Malargüe is a department

Departments of Argentina

Departments form the second level of administrative division in the provinces of Argentina. There are no departments in the city of Buenos Aires, which has so far been divided into neighbourhoods as its administrative divisions, but is to be divided now into communes by a recently passed local act...

 located in the south west of Mendoza Province

Mendoza Province

The Province of Mendoza is a province of Argentina, located in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders to the north with San Juan, the south with La Pampa and Neuquén, the east with San Luis, and to the west with the republic of Chile; the international limit is...

 in 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...

. Its borders are San Rafael

San Rafael Department

San Rafael is one of the departments of Mendoza Province, Argentina. The seat of the department is in the city of San Rafael.-Statistics:*Geographical location: 34º 15´ to 36º southern latitude and 70º 10´ to 66º 55´ eastern longitude....

 in the north, La Pampa Province

La Pampa Province

La Pampa is a sparsely populated province of Argentina, located in the Pampas in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise San Luis, Córdoba, Buenos Aires, Río Negro, Neuquén and Mendoza.-History:...

 in the east, Neuquén Province

Neuquén Province

Neuquén is a province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west...

 in the south and Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 to the west.

The provincial subdivision has a population of about 23,000 inhabitants in an area of 41,317km², and its capital city is Malargüe

Malargüe

- Transport and infrastructures :- Transportation :Malargüe is linked to the north of Mendoza by National Route 40. This route continues south, entering Neuquén Province, but is only partially built and not well maintained beyond Malargüe City....

, which is located around 1,180km from the federal capital 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...

.

Geography

The south of the Malargüe Department is considered as the north tip of the Patagonia

Patagonia

Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...

 and is home to the many nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

s such as La Payunia

Reserva Provincial La Payunia

The Reserva Provincial La Payunia also known as Payún or Payén is a natural reserve located in the Malargüe Department in the southern part of Mendoza Province, Argentina, about 160 km away from Malargüe city. It was declared as nature preserve in 1988 and has an area of 4,500 km²...

, Castillos de Pincheira, Caverna de las Brujas and Laguna de Llancanelo

Llancanelo Lagoon

Llancanelo Lagoon is a wetland with an area of 650 km² located in the Malargüe Department in the south of Mendoza Province, Argentina, 75 km from the city of Malargüe, at 1,280 m above mean sea level, within the arid region near the Andes in the limit between the regions of Cuyo and...

.

Districts

The department is divided in four district

District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

s:

• Agua Escondida
• Malargüe
  Malargüe
  - Transport and infrastructures :- Transportation :Malargüe is linked to the north of Mendoza by National Route 40. This route continues south, entering Neuquén Province, but is only partially built and not well maintained beyond Malargüe City....
  
  
• Río Barrancas
• Río Grande

Hydrology

Malargüe has many hydric resources. Among its most important rivers are the Grande River

Grande River (Argentina)

The Grande River is a river located in Malargüe Department to the south of Mendoza Province, Argentina. It arises in the confluence of the rivers Cobre and Tordillo on the Andes range near Chile and ends at the Colorado River in the Neuquén Province border. Its total length is 275 km...

, the Colorado River

Colorado River (Argentina)

The Colorado River is a river in the south of Argentina.The Colorado river marks most of the political limit between the provinces of Neuquén and Mendoza, and between Rio Negro and La Pampa...

, the Barrancas River

Barrancas River

The Barrancas River is a river in western Argentina. Traveling eastward from the Andes range, it separates the Argentine provinces of Mendoza and Neuquén. Joining the Río Grande, it merges into the Colorado, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean.-References:...

 and the Malargüe River

Malargüe River

The Malargüe River is a river located in the southern zone of the Mendoza Province, in the west of Argentina. It originates in the Malargüe lagoon in the Andes range, at 2,500 m above mean sea level, flows into the Malargüe Department and ends in the Llancanelo Lagoon, being its main...

, and the lagoons of Llancanelo, Negra and Niña Encantada.

Science

Malargüe is home to the Pierre Auger Observatory

Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is an international cosmic ray observatory designed to detect ultra-high-energy cosmic rays: single sub-atomic particles with energies beyond 1020 eV...

, an observatory designed to detect ultra-high-energy cosmic ray

Ultra-high-energy cosmic ray

In astroparticle physics, an ultra-high-energy cosmic ray or extreme-energy cosmic ray is a cosmic ray with an extreme kinetic energy, far beyond both its rest mass and energies typical of other cosmic rays....

s.

External links

• Municipal Website (Spanish)
• Las Leñas Official Website (English)