Catamarca. Pop. (1895) 351,223; (1904, estimate) 465,464; area, 62,160 sq. m. The greater part of the province belongs to the pampas, though less fertile and grassy than the plains farther E. and S. It likewise includes large saline and swampy areas. The N.W. part of the province is traversed by an isolated mountain system made up of the Córdoba, Pocho and Ischilin sierras, which extend for a distance of some 200 m. in a N. and S. direction. These ranges intercept the moist winds from the Atlantic, and receive on their eastern slopes an abundant rainfall, which gives them a strikingly verdant appearance in comparison with the surrounding plains. West and N.W. of the sierras are extensive saline basins called Las Salinas Grandes, which extend into the neighbouring provinces and are absolutely barren. In the N.E. the land is low and swampy; here are the large saline lagoons of Mar Chiquita and Los Porongos. The principal rivers, which have their sources in the sierras and flow eastward, are the Primero and Segundo, which flow north-easterly into the lacustrine basin of Mar Chiquita; the Tercero and Quarto, which unite near the Santa Fé frontier to form the Carcaraña, a tributary of the Paraná; and the Quinto, which flows south-easterly into the swamps of the Laguna Amarga in the S. part of the province. Countless small streams also descend the eastern slopes of the sierras and are lost in the great plains. The eastern districts are moderately fertile, and are chiefly devoted to cattle-breeding, though cereals are also produced. In the valleys and well-watered foothills of the sierras, however, cereals, alfalfa and fruit are the principal products. The rainfall is limited throughout the province, and irrigation is employed in but few localities. The mineral resources include gold, silver, copper, lead and iron, but mining is carried on only to a very limited extent. Salt and marble are also produced. Córdoba is traversed by several railway lines—those running westward from Buenos Aires and Rosario to Mendoza and the Chilean frontier, those connecting the city of Córdoba with the same cities, and with Tucuman on the N. and Catamarca and Rioja on the N.W. The chief towns are Córdoba, the capital, Rio Quarto, Villa Maria, an important railway centre 82 m. S.E. of Córdoba, and Cruz del Eje on the W. slopes of the sierras, 110 m. N.W. of Córdoba.
CÓRDOBA, a city in the central part of the Argentine Republic,
capital of the above province, on the Rio Primero, 435 m.
by rail N.W. of Buenos Aires by way of Rosario, 246 m. from
the latter. Pop. (1895) 42,783—the suburbs having 11,679
more—(1905, estimate) 60,000. The city is connected by
railway with Buenos Aires and Rosario, and with the capitals
of all the surrounding provinces. Córdoba stands on a high
eastward-sloping plain called the “Altos,” 1240 ft. above sea-level,
and is built in a broad river bottom washed out by
periodical inundations and the action of the rains on the alluvial
banks. The inundations have been brought under control by
the construction of barriers and dams, but the banks are constantly
broken down. The city is regularly laid out, and contains
many fine edifices and dwellings. Several suburban settlements
surround the city, the more important of which are served by
the urban tramway lines. The streets are lighted by gas and
electricity, and an excellent telephone service is maintained.
The noteworthy public buildings include the cathedral, a handsome
edifice curiously oriental in appearance, a massive old
Jesuit church with a ceiling of richly carved and gilded cedar, the
old university, founded in 1613, which still occupies the halls
built by the Jesuits around a large quadrangle, the fine old
cabildo, or government house, of Moorish appearance, and the
national observatory on the barranca overlooking the city.
