San Luis

▪ Argentina

      city, capital of San Luis provincia (province), west-central Argentina, on the Chorrillos River, near the southern end of the foothills of the Sierra de San Luis. Founded in 1594 by order of the governor of Chile, it was abandoned during wars with the Araucanian Indians. Refounded in 1596, it was, until the mid-19th century, a frontier settlement subject to Indian attacks and cattle raids by vaqueros (cowboys) from Mendoza and San Juan provinces. Its economic activities today are mainly based on irrigated agriculture and include meat-packing and food processing. The reservoirs created by dams in the foothills are popular with boaters and anglers. Green onyx is quarried nearby. Pop. (2001) 153,322.

▪ Cuba

      city, eastern Cuba. Lying on the northern slopes of the Sierra Maestra, San Luis is both a rail junction and a commercial and manufacturing centre for the agricultural hinterland, which produces sugarcane, coffee, and various fruits. Coffee roasting and sugar refining are carried on in and near the city; manganese deposits are found in the vicinity. Guantánamo, 50 miles (80 km) to the east, and Palma Soriano, 13 miles (21 km) to the west, are accessible by highway and railroad. Pop. (2002) 33,717.

▪ Mexico

in full  San Luis Río Colorado  

      city, northwestern Sonora estado (state), Mexico. It lies on the Mexico–United States border, south of Yuma, Ariz., just east of the Colorado River. The city has grown prosperous as a port of entry and as the commercial and manufacturing centre of a large, irrigated agricultural area, yielding mainly wheat and cotton. Highways link the city to Mexicali (in Baja California state) and Sonoyta (in Sonora state), as well as to Yuma. Pop. (2005 prelim.) urban agglom., 157,076.

▪ province, Argentina

      provincia (province), west-central Argentina, separated from Mendoza province (west) by seasonal rivers having headwaters in the Andes. The landscape of San Luis is transitional, incorporating drier sections of the Pampa (south and east) and pre-Andean hills, mountains, and salt flats (north). Its San Luis Mountains, with elevations exceeding 6,900 feet (2,100 metres), dominate the mid-north, and salt flats make up stretches of the northwest.

      The historical development of San Luis was slowed because it lacked the abundant meltwater from the snow-capped Andes (to the west) or the increased precipitation of the more humid Pampa (to the east).

      Between 1594, the date of the first settlement, and the mid-18th century, Spaniards coming from Chile had difficulty in establishing permanent settlements in the face of hostile Indian attacks. Part of the historic Cuyo region, San Luis passed in 1776 from the jurisdiction of the Chilean captaincy general to that of the Río de la Plata viceroyalty (Río de la Plata, Viceroyalty of the). It was created a province in 1832.

      Cattle raising and irrigated farming of corn (maize), sorghum, and sunflowers, as well as of figs and asparagus, are important economic activities in the basins of the Quinto and Conlara rivers in northeastern San Luis province. Some lumbering also occurs in the San Luis Mountains, and tungsten (wolfram), basalt, and salt are mined and granite and onyx are quarried. The irrigated agriculture in the central Quinto and Conlara basins provides the basis for the food-processing industries of Villa Mercedes and the provincial capital city, San Luis. Area 29,633 square miles (76,748 square km). Pop. (2001) 367,933.

* * *