San Salvador de Bayamo

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San Salvador de Jujuy

San Salvador de Jujuy is the capital city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. It lies near the southern end of the Humahuaca Canyon where wooded hills meet the lowlands.

Its population, as of the , is 237,751 inhabitants. If its suburbs are included, this figure rises to around 300,000. The current mayor is Jose Luis Martiarena.

City information

The city lies on the National Route 9 that connects La Quiaca (289 km) with Salta (120 km), and its some 1,525 kilometres from Buenos Aires. Tourist destinations not far from the city are Tilcara (84), Humahuaca (126 km), and the Calilegua National Park (111 km).

Jujuy is located on the Andes, at the junction of the Río Xibi Xibi and Río Grande de Jujuy rivers, 1238 meters above sea level. The weather is humid during the Summers and dry and cold during the winters. The temperature difference between night and day is particularly wide.

San Salvador is above all the provincial administrative and cultural centre; the economical activities take place in other points of the province, including petroleum extraction and pre-processing, sugarcane and sugar industry (Ledesma), tobacco (El Carmen, 10 km south), steel industry (Palpalá), citrus, and fruits and vegetables for local consumption.

The city has a colonial city centre including the Cabildo, the Cathedral, and a specially colourful Andean carnivals. The population of the city, and of the province in general, has a much more aboriginal character than the in rest of the country, reflected in the predominant Quechua, Aymara and Chiriguano people and cultures.

The Gobernador Horacio Guzmán International Airport at coordinates , is 33 kilometres southeast of the city and has regular flight to Buenos Aires.

History

After previous attempts in 1565 and 1592, the city was definitely founded on April 19 1593 by Francisco de Argañaraz y Murguía as a strategic site on the mule shipping route between San Miguel de Tucumán and the silver mines in Potosí, Bolivia.

Reaching its peak importance during the colonial period, San Salvador de Jujuy declined to the status of a remote provincial capital after the Argentine Declaration of Independence in 1816.