There are, also, two national normal schools, a national college,
an episcopal seminary, an endowed Carmelite orphanage, a
national meteorological station, a national academy of sciences,
and a good public library. Among the attractive features of
the city is an alameda of about six acres, within which is a square
artificial lake of 4 acres, surrounded by shrubbery and shaded
walks; the alameda dates from the time when the Jesuits ruled
the city, and to them also are due the tiled baths, supplied with
running water. A short avenue connects the alameda with the
principal plaza, a pretty garden and promenade. The water
supply of Córdoba is derived from the Rio Primero, 12 m. above
the city, where an immense dam (Dique San Roque), one of the
largest of its kind in South America, has been built across the
river valley. This dam also serves to irrigate the valley below,
and to furnish power for the electric plant which provides
Córdoba with light and electric power. In and about the city
there are several industrial establishments which have sprung
into existence since the opening of the first railway in 1870. The
surrounding country is irrigated and well cultivated, and produces
an abundance of fruit and vegetables.
The city was founded in 1573 by Luis Geronimo de Cabrera and was for a long time distinguished for its learning and piety. It was the headquarters of the Jesuits in this part of South America for two centuries, and for a time the capital of the Spanish intendencia of Tucuman. The expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767 proved to be a serious blow to the academic reputation of the city, from which it did not recover until 1870, when President Sarmiento engaged some eminent scientific men from Europe to teach modern science in the university.
CÓRDOBA, a town of the state of Vera Cruz, Mexico, 55 m.
W.S.W. of the port of Vera Cruz, in a highly fertile valley, near
the volcano of Orizaba, and 2880 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1895)
7974. The surrounding district produces sugar, tobacco and
coffee, Córdoba being one of the principal coffee-producing
centres of Mexico. It also manufactures cotton and woollen
fabrics. The town is regularly laid out and built of stone, and
contains several handsome edifices, chief of which is the old
cathedral. Córdoba was a town of considerable importance in
colonial times, but fell into decay after the revolution. The railway
from Vera Cruz to Mexico, which passes through it, and the
development of coffee production, have helped the city to recover
a part of its lost trade.
CORDON (a French derivative of corde, cord), a word used in many applications of its meaning of “line” or “cord,” and particularly
of a cord of gold or silver lace worn in military and other uniforms. The word is especially used of the sash or ribbon worn by members
of an order of knighthood, crossing from one shoulder to the
opposite hip. The cordon bleu, the sky-blue ribbon of the knight’s
grand cross of the order of the Holy Spirit, the highest order of the
Bourbon kings of France, was, like the “blue ribbon” of the
English Garter, taken as a type of the highest reward or prize
to which any one can attain (see also Cookery). In heraldry,
“cordons” are the ornamental cords which, with the hats to
which they are attached, ensign the shields of arms of certain
ecclesiastical dignitaries; they are interlaced to form a mesh
or network and terminate in rows of tassels. A cardinal’s cordon
is gules with five rows of fifteen tassels, an archbishop’s vert with
four rows of ten, and a bishop’s also vert, with three rows of six.
In architecture a “cordon” is a projecting band of stone along
the outside of a building, a string-course. The word is frequently
used in a transferred sense of a line of posts or stations to guard
an enclosed area from unauthorized passage, e.g. a military or
police cordon, and especially a sanitary cordon, a line of posts to
prevent communication from or with an area infected with
disease.
CORDOVA (Span. Córdoba), an inland province of southern Spain, bounded on the N.E. by Ciudad Real, E. by Jaén, S.E. by Granada, S. by Málaga, S.W. and W. by Seville, and N.W. by Badajoz. Pop. (1900) 455,859; area, 5299 sq. m. The river Guadalquivir divides the province into two very dissimilar portions. On the right bank is the mountainous region of the Sierra Morena, less peopled and fertile than the left bank, with its great plains (La Campiña) and slightly undulating country towards the south and south-east, where the surface again becomes mountainous with the outlying ridges of the Sierra Nevada. The Guadalquivir, flowing from E.N.E. to W.S.W., waters the richest districts of Cordova, and has many tributaries, notably the Bembezar, Guadiato and Guadamellato, on the right, and the Genil and Guadajoz on the left. The northern districts (Los Pedroches) are drained by several small tributaries of the Guadiana. The climate is much varied. Snow is to be found
