 These three provinces, located along the central and central-east part of the country, have a total population of 7,225,649 () and an area of 377,109 km², being large enough to function as an operative unit in the international economy.The Center Region concentrates 53% of the production of grain, 70% of the manufacturing of agricultural machinery, 90% of the production of vegetable oils, 70% of the production of milk, the whole production of peanuts, more than half of the poultry, and 34% of the cattle in Argentina.On 15 November 1973 an Intention Letter was signed by the governors of the three provinces (Carlos Sylvestre Begnis, Ricardo Obregón Cano and Juan Cresto), acknowledging their political interest in joining.