Page:1902 Encyclopædia Britannica - Volume 25 - A-AUS.pdf/666

 612

ARGENTINE I. Geography and Statistics THE only considerable portion of the Argentine inland frontier which has not been in dispute in recent years is that formed by the lower waters of the river Uruguay, separating it from the Uruguayan Kepublic and Bound- tjie southern portion of Brazil. In accordance ar!es ' with a treaty of 1889 between the Argentine Republic and Brazil, and the arbitration award made by President Cleveland of the United States in 1894, the boundary line leaves the Uruguay river at its confluence with the Pequiry, and after ascending this stream northwards passes in a straight line to the source of the San Antonio, which it descends to its confluence with the Iguassu, and thence to the confluence of the Iguassu and Parana. From this point the Argentine and Paraguayan Republics are conterminous. The boundary, by treaty of 3rd February 1876, follows the course of the Parana to its junction with the Paraguay, which it ascends as far as the mouth of the Pilcomayo river. Formerly the Argentine Republic claimed territory north of the Pilcomayo, while the Paraguayan Republic asserted that the Bermejo was the boundary river; but by the treaty of 18/6 and the arbitration award of President Hayes of the United States, given on 13th November 1878, the frontier line ascends the Pilcomayo as far as the frontier of Bolivia. The Argentine-Bolivian boundary (demarcated in accordance with the treaty of 1889) starts from the point where the Pilcomayo cuts the parallel of 22 S. lat., and runs due west to the Tarija, which it descends to the Juntas de San Antonio, whence it ascends the Bermejo. Leaving this river it proceeds to the Quiaca ravine, and thence to a point on the San Juan river opposite Esmoraca. After ascending the San Juan, it runs. to the Oerro de Granados, to Incahuasi, and to Sapalegui on the Chilian frontier. The Argentine-Chilian frontier is still, for the most part, undetermined. On 17th April 1896 an agreement was signed providing for its delimitation as far south as the parallel of 52° S. lat., “the crests of the Andes that form the watershed ” being stated as defining the boundary line. From 23 to 26 52 45 S. lat. the demarcation has been carried out, but in its continuation southwards disputes arose which were referred for arbitration to the British Government. At a point in 52 S. lat. the boundary (in accordance with a treaty with Chile, made in 1881) runs eastwards till it reaches the meridian of 70° W. long., and then south-eastwards to Cape Dungeness, at the eastern entrance of the Strait of Magellan. On the opposite side of the strait, which, by the treaty, is neutralized and free to the ships of all nations, the boundary lies in the meridian of 68° 34' W. long, from Cape Espiritu Santo to Beagle Channel, and then follows the channel to the Atlantic. The portion of Tierra del Fuego, and some small islands, including Staten Island, lying to the east of this line, belong to the Argentine Republic; the land and islands to the west and south belong to Chile. Climate.—In the riparian provinces of Buenos Ayres and Santa Fe there are great areas of almost flat land, which consists of deep, rich loam formed from the alluvial deposits of the Rio de La Plata and the Rio Parana, and which for stock-breeding and agricultural purposes cannot be surpassed. A temperate climate is not the least of the many advantages this section of the country can claim, for an average rainfall of some 34 inches provides abundant moisture for vegetation, and the many days of bright sunshine ensure the ripening of the cereal crops. The southern portion of the province of Cordova, closely resembling the provinces of Buenos Ayres and Santa Fe, likewise contains large areas of arable

REPUBLIC. land. These three provinces have other important features. In the south of Buenos Ayres is the Sierra Yentana, an extensive mountain range ; the north-east of Santa Fe contains much valuable timber; in the northern and eastern sections of Cordova are great mountainous areas, the mineral wealth of which was worked by the early Spanish settlers. The climate of the Andean provinces of Mendoza and San Juan is eminently suitable for the cultivation of the vine. The valleys of the Andes open out at Mendoza into plains requiring only irrigation to produce abundant vegetation; the rivers, supplied by the melting snows at the higher elevations, provide the necessary water, and every year the area of cultivation increases. On these plains there is a rainfall of only six inches annually, snow rarely falls, and frosts are never severe. To the north of San Juan are the provinces of La Rioja and Catamarca, mountainous and heavily wooded, and intersected

Map of the Argentine Republic. with well-watered, fertile valleys. Between Cordova and Tucuman are great saline plains covered with a white alkaline crust, which glitters in the sunlight like an inland sea. At Tucuman tropical vegetation appears, although frosts occur regularly in winter, not however of sufficient severity to prevent the growth of the sugarcane. Salta and Jujuy, situated farther north amongst the wooded spurs of the lower Andean ranges, possess a climate tropical in the valleys, temperate on the higher plateau. To the north-east of Salta, and bordering on the republic of Bolivia, is the territory known as the Chaco, where the characteristic features are dense tropical forest interspersed with open, park-like grasslands. Still farther to the east, and adjoining Paraguay and Brazil is the territory of the Misiones, covered with tropical iunele and watered by the river Uruguay, which passes in enormous volume over the Iguassu Falls and ultimately forms, with the Rio Parana, the great estuary of the river Plate. The southern