Entre Rios

Entre Rios (Span. “between rivers”), a province of the eastern Argentine Republic, forming the southern part of a region sometimes described as the Argentine Mesopotamia, bounded N. by Corrientes, E. by Uruguay with the Uruguay river as the boundary line, S. by Buenos Aires and W. by Santa Fé, the Paraná river forming the boundary line with these two provinces. Pop. (1895) 292,019; (1905, est.) 376,600. The province has an area of 28,784 sq. m., consisting for the most part of an undulating, well-watered and partly-wooded plain, terminating in a low, swampy district of limited extent in the angle between the two great rivers. The great forest of Monteil occupies an extensive region in the N., estimated at nearly one-fifth the area of the province. Its soil is exceptionally fertile and its climate is mild and healthy. The province is sometimes called the “garden of Argentina,” which would probably be sufficiently correct had its population devoted as much energy to agriculture as they have to political conflict and civil war. Its principal industry is that of stock-raising, exporting live cattle, horses, hides, jerked beef, tinned and salted meats, beef extract, mutton and wool. Its agricultural products are also important, including wheat, Indian corn, barley and fruits. Lime, gypsum and firewood are also profitable items in its export trade. The Paraná and Uruguay rivers provide exceptional facilities for the shipment of produce and the Entre Rios railways, consisting of a trunk line running E. and W. across the province from Paraná to Concepción del Uruguay and several tributary branches, afford ample transportation facilities to the ports. Another railway line follows the Uruguay from Concordia northward into Corrientes. Entre Rios has been one of the most turbulent of the Argentine provinces, and has suffered severely from political disorder and civil war. Comparative quiet reigned from 1842 to 1870 under the autocratic rule of Gen. J.J. Urquiza. After his assassination in 1870 these partizan conflicts were renewed for two or three years, and then the province settled down to a life of comparative peace, followed by an extraordinary development in her pastoral and agricultural industries. Among these is the slaughtering and packing of beef, the exportation of which has reached large proportions. The capital is Paraná, though the seat of government was originally located at Concepción del Uruguay, and was again transferred to that town during Urquiza’s domination. Concepción del Uruguay, or Concepción (founded 1778), is a flourishing town and port on the Uruguay, connected by railway with an extensive producing region which gives it an important export trade, and is the seat of a national college and normal school. Its population was estimated at 9000 in 1905. Other large towns are Gualeguay and Gualeguaychú.