Santa FE, a city of Argentina and capital of the province of that name, on the Santa Fe channel of the Parana near the mouth of the Salado, about 299 m. N.W. of Buenos Aires. Pop. (1895) 2 4,755, (1904 estimated) 33,200. It is built on a sandy plain little above the river level. It is regularly laid out and contains a cathedral, bishop's palace, Jesuits' college and church dating from 1654, the cabildo or town hall facing on the principal square and provincial government buildings. The town is less modern in appearance than Rosario, and has a number of old residences and educational and charitable institutions. It is a port of call for small river steamers and is in ferry communication with Parana on the opposite bank of the Parana. Its shipping port for larger steamers is at Colastine, on a deeper channel, with which it is connected by rail. Santa Fe also has railway communication with Rosario, Cordoba, Tucuman and the frontier of the Chaco.
Santa Fe was founded by Juan de Garay in 1573, and was designed to secure Spanish communications between Asuncion and the mouth of the La Plata. It has been the centre of much political intrigue, but its growth has been very slow. In 1852 a constituent congress met there, and in 1860 a national convention for the revision of the constitution.
