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SAN JUAN

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 151 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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SAN

SAN JUAN , an Andine See also:

province of See also:

ARGENTINA

Argentina, bounded N. and E. by La See also:

RIOJA, LA

Rioja, S. by San Luis and See also:

Mendoza, and W. by See also:

CHILE, or CHILI (derived, it is said, from the Quichua chin , cold, or tchili, snow)

Chile, from which it is separated by the Andean Cordilleras. See also:

AREA

Area, 33,715 sq. m.; pop. (1904, estimate) 99,955• It is roughly mountainous, and belongs to the closed drainage See also:

basin of western Argentina, centring in the province of Mendoza. It is traversed by several See also:

rivers, fed by the melting snows of the See also:

ANDES

Andes and discharging into the swamps and lagoons in the S.E. See also:

PART

part of the province, the largest of which are the Huanacache lagoons. The largest of these rivers are the Vermejo, Zanj6n or Jachal and San Juan. They are all used for See also:

IRRIGATION (Lat. in, and rigare, to water or wet)

irrigation. The See also:

CLIMATE

climate is extremely hot and dry in summer, but the See also:

winter temperature is mild and pleasant. See also:

Agriculture is the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal occupation of its inhabitants, though the See also:

SOIL

soil is generally sterile and the rainfall uncertain and very See also:

LIGHT

light. Cereals are grown in some localities, and there are large vineyards where irrigation is possible, from which excellent See also:

WINE (Lat. vinum, Gr. oivos)

wine is made. The province contains See also:

gold, See also:

SILVER

silver, See also:

COPPER (symbol Cu, atomic weight 63.1, H=1, or 63.6, O = 16)

copper, See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron, See also:

lead, See also:

COAL

coal and See also:

salt, but See also:

MINING

mining has never been See also:

DEVELOPED

developed to any extent. See also:

PASTORAL (from Lat. pastor, a shepherd)

Pastoral interests are largely in feeding See also:

CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle for the Chilean markets, for which large areas of See also:

ALFALFA

alfalfa are grown in the irrigated valleys of the Andes. The See also:

ARGENTINE

Argentine See also:

GREAT

Great Western railway connects Mendoza with the See also:

capital of the province, and with the principal cities of the See also:

REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, a commonweal or common-wealth)

republic.

The capital of the province is SAN JUAN, once called SAN JUAN DE LA FRONTERA (pop. 1904, estimate, I1,500), in a great See also:

BEND

bend of the San Juan See also:

RIVER

river, 95 M. N. of Mendoza and 730 M. from Buenos Aires by See also:

RAIL

rail. The great bend of the river affords easy irrigation, and the surrounding See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country is covered by a network of irrigating canals, even the paved streets of the See also:

TOWN

town having streams of cool See also:

WATER

water See also:

RUNNING

running through them. The public buildings include a See also:

CATHEDRAL

cathedral, three churches, .and several See also:

SCHOOLS

schools, including the " Escuela Sarmiento, " a See also:

FINE

fine edifice with a See also:

Greek See also:

FACADE

facade, named after See also:

PRESIDENT (Fr. president, from Lat. praesidens, post-Augustan Lat. for praeses, director, ruler, from praesidere, to sit in front of, preside)

President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1811-1886), who was a native of this See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city. There is also a botanical See also:

GARDEN (from O. Fr. garden, mod. Fr. jardin; this, like our words " garth," a paddock attached to a building, and " yard," comes from a Teutonic word for an enclosure which appears in Gothic as gards and O. H. Ger. gart, cf. Dutch gaarde and Ger. .garten)

garden. San Juan was founded in 1561 by Juan Yufre, a See also:

COMPANION (through the O. Fr. compaignon or compagnon, from the Late Lat. companio,—cum, with, and panis, bread,—one who shares meals with another; the word has been wrongly derived from the Late Lat. compagnus, one of the same pages or district)

companion of See also:

CAPTAIN (derived from Lat. ca put, head, through the Low Lat. capitanus)

Captain See also:

CASTILLO

Castillo, the founder of Mendoza. Both came from Chile, to which these outlying colonies were at first subject. From 1776 to 1820 it was governed from Mendoza, and then a popular uprising made the province See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent and the town its capital. It has suffered severely from See also:

POLITICAL

political disorders, and in 1894 was nearly destroyed by an See also:

EARTHQUAKE

earthquake. The See also:

ORIGINAL

original See also:

settlement, now called See also:

PUEBLO

Pueblo Viejo, 4 M. N., was abandoned on See also:

account of frequent inundations.

The See also:

PRESENT

present town is situated about 2165 ft. above See also:

sea-level and is defended from inundations by an See also:

EMBANKMENT

embankment above the town, called the Murallon. San Juan exports wine, and has a profitable See also:

trade with Chile over the Patos and Uspallata passes.

End of Article: SAN JUAN

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