Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia, narrow northeast–southwest-oriented geographic region of northeastern Argentina, comprising Misiones, Corrientes, and Entre Ríos provincias (provinces), bounded on the west by the Gran Chaco of Argentina, on the north by Paraguay, on the northeast by Brazil, and on the southeast by Uruguay. Its name, meaning “between the rivers” in Greek, is derived from its being between the Paraná River (on the southwest to north) and the Uruguay River (on the southeast to northeast). In the northeast (or Misiones province) Mesopotamia consists of a southeastward extension of the Paraná Plateau of Brazil covered with subtropical evergreen rain forest. Its several rivers plunge over the edges of the basalt plateau to create spectacular falls, such as Iguazú. Corrientes and Entre Ríos provinces differ from Misiones in several respects. Their land surface, like that of Uruguay to the east, consists of rolling grass-covered hillocks rising from densely wooded and marshy lowlands. The region was originally colonized by Spanish settlers returning from Asunción, Paraguay, to refound Buenos Aires in the late 16th century, and in the 19th century many agriculturists of German, Italian, and Swiss descent settled in the region.

Southern Mesopotamia is one of Argentina’s leading producers of wool and flax, and cattle are raised. The production of rice and oranges centres on the city of Corrientes. Rapids, sandbars, and shifting channels in the Paraná and the Uruguay rivers hinder their use as transportation arteries, necessitating transshipment of cargo to shallow-draft vessels. The highway network is fairly extensive, but roads are generally of poor quality. A rail line traverses eastern Mesopotamia. The hydroelectric potential of the rivers bordering Mesopotamia was finally realized in 1982 with the completion of the Salto Grande complex on the lower Uruguay and the construction of the giant Yacyretá complex on the upper Paraná, which opened for commercial operation in 1994.