Tigre Partido

Tigre Partido is a partido of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, situated in the northern part of Greater Buenos Aires. The department covers a large section of the Paraná Delta and its low-lying islands. The main town of the division is Tigre; other towns include Don Torcuato, El Talar, General Pacheco, Benavídez.

The partido is bound to the north by the Paraná de las Palmas River, to the northeast by the Río de la Plata, to the southeast by San Fernando Partido, to the south by San Martín Partido, to the southwest by Malvinas Argentinas Partido and to the west by Escobar Partido.

Its total area including the islands is 368 km² (142 sq mi) and its population was 376,381 as of 2010.

The current mayor is Julio Cesar Zamora, from the Renewal Front within the Union por la Patria coalition.

The partido was originally named 'Las Conchas' after a local river (now known as the Reconquista River), but became popularly known as 'Tigre' in the 19th century. Tigre was also the name of a stream and is thought to derive from the tigres or jaguars seen in the area when it was first settled. In 1952, the name of the partido was officially changed to "Tigre Partido".

A port was first built at the mouth of the Las Conchas river, which itself became known as Las Conchas. It served the islands and became an important strategic and smuggling point, targeted by Portuguese, English and Spanish invaders. The partido was officially founded in 1790, but the settlements were hit by floods and the town was moved to the present site of Tigre, at the mouth of the Luján River by 1820.

Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges said about Tigre: "no other city do I know that adjoins a secret group of green islands, which get lost at unknown waters of such a slow river that literature called it frozen..."