Iguazú National Park

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Iguazú National Park
IUCN Category II (National Park)
Aerial view of a section of the waterfalls
Location:	Misiones Province, Argentina
Coordinates:	25°37′00″S, 54°20′00″W
Area:	550 km²
Established:	1934
Governing body:	Administración de Parques Nacionales

The Iguazú National Park is a national park of Argentina, located in the Iguazú Department, a in the north of the province of Misiones, Argentine Mesopotamia. It has an area of 550 km² [1].

The park was created in 1934 and it contains one of the greatest natural beauties of Argentina, the Iguazu Falls, surrounded by the subtropical jungle. Across the Iguazu River lies its Brazilian counterpart (Iguaçu National Park). Both sites were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, in 1984 and 1986.

Visitor's map to the Park

The fauna of the park includes several endangered species: the jaguar, the tapir, the ocelote, the tiricas, the anteater, the pavas de monte, the jungle eagle, and the yacaré overo. One can also find birds like the vencejo de cascada and large toucans, mammals like the coatí, and a diversity of butterflies.

Water flow is increased by summer rains

The Iguazú River ends in the Paraná River 23 km beyond the falls, after a 1320 km course. Inside the park it becomes up to 1,500 m wide and turns first south, then north, forming a large U-shape. Its banks are densely populated by trees, including the ceibo (Cockspur coral tree), whose flower is Argentina's national flower. The flora of the park also features lapacho negro and lapacho amarillo (family Bignoniaceae), as well as palmito trees and the 40-metre-high palo rosa (family Apocynaceae).

The area of the park was inhabited already 10,000 years before the present, by the hunter-gatherers of the Eldoradense culture. They were displaced around 1,000 CE by the Guaraní, who brought new agricultural technologies, and were displaced in turn by the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadores in the 16th century, though their legacy is still alive in this area (the name of the park and the river is Guaraní y guasu, "large water"). The first European to visit the zone was Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, in 1542; Jesuit missions followed in 1609.