Río Cuarto, city in central Argentina, in Córdoba Province, on the river of the same name. Río Cuarto is directly south of Córdoba, southwest of Rosario, and about halfway between Buenos Aires and Mendoza on the Pan-American Highway. It lies in a transition zone between the humid, fertile Pampas to the east, the rolling hills of the Sierra de Córdoba to the northwest, and the much drier, sparsely settled areas to the southwest. Río Cuarto is an important transportation hub and a commercial center for the surrounding farmland. Agricultural products include fruit, grains, and livestock. The city has some light industry, including meat packing and flour milling. Río Cuarto was founded as a frontier fort in the 1850s. Population (1991) 134,355.
