Corrientes

City, river port, and capital of Corrientes province, northeast Argentina, 1,025 km/640 mi northeast of Buenos Aires; situated on the Paraná River 40 km/25 mi below its confluence with the River Paraguay; population (2001) 314,500. It is in a stock-raising district, and serves as a distribution centre and export outlet for the region's agricultural produce. There are sawmills, and tanning and textile industries.

Corrientes was founded in 1588, making it one of Argentina's oldest cities. It has a cathedral, built in 1874, in front of which is a statue of the sergeant who saved the life of the national hero, San Martin, at the battle of San Lorenzo. The city is the setting for Graham Greene's novel The Honorary Consul. The city attracts many tourists for the annual ‘Carnaval Correntino’.

Corrientes

Province in northern Argentina, bounded to the west by the River Paraná, to the north by the Alto Paraná River, and to the east by the River Uruguay; area 88,199 sq km/34,054 sq mi; population (1996) 795,594. The provincial capital is Corrientes, a port on the Paraná River, 40 km/25 mi below the mouth of the River Paraguay. The chief economic activities here are cattle-farming, and the cultivation of cotton, rice, tobacco, fruits, and flat timber. There is some basalt mining.

The terrain of Corrientes is generally low and marshy, interspersed with some undulating, grassy hills and forests. Rainfall in the province varies greatly by season; heavy downpours in the humid summers frequently cause flooding, while drought often threatens in winter.