Paraná << `par` uh NAH >> (pop. 247,139) is a river port city in eastern Argentina. It is the capital of Entre Ríos province. Paraná sits on a bluff on the east bank of the Paraná River. A tunnel built in 1969 links Paraná with the city of Santa Fé on the river’s west bank.
Paraná is an important shipping center for cattle, fish, grain, lumber, and sheep produced locally and in the Pampas region. It is also an administrative, cultural, and educational center and the site of a major air force base. Cement, ceramics, furniture, and glass are the city’s chief manufactured products. The Plaza Primero de Mayo, dominated by the Iglesia Cathedral, lies in the center of Paraná. Most of the city’s important buildings are near the plaza. Paraná was founded in 1730, with the establishment of a Spanish mission community. However, a defensive structure had existed in the area since 1588. From 1853 to 1862, Paraná served as the capital of the short-lived Argentine Confederation, a union of all the nation’s provinces except Buenos Aires (see Argentina (The Constitution of 1853) .
