Puerto Iguazú
| Puerto Iguazú | |
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Avenida Aguirre, one of the main avenues in Puerto Iguazú
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 Puerto Iguazú
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| Coordinates: 25°36′S 54°34′W / 25.600°S 54.567°WCoordinates: 25°36′S 54°34′W / 25.600°S 54.567°W | |
| Elevation | 162 m (531 ft) |
| Population (2010 census [INDEC]) | |
| • Total | 82,227 |
| Website | http://www.iguazu.gov.ar/ (Spanish) |
Puerto Iguazú is a border city in the province of Misiones, Argentina. With a population of 82,227 (2010 census [INDEC]), it is the fourth largest city in the Province, after Posadas, Oberá, and Eldorado.
The world-renowned Iguazú Falls are only 18 kilometres (11 mi) away from the city, and as a result the city has developed much of its infrastructure around tourism.
Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca became, in 1542, the first European to discover what are now called Iguazú Falls. He was drawn by the noise of the water, which can be heard at a distance of several kilometers. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, the Guaraní people were the principal inhabitants of the area.
Despite its early exploration, the area remained occupied only by the Guaraní Indians until 1880. Corrientes Province, which at that time included what is now Misiones, sold 50 square leagues (13,000 square kilometres (5,000 sq mi)) at the current site of Puerto Iguazú near the falls in 1881. The land changed hands three times in the course of just two years, and ended up as the property of Gregorio Lezama. At that time Misiones separated from Corrientes. Lezama funded a scientific expedition to explore the territory, enlisting Carlos Bosetti and Jordan Hummel for that purpose. Those two explorers later organized the first tourist trip to the falls; Lezama sold the land in 1888 to Martín Errecaborde and Company.
Territorial Governor Rudecindo Roca established Iguazú Department, one of 5 initial subdivisions in Misiones, in 1882. A Justice of the Peace, Alberto Mujica, was assigned to the area in 1897. The firm of Gibaja y Núñez opened the town's first hotel at this time to serve the growing numbers of tourists visiting Iguazú Falls. One of these, Victoria Aguirre, funded the first road into the town in 1901 as well as other civic improvements, and it was in her honor that on September 10, 1902, the settlement was formally established as Puerto Aguirre. A police department (1913), a civil registrar (1916), and a post office (1928) followed.
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Wikipedia