CORDOBA, a city in the central part of the Argentine Re public, capital of the above province, on the Rio Primero, 435 m• by rail north-west of Buenos Aires by way of Rosario, 246 m. from the latter. Pop. suburbs having some 20,000 more-1926 estimate 200,000. The city is connected by railway with Buenos Aires and Rosario, and with the capitals of all the surrounding provinces. Cordoba stands on a high east ward-sloping plain called the "Altos," 1,44o ft. above sea-level, and is built in a broad river bottom washed out by periodical inundations and the action of the rains on the alluvial banks. The inundations have been brought under control by the construction of barriers and dams, but the banks are constantly broken down. The city is regularly laid out, and contains many fine edifices and dwellings. Several suburban settlements surround the city, the more important of which are served by the urban tramway lines. The noteworthy public buildings include the cathedral, a handsome edifice curiously oriental in appearance, a massive old Jesuit church with a ceiling of richly carved and gilded cedar, the old university, founded in 1613, which still occupies the halls built by the Jesuits around a large quadrangle, the fine old cabildo, or Government house, of Moorish appearance, and the national observatory on the barranca overlooking the city. There are, also, two national normal schools, a national college, an episcopal seminary, an endowed Carmelite orphanage, a national meteoro logical station, a national academy of sciences and a good public library. The water-supply of Cordoba is derived from the Rio Primero, 12 m. above the city, where an immense dam (Dique San Roque), one of the largest of its kind in South America, has been built across the river valley. This dam also serves to irri gate the valley below, and to furnish power for the electric plant which provides Cordoba with light and electric power. In and about the city there are several industrial establishments which have sprung into existence since the opening of the first railway in 1870. The surrounding country is well cultivated, and pro duces an abundance of fruit and vegetables.
The city was founded in 1573 by Luis Geronimo de Cabrera and was for a long time distinguished for its learning and piety. It was the headquarters of the Jesuits in this part of South Amer ica for two centuries, and for a time the capital of the Spanish intendencia of Tucuman.