It will be noticed that these railways are all connected with one or other of the chief ports of the country : Buenos Aires and La Plata, Rosario, and Bahia Blanca. Through the first of these pass the greater part of the imports and no inconsiderable share of the exports of the whole country. La Plata, connected by rail with the capital, is principally used by ships unable, on account of their size, to ascend higher up the river. Rosario, which comes second to Buenos Aires in respect to tonnage, is the agricultural port of the Parana valley and of all that northern region the trade of which is chiefly carried by the rivers. With the improvement of its harbour, now in progress, and the deepening of the Parana, it will become of even greater importance. Bahia Blanca, in the south of the province of Buenos Aires, is the terminus of those lines which are opening up the more southerly parts of the sub Andine Region. Much wool is exported here, as also is wheat from Central Pampa.
Agricultural and pastoral products, along with quebracho, constitute practically the whole of the exports, the annual value of which, in the years 1906-10, was estimated at £69,000,000. Of
this amount the United Kingdom took one-fifth, Germany one ninth, and France and Belgium about one-tenth each. The imports, valued in 1906-10 at £60,000,000, consist chiefly of coal and manu factured goods (textiles, rolling stock, iron and steel goods, food, and agricultural implements). From the United Kingdom came 33 per cent. of the total, from Germany, 15 per cent., and from the United States 14 per cent.
The rapid development of the country within the last thirty years is shown by the increase in the amount of exports and imports, from £20,000,000 in 1880 to £145,000,000 in 1910, an increase due to the favourable conditions of soil and climate, the growing demand from Europe for agricultural and pastoral products, the improved means of communication, and the steady flow of im migrants, especially from South European countries. Between 1857 and 1880, 400,000 immigrants entered the country. Since the latter date there have been 2,470,000, many of whom, however, have not remained in the Argentine for more than a few years.