San Juan

Birding San Juan

San Juan is a province of Argentina, located in the western part of the country. The neighbouring provinces are, moving clockwise from the north, La Rioja, San Luis and Mendoza. It borders Chile on the west.The province has an area of 89,651 sq km, within which there are mountainous areas with little vegetation, fertile oases, turbulent rivers of melt water, mountain ranges and major mining sites and as well as sites of great paleontological significance.The primary economic activity is agriculture, specifically viticulture, as well as olive oil production and also a good variety of fruit and vegetables. Most comes from fertile valleys irrigated by artificial channels at the foot of the Andes. In recent years there has been much interest in the areas potential for the petroleum industry.

The province is part of the continental semi-desert Cuyo region. The arid plains on the east, with a few low sierras (hills), swiftly turn into 6,000-meter-high mountain peaks towards the west. Both areas are subject to the dry hot Zonda (a kind of foehn wind). Most of the precipitations take place during the summer, often as storms.

The hot wind has modeled the clay-rich red soil into Pampa del Leoncito (Reserva Natural Estricta El Leoncito) and Valle de la Luna (Parque Provincial Ischigualasto) 200 million year old geological formations.The Jáchal and San Juan rivers, both part of Desaguadero River system, are the source of fertile valleys and centre of the province’s economy. The San Juan River finishes in the Huanacache lagoons (sometimes called Guanacache), on the southeast.