Geography of argentina

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This article describes the geography of Argentina .

Argentina has an area of ​​around 2.8 million km², making it the second largest state in South America . The shape of the country is reminiscent of an elongated triangle. The extension from north to south is 3694 km, from west to east at the widest point 1423 km.

Topography of Argentina

Vegetation and climate zones

Argentina has a great variety of climatic and vegetation zones because of its great north-south expansion, which is only exceeded by Chile and Brazil as well as the USA (by including Alaska ). The extreme north is on the border with the tropics , while the extreme south has a sub-polar climate.

General information on the climate

The climate in Argentina is determined by several factors.

The different winds are particularly important , as the relief of the country allows the air masses to spread rapidly due to the lack of distinctive mountain ranges in the central and eastern part. Even in the far north, with an almost tropical climate, there are frequent cold spells in winter, sometimes with frost.

While easterly winds prevail in the subtropical north, they blow from the west in the south. This has consequences for the distribution of precipitation: while the highest values ​​are measured in the north, east and on the eastern slopes of the low mountain ranges, it is significantly more humid in the south and west than in the east. There the degree of cloudiness on the Chilean western side of the Andes is so high that the eastern slopes still have considerable amounts of precipitation, which is also due to the relatively low heights of the Andes in this area.

Significant winds are as follows:

  • the Pampero , a dry southwest wind that can bring polar air masses over the Argentine northern border. It initially leads to violent thunderstorms, then mostly to dry and sunny, but cool, high pressure weather.
  • the Sudestada , a southeast wind from the area of ​​the South Atlantic. It causes heavy, long-lasting rainfall in eastern Argentina, especially in the pampas region.
  • the Zonda , a fall wind comparable to the foehn , which blows from the Andes and gives western Argentina a very sudden dry and hot weather in winter and spring. Because of this wind, it can reach up to 40 ° C in winter in the entire northwest half of Argentina.
  • the Norte , a hot and humid northeast wind, which, especially in the Chaco, ensures long periods of heat even in winter.

The distance between the various parts of the country and the Atlantic has an impact on temperature extremes. Temperatures in eastern Argentina are only 10–13 ° C apart between the coldest and warmest months (e.g. Mar del Plata 10 ° C, Buenos Aires : 13 ° C), while this value continues to rise to the west ( San Carlos de Bariloche 16 ° C, Mendoza 18 ° C). The north-west is an exception to this rule because of its tropical influence, which dampens temperature extremes in winter.

The influence of the Atlantic on precipitation is lower. Only in the Pampa region and in the northeast have areas close to the Atlantic significantly higher precipitation rates than areas remote from the Atlantic due to the prevailing easterly winds. In Patagonia the difference is extremely small.

Puna and high valleys

The Pune , the southern part of the Altiplano is a steppe to 3500- to desert-like plateau 4000  m height, which is covered by low shrubs, grasses and cacti. The plateau is broken through by some incisions, the high valleys, such as. B. the Quebrada de Humahuaca , which pull down to the next vegetation zone, the subtropical cloud forests. The puna can be found in the provinces of Jujuy , Salta and Catamarca .

The climate of the puna can be assigned to the so-called cold tropics : the difference between day and night temperatures is higher than the seasonal temperature difference. The mean temperature in summer is 15–20 ° C and in winter 7–12 ° C. The precipitation (80–300 mm per year) falls almost exclusively in summer.

Subtropical cloud and rainforests

Climate diagram Salta

This vegetation zone connects to the east of the Puna region. It is a species-rich rainforest that stretches along the eastern slopes of the last foothills of the Andes between the border with Bolivia in the north and the northeast of the province of Catamarca in the south.

A distinction is made between the rainforests (in the valley), which have almost disappeared due to deforestation, and the even more humid cloud forests (on the mountainside).

The climate is humid (800–1200 mm precipitation) with a pronounced rainy season in summer, whereas winters are much drier. Since easterly winds prevail in these latitudes, the clouds accumulate in the eastern slopes of the Andes and foreland and rain down there, which led to the formation of this vegetation zone. Depending on the altitude, temperatures are around 21–28 ° C in summer and around 12–18 ° C in winter.

