Monteros is a town in

Tucumán Province Tucumán () is the most densely populated, and the second-smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the province has the capital of San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neigh ...

, Argentina, located south-west of the provincial capital

San Miguel de Tucumán San Miguel de Tucumán (; usually called simply Tucumán) is the capital and largest city of Tucumán Province, located in northern Argentina from Buenos Aires. It is the fifth-largest city of Argentina after Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Argentina, ...

, and which lies at an altitude of . It has 23,771 inhabitants according to the , and is the head town of the

Monteros Department Monteros Department is a department in Tucumán Province, Argentina. It has a population of 58,442 and an area of 1,169 km². The seat of the department is in Monteros. Municipalities and communes *Acheral * Amberes * Capitán Cáceres * El Ce ...

. Surrounded by four rivers, the average temperature is in summer and in winter with highs and lows of and .

History

Departamento Monteros (Tucumán - Argentina)

It was founded on August 28, 1754 when the military governor Don Felipe Antonio de Alurralde took possession of the local lands over an existing village on the site. Though Monteros had been known as a little village years before. Monteros eventually acquired the rank of

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

on December 12, 1867 with its first mayor Don Domingo Segundo Aráoz. It has been one of the most renowned and prosperous towns from southern Tucumán due to its cultural, educative and commercial life.

Toponymy

There have been several versions about the origin of the town's name. One version suggests that some inhabitants of the old

, which used to be on a place currently known as Ibatín, refused to move to the new location and declared in rebellion, taking refuge in the nearby hills. The name may have derived from "people of the ''hill''" (''Monte'' in Spanish). Another version says that the remaining inhabitants of the old

founded ''Monteros'' on October 4, 1865, naming it ''the Town of the Holy Rosary of Monteros''. There were three attempts to rename the town. In 1828 and 1832 Villa Belgrano was the name proposed, in honor of

Manuel Belgrano Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He ...

but it did not succeed. The strangest case was in 1932 when the then provincial governor,

Alejandro Heredia Alejandro Heredia (1788 – 12 November 1838) was an Argentine soldier and politician. He fought in the war of independence, and in the subsequent civil war. He was governor and ''caudillo'' of Tucumán Province. Early career Alejandro Heredia ...

, attempted to rename it to Alexandria, in his own honor.

Economy

The main use of agriculture in the local economy is the sugar industry. The Ñuñorco plant (founded in 1926) is the main industrial plant in the town. The rural areas nearby the town are suited to growing

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

s, blueberries and strawberries.

Sports

The main sports club is

Club Atlético Ñuñorco Club Atlético Ñuñorco is an Argentine football club located in Monteros of Tucumán Province. The team currently plays in the regional Liga Tucumana de Fútbol, having also played in the Torneo Argentino A some years ago. Titles * Liga Tucuma ...

football club, which plays in Zone B of the regional Liga Tucumana de Fútbol of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The Club Social Monteros have been an Argentine Volleyball League's champion.

References

* * Information based on ''"Breve Historia de Monteros"'' (''short history of Monteros'') from local historian Tulio Ottonello.

External links

Monteros Government official website

Federal website

Main Monteros city site

Monteros city site

3D Church of Monteros - Nuestra Señora del Rosario

Google Maps
{{Authority control Populated places in Tucumán Province