La Banda is a city in the province

Provinces of Argentina

Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...

 of Santiago del Estero

Santiago del Estero Province

Santiago del Estero is a province of Argentina, located in the north of the country. Neighbouring provinces are from the north clockwise Salta, Chaco, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Catamarca and Tucumán.-History:...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. It has about 95,000 inhabitants as per the , making it the second largest in the province. It is the head town of the Banda Department.

La Banda is located only 8 km away from the provincial capital Santiago del Estero

Santiago del Estero

Santiago del Estero is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 244,733 inhabitants, making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surface area of 2,116 km². It lies on the Dulce River and on National Route 9, at a distance of...

, separated from it by the course of the Dulce River

Dulce River (Argentina)

The Dulce River is the most important river in the Argentine province of Santiago del Estero....

, which is crossed by two connecting bridges. The two cities form a metropolitan area

Metropolitan area

The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...

 with about 280,000 inhabitants. Close to it, the Dulce is turned into an artificial lake by the Los Quiroga Dam

Los Quiroga Dam

The Los Quiroga Dam is a dam on the course of the Dulce River, in the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina. It is located near the provincial capital Santiago del Estero and the city of La Banda...

.

Besides the access to National Route 9

National Route 9 (Argentina)

National Route 9 is a major road in Argentina, which runs from the center-east to the northwest of the country, crossing the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, Salta and Jujuy...

 through Santiago del Estero, the city is linked to Tucumán and to Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

 by a weekly train

Train

A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...

 service of the Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre

Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre

Ferrocarril General Bartolomé Mitre , named after the former Argentine president Bartolomé Mitre, was one of the six state-owned Argentine railway companies formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948...

.

La Banda is the birthplace of the infamous former provincial governor and caudillo

Caudillo

Caudillo is a Spanish word for "leader" and usually describes a political-military leader at the head of an authoritarian power. The term translates into English as leader or chief, or more pejoratively as warlord, dictator or strongman. Caudillo was the term used to refer to the charismatic...

Carlos Juárez

Carlos Juárez

Carlos Arturo Juárez was an Argentine politician, Justicialist Party governor or ruler by proxy of Santiago del Estero Province over a 55-year period, leading to his description as a caudillo....

.