Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, in central Argentina. It is located 300 km (186 mi) northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third most populous city in the country and is also the most populous non-capital city in Argentina, with a growing and important metropolitan area; Greater Rosario has an estimated population of 1,276,000 as of 2012. One of its main attractions includes the neoclassical architecture that has been retained over the centuries in hundreds of residences, houses, and public buildings. Rosario is the head city of the Rosario Department and is located at the heart of the major industrial corridor in Argentina. The city is a major railroad terminal and the shipping center for northeastern Argentina. Ships reach the city via the Paraná River, which allows the existence of a 34 feet (10 m) deep port. The Port of Rosario is subject to silting and must be dredged periodically. Exports include wheat, flour, hay, linseed and other vegetable oils, corn, sugar, lumber, meat, hides, and wool. Manufactured goods include flour, sugar, meat products, and other foodstuffs. The Rosario-Victoria Bridge, opened in 2004, spans the Paraná River, connecting Rosario with the city of Victoria, across the Paraná Delta. Because it plays a critical role in agricultural commerce, the city finds itself at the center of a continuing debate over taxes levied on big-ticket agricultural goods such as soy. Along with Paraná, Rosario is one of the few Argentine cities that cannot point to a particular individual as its founder. The city's patron is the Virgin of the Rosary, whose feast day is October 7. The asteroid 14812 Rosario was named in its honor. Notable people from Rosario include revolutionary Che Guevara, football player Lionel Messi and model Valeria Mazza. Rosario is the main epicentre of a metropolitan region whose economy is based on services and industry, generating the second largest urban gross regional product of Argentina, after Greater Buenos Aires. The principal manufacturing sector is the agro industry, whose industries are placed in the northern and southern areas of the Greater Rosario; the investments over the last decade have transformed Rosario into a major role of processing oil of the world. Many other sectors contribute to the diversified industrial offerings of the city. Rosario and its metropolitan area produce 20% of the cars, 4% of the domestic refrigerators, 80% of the machinery for the food industry and 100% of the auto bodies for long distance buses made in Argentina. Other important sectors include the petrochemical sector, with three plants located in the suburbs of San Lorenzo and Port San Martin; the chemistry sector, with plants for sulphuric acid, fertilizers, resins and other products; the cellulose industry; the meat industry; ironworks; auto parts; the plants and equipment for bottled oil; agricultural machinery; and the materials and equipment for the construction industry. Worldwide international companies settled in Rosario include, among others, General Motors, Cargill, Unilever, John Deere, Petrobrás, ICI, Dow, Tenneco and Mahle. The main financial bank at the city of Rosario is the Municipal Bank of Rosario. Its central offices are located in the financial district, on San Martín St., and there are several additional offices throughout the city. It is focused on small and medium enterprises and other organizations, especially through micro credits, and may be considered an "ethical bank". The Municipal Bank was founded in 1896 to support the financial needs of the citizens and small businesses in the highly productive region of southern Santa Fe Province, centered in Rosario. At the time, the city had around 92,000 inhabitants and was already the most important port on the Paraná River. The idea of creating a municipal financial institution was expressed in 1893 by Mayor Floduardo Grandoli, citing the proliferation of "centers of usury" that exploited those in need of credit, especially the poor (something not addressed by the profile of the Provincial Bank of Santa Fe, which granted loans only to demonstrably solvent persons). Acting on this, the municipal Counseling Commission passed a bill (on 1 February 1895) dictating an "Organic Charter of the Municipal Bank of Loans and Savings Accounts;" the bank opened exactly one year later. The seat of the bank was moved in 1905. Its name was changed to its present form on 14 May 1940 by a municipal bill. Its location was moved again, for the last time so far, in 1986. Following some political controversy, the bank in 2006 was capitalized by the municipality in order to comply with new regulations dictated by the Central Bank, and transformed into a joint stock company, with only 1% of the stock belonging to the municipal state.

• published: 01 Feb 2014
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