Industrial and commercial South America

by Annie S. Peck

There are plateaus in the north among the mountains, but the distinctive Plateau Region is in what used to be called Patagonia, a name not so much employed in Argentina as formerly. This section is arranged in terraces, falling from the Andes to the east, the western part called the Plateau, having an altitude of 2000-500 feet; near the sea it goes from the latter figure to sea level. The Plateau has many sterile plains, some strewn with boulders, others with dunes of sand; also good grazing and forest land, and some suitable for farming.

Lakes. The Andine lakes in the Patagonia section are of glacial origin, with much scenic beauty. One of these, Nahuel-Huapi, 40 miles long, is said to be 1000 feet deep. Lake Buenos Aires, partly in Chile, is 75 miles long. The lakes number more than 400; at the north are many swampy lagoons.

Plains

The plains, once under the sea, and now for the most part less than 500 feet above it with a very gradual rise from the ocean to the Andes, extend from the Pilcomayo River, the boundary line with Western Paraguay, on the north, to the Rio Negro on the south. The northern part belongs to the Gran Chaco, swampy and partly wooded, with so slight a southeastward slope that large spaces are regularly flooded in the rainy season. South of the Bermejo River which is parallel with the Pilcomayo, the land is higher, some of it 800 feet above the sea, and the forests are heavier; but there are still marshy lagoons. Then come open grassy plains with occasional salt pans. The section between the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers, called the Argentine Mesopotamia, in Corrientes at the north is of somewhat similar character, but has higher land in Entre Rios at the south. The remainder of the plain is the real Pampa, the part west of the Paraná River and below that extending to the ocean, mainly, treeless and grassy. It includes the Provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fé, Córdoba, San Luis, Mendoza, and the Territory Pampa Central. In the far west is a depressed region containing some lakes and swamps with no outlet, but with too little rain.

Rivers

The rivers of Argentina are of great importance, being navigable for immense distances. Chief among them are those of the System of La Plata, this river being formed by the union of the Paraná and the Uruguay: a great river indeed, the outflow of water being 80 per cent more than that of the Mississippi, and the drainage basin covering 1,500,000 square miles. The Paraguay, Pilcomayo, Bermejo, Salado del Norte, Iguassú, and many others belong to this basin. The Iguassú, though not navigable except for a mile from the Paraná, is world famed for its magnificent waterfall, surpassing Niagara in height, width, and most of the year in volume of water; while it is rendered altogether incomparable by the extraordinary beauty of its setting.

The Plata River, 250 miles long, is much like a gulf, having a width of over 100 miles at its mouth between Capes Santa Maria in Uruguay and San Antonio in the Province of Buenos Aires. The Paraná River with many tributaries has two principal sources well up in Brazil and a total length of 2600 miles, about one half in or on the border of Argentine territory. At first flowing south it turns west between Argentina and Paraguay, and after receiving the Paraguay River again flows south in Argentina. From January to September, nine months, it is open to trans-Atlantic steamers to Rosario; for 6000 ton vessels, 12 foot draft, to Paraná or Colastiné, the port of Santa Fé; for smaller steamers up the Alto Paraná nearly to the Falls of La Guayra, a little above the northeast extremity of Argentina. Steamers of 7 foot draft go up the Paraguay to Asunción and smaller steamers to Corumbá in Matto Grosso, Brazil, 2000 miles from Buenos Aires, and beyond to Cuyabá. Forty-two miles up stream from Buenos Aires is Ibicuy, a port where a steam ferry operates, carrying trains to and from Zarate on the Buenos Aires side.

A few small streams flow into lagoons with no outlet; a number in the Buenos Aires Province flow into the Atlantic. Farther south are rivers of more importance, among these the Rio Negro and the Colorado, the only ones of this section easily and regularly navigable.

Climate

The climate of Argentina naturally varies on account of its wide range of latitude, as well as from increasing altitude in the mountainous section. The prevailing winds, the mountain barriers, and the sea also modify the climate in restricted locations. The conditions of temperature and rainfall are different from those in the northern hemisphere. Thus Tierra del Fuego and the south main land are more habitable than corresponding latitudes in Labrador, partly by reason of a southern equatorial current; it is an excellent region for sheep raising. At the same time it is colder than at similar latitudes of Western Europe, as the prevailing west winds are chilled by the mountains.