Andalgalá is a city in the west-center of the province

Provinces of Argentina

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

 of Catamarca

Catamarca Province

Catamarca is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province has a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km². Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are : Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, and La Rioja...

, 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...

, located in a valley near the Sierra de Aconquija, 260 km from the provincial capital San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca

San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca

San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca is a city in northwestern Argentina and capital of Catamarca Province, on the Río Valle River, at the feet of the Cerro Ambato....

. It has about 14,000 inhabitants as per the . It is the head town of the department of the same name. The Andalgalá River, which flows nearby, supports a hydroelectric

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 power plant.

Andalgalá was founded as a fort on 12 July 1658, and only became a city in 1952. Its name is of Quechua origin and means either "Lord of the Hare" or "Lord of the High Mountain".