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Salta, Argentina (Capital)

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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Salta, Argentina (Province)

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A city of Argentina, capital of a province of the same name, and see of a bishopric, on a small tributary (the Arias) of the Pasage, or Juramento, 976 m. by rail N.N.W. of Buenos Aires. Pop. (1904, estimated) 18,000. Salta is built on an open plain 3560 ft. above the sea, nearly enclosed with mountains. The climate is warm and changeable, malarial in summer. The city is laid out regularly, with broad, paved streets and several parks. Some of the more important public buildings face on the plaza mayor. There are no manufactures of importance. Salta was once largely interested in the Bolivian trade, and is still a chief distributing centre for the settlements of the Andean plateau. Near the city is the battlefield where General Belgrano won the first victory from the Spanish forces (1812) in the War of Independence. There is a large mestizo element in the population, and the Spanish element still retains many of the characteristics of its colonial ancestors. In Salta Spanish is still spoken with the long-drawn intonations and melodious "11" of southern Spain.

Salta was founded in 1582 by Governor Abreu under the title of San Clemente de Nueva Sevilla, but the site was changed two years later and the new settlement was called San Felipe de Lerma. In the 17th century the name Salta came into vogue.