A central province of the Argentine Republic, lying between lat. 29° and 34° 15' S., and lon. 61° and 66° 16' W., bounded S. by the Pampas; area, 60,000 sq. m.; pop. in 1869, 208,771. The E. and S. parts are barren and almost uninhabited, but the remainder is generally fertile. Near the W. border is the mountain range called the Sierra de Cordova, running N. W. and S. E. It separates into two branches and ramifies through the central parts of the province, but has no very lofty peaks, the highest, La Cuesta, rising about 2,500 ft. above the plain. Numerous rivers, the principal of which are the Primero, Segun-do, Tercero, Cuarto, and Quinto, descend from this chain, but the most of them are lost in the sandy plains. Only one, the Tercero, finds its way into the Parana, under the name of Car-carafia. The sierras abound in copper ore, but little has been done to develop the mines. Near the mountains the country is covered with dense forests, mostly of trees of the mimosa variety. The valleys are fertile, but the people are engaged generally in cattle and sheep raising, and pay little attention to agriculture. The plains, irrigated by the mountain streams, furnish abundant pasturage, and are frequented by vast herds of the guanaco.

Wheat and the sugar cane grow to perfection, but scarcely enough is raised for home consumption. Hides and wool, the latter of very superior quality, are almost the only exports. Besides Cordova, the capital, there are no towns of any consequence. II. The capital of the province, situated on the right bank of the river Primero, in lat. 31° 24' S., lon. 64° 9' W., 375 m. N. W. of Buenos Ayres, on a plain 1,240 ft. above the level of the Parana at Ro-sario; pop. in 1869, 28,523. It is laid out in straight, narrow streets, intersecting at right angles, forming squares of 150 yards each. The better houses are of stone, one story in height, and built around paved courts into which all the rooms open. The Alameda, a square of about 150 yards, has a miniature lake and fine trees. The principal public buildings are the cathedral, a handsome structure in the renaissance style, several other churches, three monasteries, and a nunnery; the university, occupying the buildings of the old Jesuit college, which was for more than a century the principal seat of learning in La Plata; the Argentine national observatory, not yet (1873) entirely completed, though in successful operation, under the charge of Mr. B. A. Gould; the cabildo or government house, an orphan asylum, and an infirmary.

The city, once the ecclesiastical metropolis of South America, still retains much of its former character, and the clergy and their connections form the most influential part of society. Its trade is important, as all the traffic of the W. and N. W. provinces passes through it to the east. The exports are chiefly hides and wool, and the imports manufactured goods. The city was founded in 1573 by Don Luis de Cabrera, with the design of opening a route from Peru to the Parana. It is now connected with the latter at Rosario by a railway, about 215 m. long.