Santiago del Estero

Birding Santiago del Estero

Santiago del Estero is a province of Argentina, located in the north of the country. Neighbouring provinces are from the north clockwise Salta, Chaco, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Catamarca and Tucumán.

The province is located almost completely in the flat lands of the Gran Chaco, with some depressions. In these depressions lagoons have formed, mainly at Bañado de Figueroa, Bañado de Añatuya, and those near the basin of the Salado and Dulce Rivers. The Sumampa and Ambargasta sierras are the result of the influence of the Pampas at the southwest.

The soil, rich in lime and salt, is arid and characterised by semi-deserts and steppes. The predominant weather is sub-tropical with a dry season and high temperatures during the entire year; the annual average is 21.5°C, has incrased to 24° in recent years, with maximum of up to 50°C. Surprisingly, the maximum was of 38°C before 1910; and minimum of -5°C, which has increased to -2°C. The dry season, during the winter, receives an average of 120 mm of precipitation, but the annual average is 700 mm.

Santiago del Estero had long been very rural and fairly agricultural (known for its excellent cotton and tobacco, as well as leather) and nearly lacking in manufacturing.

The economy of the province still leans toward primary production, specially in agriculture, about 12% of the province’s output. Centred on the basins of the Salado and Dulce Rivers, the main crops include cotton (20% of the national production), soybean, maize and onion.Cattle farming is also important, mainly in the east, where weather conditions make it possible, but goats, with 15% of the national production, adapt better to the rest of the province.

The wood industry of quebracho and algarrobo has also added implanted species totaling an annual average of over 300 thousand tons, of which around 100 thousand tons are used for timber and the rest for firewood and vegetal coal.There is little mining but in the salt flats in the southwest. Manufacturing (less than 10% of output) consisits of small industrial enterprises centred mainly on food, textiles and leather.