LRJO: LRJ Online, La Rioja Online.
La Rioja is a one of the provinces of Argentina and is located in the west of
the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Catamarca,
Córdoba, San Luis and San Juan.
Among Argentines it is famous and infamous as the province where former
president and controversial figure Carlos Menem was governor and caudillo.
History
Petroglyphs at the Talampaya National Park dated around 10,000 years BC set
original inhabitants long before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. When
they arrived to La Rioja in the 16th century they found the diaguitas, capayanes
and the olongastas.
Juan Ramírez de Velazco founded Todos los Santos de la Nueva Rioja in 1591 under
the government of Tucumán of the Viceroyalty of Peru. In 1630 there was an
uprising of the calchaquíes aborigins that was finished by governor Albornoz.
In 1783, after the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata the
control of the province of 10,000 inhabitants passed to the Córdoba indendency.
The province acquired independency from Córdoba in 1820. The figure of the
caudillo Juan Facundo Quiroga emerges and after a perdiod internal inestability
in Argentina the province finally joined the Argentine Confederation in 1853.
The immigration to Argentina of the early 20th century was less numerous in La
Rioja than in other Argentine provinces. Among the few to adventure to the
province were Syrians and Lebanese immigrants.
