Morón

Morón, cabecera (county seat) and partido (county) of Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires, eastern Argentina. It lies west of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires provincia (province).

In the 16th century Morón served as a way station for travelers en route to the area that is now Chile and Peru. The present-day county was part of the pago (country district) of Las Conchas during the 17th and early 18th centuries. In 1730 the region was incorporated within the country district of La Matanza. The Chapel of Nuestra Señora del Buen Viaje (“Our Lady of the Safe Journey”) became the centre of settlement for the city in 1769, and the region was named the Cañada de Morón (“Pass of Morón”). A justice of the peace was appointed to Cañada de Morón in 1784, and in the same year it became part of the county of La Matanza. The area was demarcated and separated from La Matanza in 1812, however. The county of Morón was officially established in 1870. Morón county was the site of the February 3, 1852, Battle of Caseros, where the Argentine military ruler Juan Manuel de Rosas was overthrown. From 1930 to 1943 the city and county were known as Seis de Septiembre in honour of a military uprising that took place on September 6, 1930.

Horticulture, agriculture (grains and alfalfa), and livestock raising were once widespread in Morón’s formerly rural areas. The county seat is now an important industrial centre, with meatpacking, dairy production, food canning, tanning, and varied manufacturing plants. Morón is linked to other parts of the country by road and railway. It also has an airport.

With the growth of the national capital, Morón has been absorbed into the suburban area of Gran Buenos Aires. Thus, its population density is greater than that in many other counties in Gran Buenos Aires. Pop. (2001) county, 309,380; (2010) county, 321,109.