COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTH AMERICA. 397 



and contributing together a share about equal to that of Great 

 Britain. There is a considerable import trade in cattle and other 

 animals from the Argentine Republic across the passes of the 

 Andes, but the export trade by these routes is very scanty. The 

 passes chiefly used are those near the latitude of Santiago, the 

 Portillo and the Uspallata passes — the former nearly fourteen 

 thousand feet in height, the latter about five hundred feet less. 

 The Strait of Magellan is stormy and washed by strong tides, 

 and hence difficult of navigation, so that sailing vessels still pre- 

 fer the equally stormy, but for them less dangerous, route round 

 Cape Horn, in the south of Tierra del Fuego. 



The Argentine Republic comprises a territory of more than a 

 million square miles, with a population of about four millions. 

 This territory consists mainly of a vast plain sloping down to the 

 Atlantic from the Andes, and other lofty mountains in the west 

 and northwest. It extends from within the tropics to the south 

 of the continent, embracing the eastern half of Tierra del Fuego, 

 and thus includes a great variety of climate. The districts in 

 which the population is most considerable and most rapidly in- 

 creasing are chiefly those in the neighborhood of the estuary of 

 La Plata and along the right bank of the lower Parana, where 

 there are not only the greatest facilities for commerce, but where 

 also the climate is most favorable to production and best suited 

 to people of European stock. The provinces to which this de- 

 scription applies are Buenos Ayres, south of the estuary ; Santa 

 Fe*, on the right bank of the lower Parana ; Cordoba, to the west 

 of Santa Fd ; and Entre Rios, " between the rivers " Parana and 

 Uruguay. The climate here is that of the warmer temperate lati- 

 tudes, generally with an ample rainfall. Toward the interior the 

 rainfall generally diminishes, and irrigation becomes necessary 

 for cultivation. It is more abundant, however, in the neighbor- 

 hood of the northern mountains, at the base of which there are 

 sugar and other tropical or sub-tropical plantations. The plain 

 extending eastward from these mountains to the river Paraguay 

 is mainly a region of open forest, and is inhabited at present 

 almost solely by a few tribes of wandering Indians. It is known 

 as El Gran Chaco, or " great hunting-ground." 



Of late years the Argentine Republic, together with the neigh- 

 boring state of Uruguay, has been undergoing a rapid develop- 

 ment similar to that of the United States and Canada. They are 

 receiving streams of agricultural settlers, but in this southern 

 region the settlers are mainly from southern Europe (Italy, Spain, 

 and southern France). The Spanish and French immigrants in- 

 clude a large proportion of Basques, who are found to be among 

 the most valuable colonists in these regions. In the thirty years 

 ending 1886 upward of a million immigrants entered the country, 



