Rosario

Even though the city did not have a clear foundation date or any official acknowledgement thereof, most commentators state that Rosario was founded on 7 October 1793 with a local population of 457 inhabitants. Nonetheless, the town was officially declared a city on 3 August 1852, at the time it was known as Pago de los Arroyos ("land of the streams"), a reference to the several small rivers that traverse the southern region of Santa Fe, like the Ludueña Stream, the Saladillo Stream and others, emptying into the Paraná River. In 1689, captain Luís Romero de Piñeda received part of the lands of the Pago de los Arroyos by royal decree, as payment for services to the Spanish Crown. Before that, the area was originally inhabited by various indigenous tribes, some of which lived in reducciones, a type of mission founded by Franciscans. …

The city of Rosario measures 178.69 km2 (69.0 sq mi), not all of them are fully urbanized. Its extreme points are: Latitude: parallels 32°52′18″ and 33°02′22″ South. Longitude: meridians 60°36′44″ and 60°47′46″ West. The geographical center is approximately at 32°57′2″S 60°42′15″W The city is located on a smoothly undulated plain typical of the Pampas, between 22.5 and 24.6 metres above mean sea level; the original settlement rests on the ravine on the right-hand shore of the Paraná, opposite a group of islands of the Paraná Delta which are partly in the jurisdiction of the province of Entre Ríos. The nearest city across the river's flood plain (60 km) is Victoria, Entre Ríos, linked to Rosario by the Rosario-Victoria Bridge. Rosario lies on the ravine of the right-hand shore of the Paraná, about 24 metres (79 ft) above mean sea level, in a place with a natural slope to the low shore. …

Rosario has many cultural activities in many artistic disciplines with national and international reach. The city has produced important personalities in the fields of music, painting, philosophy, politics, poetry, literature, medicine, and law. Among the city's important theaters are El Círculo, Sala Lavardén, Broadway, Astengo Auditorium, and La Comedia. A cultural complex known as Puerto de la Música, designed by the modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer (of Brasília fame), is to be built along the banks of the Paraná River. If completed, it will be one of the largest centers for musical performance in Latin America. In 2012, after years without progress, it was put on indefinite hold due to financial constraints. The city has several museums, including Juan B. Castagnino Fine Arts Museum, Firma y Odilo Estévez Municipal Decorative Art Museum, Dr. …

Rosario is the centre of a metropolitan region whose economy is based on services and industry, generating the second-largest urban gross regional product of Argentina, after Greater Buenos Aires. The principal manufacturing sector is the agro industry, whose industries are placed in the northern and southern areas of Greater Rosario; the investments over the last decade have transformed Rosario into a major role of processing oil of the world. Many other sectors contribute to the diversified industrial offerings of the city. Rosario and its metropolitan area produce 20% of the cars, 4% of the domestic refrigerators, 80% of the machinery for the food industry and 100% of the auto bodies for long-distance buses made in Argentina. …

Rosario's strategic location is destined to become a significant transportation hub and as the bi-oceanic corridor that links the State of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), an important component in global distribution and the core center of a key corridor in the Mercosur, the Common Market for the South. The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Rosario, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 50 min. 9% of public transit riders, ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 14 min, while 19% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 4.3 km, while 4% travel for over 12 km in a single direction. The Rosario public transport system includes buses, trolleybuses and taxicabs. …

Rosario is located in the Province of Santa Fe, Argentina. This metropolis has a population of about 1.2 million (1,159,004 est.), thus being Argentina's third most populated urban settlement, after Córdoba. Greater Rosario comprises Rosario itself (population about 910,000) and a large area around it, spreading in all directions except eastward (because of the Paraná River). Directly to the south, it includes the city of Villa Gobernador Gálvez, with a population of about 75,000, about 10 km (6.2 mi) from Rosario city center. To the west and south-west there are several smaller towns and cities (Funes, Roldán, Pérez, Soldini); Roldán is 23 km (14 mi) from the Rosario city centre. These settlements were incorporated into the metropolis due to their vicinity to major roads leading into Rosario, and many people living there habitually commute to Rosario. …