons.

Others; honey (273 tons) and derivatives, timber-wood (140,000 tons) and textile industry (cotton, leather).

Tourist infrastructure is barely developed. Sites of interest include the city of Formosa, the Río Pilcomayo National Park, Bañado La Estrella, Laguna Yema, Herradura town, and Misión Laishí.

The provincial government is divided into the usual three branches: the executive, headed by a popularly elected governor, who appoint the cabinet; the legislative; and the judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court.

The Constitution of Formosa Province forms the formal law of the province.

In Argentina, the most important law enforcement organization is the Argentine Federal Police but the additional work is carried out by the Formosa Provincial Police.

The province is divided into nine departments:

City of Formosa

Yacaré alligator on the Pilcomayo River.

Department (Capital)

• Provinces of Argentina
• Río Pilcomayo National Park

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Formosa Province.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Formosa (Argentine).

• Provincial government (Spanish)
• One-page info: economic info, with a map (can be enlarged)
• Tourist Office (Spanish)
• Encyclopedia Libre article (Spanish only)
• Provincial portal (Spanish only)