Its population at the 2001census[INDEC] was 237,751 inhabitants. If itssuburbs are included, this figure rises to around 300,000.[2] The current mayor is Raúl Jorge.
Jujuy is located near theAndes, at the junction of the Xibi Xibi River and the Río Grande de Jujuy, 1,238 meters above sea level. The weather is humid during the summer and dry and cold during the winter. Temperatures vary widely between day and night.
The city is the provincial government, financial and cultural centre. Most administrative offices related to economic activities that take place in other parts of the province are located here; these activities includepetroleum extraction and pre-processing,sugarcane and sugar industry (Ledesma),tobacco (El Carmen, 10 km (6.2 mi) south), steel (in nearbyVilla Palpalá),citrus, and fruit and vegetable production for local consumption.
The city has a colonial city centre including the Cabildo, the cathedral, and colorful Andean carnivals.
After previous attempts in 1565 and 1592, the current city was founded asSan Salvador de Velazco en el Valle de Jujuy on April 19, 1593, by Francisco de Argañarás y Murguía. The settlement initially developed as a strategic site on the mule trade route betweenSan Miguel de Tucumán and the silver mines inPotosí,Bolivia.
Reaching its peak importance during the colonial period, San Salvador de Jujuy declined to the status of a remote provincial capital after theArgentine Declaration of Independence in 1816. The town became the capital of Jujuy Province when the latter separated fromSalta Province in 1834. The1863 Jujuy earthquake leveled the town, and it recovered slowly in the following decades. Jujuy began to grow following the arrival of theNorthern Central Railway in 1900. Its first institution of higher learning, the Economic Sciences Institute, was established in 1959, and was incorporated into the newNational University of Jujuy in 1973. The city was the location of a number ofArgentine films, includingVeronico Cruz (1988) andUna estrella y dos cafés (2005). The city's impoverished Lower Azopardo neighborhood would later give rise toMilagro Sala'sIndigenist Tupac Amaru Neighborhood Association.
Jujuy has ahumid subtropical climate (Cwa, according to theKöppen climate classification), mainly because of the altitude. Summers bring warm days at 28 °C (82 °F) and nights at 16 °C (61 °F) with frequent thunderstorms. The rest of the year is sunny, with temperatures at about 24 °C (75 °F) during the day and 11 °C (52 °F) at night, crisp, dry winters with warm days of 19 °C (66 °F) and cold nights at 6 °C (43 °F), and sunny springs with warm days at 26 °C (79 °F) and cool nights at 11 °C (52 °F). During heat waves, temperatures can sometimes reach 35 °C (95 °F) but these are not frequent and nights always bring significant cooling, as opposed to many low-lying areas in Northern Argentina. During the winter, the record low has fallen to −7 °C (19 °F). Precipitation is about 800 mm (31 in), which falls in the form of thunderstorms during the warmest months. The highest temperature recorded was 42 °C (108 °F) on October 16, 2014 while the lowest temperature recorded was −6.9 °C (19.6 °F) on August 14, 1978.[3]