The Gran Chaco plain

To the east of the subtropical rainforests is the Gran Chaco zone , a plain with savannah and dry forest landscape. The Argentine part of this plain, especially the south, has a milder climate with lower temperature extremes than the Paraguayan part and is therefore used for agriculture on a large scale. The Chaco landscape can be found in the provinces of Salta, Formosa , Chaco , Santiago del Estero , as well as in Santa Fe and Córdoba , where it merges almost imperceptibly into the Pampa plain.

The climate of the Chaco is subtropical (almost tropical in the north) and winter-dry in the west, with considerable rainfall in summer (500–1100 mm from west to east). The climate is more balanced in the east of the Chaco, near the Río Paraná , where rain can be found in all seasons. Temperatures are around 24–29 ° C in summer and around 12–20 ° C in winter, making the region the warmest in Argentina. The heat pole of South America is located in the east of the province of Salta in Rivadavia (48 ° C).

The subtropical rainforests of Misiones

The province of Misiones has its own vegetation zone, the always humid subtropical rainforest ( selva misionera ). It differs from the rainforest in the north-west in that it receives more rainfall and almost the same amount in all seasons, which makes its biodiversity even greater.

The climate is very humid (precipitation 1500–2200 mm / year) and subtropical, temperatures in summer are 24–26 ° C and in winter 15–18 ° C.

The Sierras Pampeanas

The Sierras Pampeanas are located in the northwest of central Argentina, in the provinces of Catamarca, La Rioja , San Juan , Córdoba and San Luis . Its vegetation, the Monte Serrano, shows similarities in the lower layers with that of the Chaco (dry forests, thorn savannahs). At higher altitudes there are also grassy plains, the so-called pampas serranas , with a very rough, windy climate.

The climate in the Sierras Pampeanas is relatively dry (precipitation approx. 250 to 750 mm per year from west to east), but there is a pronounced rainy season in the summer half-year. Temperatures in the valleys in summer are 23–28 ° C, at high altitudes at 18–24 ° C, in winter in the valleys at 9–15 ° C and at high altitudes at 5–11 ° C.

The arid Andes and the Andean foothills of the Cuyo

Climate diagram Mendoza

This vegetation zone coincides geographically with the southern central Andes in the provinces of Catamarca, La Rioja, San Juan and Mendoza . It is characterized by a dry climate and desert to steppe-like vegetation. Typical landscape is similar to that in the Sierras Pampeanas of the Monte , a shrub steppe in which thorny plants predominate.

The climate is warm-temperate . In summer, temperatures are around 21–27 ° C in the valleys and 17–23 ° C at high altitudes, while in winter they are 7–12 ° C and 2–8 ° C, respectively. The amount of precipitation is 150-300 mm per year. In the foothills of the Andes, more rain falls in summer than in winter, while in the Andes themselves, especially near the Chilean border, there is winter precipitation, e.g. T. as snow predominate.

Mesopotamia

This vegetation zone extends over the provinces of Corrientes and Entre Ríos . It differs from the nearby Chaco because of its higher humidity, which created swamps (particularly the Esteros del Iberá in the center of Corrientes, one of the largest marshlands in the world) and grasslands. The transition to the pampas on the one hand and the subtropical jungle of Misiones on the other hand is fluid. The region is used intensively for agriculture.

The climate is subtropical. In summer the temperatures are 23–28 ° C, in winter 11–17 ° C. The annual rainfall is between 900 and 1500 mm, with the northeast receiving the most rain.

The damp pampas

Climate diagram Buenos Aires

The humid pampas stretches from the southeast of the province of Córdoba over the south of Santa Fe to the eastern two thirds of the province of Buenos Aires . Originally it was a steppe-like, almost treeless grassland, but today it is used intensively for agriculture almost everywhere, which means that little of the original landscape is preserved. Even the originally looking pastures are by far no longer in their original condition due to the widespread sowing of forage plants.

The zone's climate is warm, temperate and humid. In summer the temperatures are between 19 and 25 ° C, in winter between 7 and 12 ° C, with the highest values ​​measured in the north-west. The precipitation rate is between 700 and 1200 mm, the rain falls in all seasons.

The dry pampas

The dry pampas are connected to the wet pampas to the west and the Sierras Pampeanas to the south. In contrast to the humid pampas, it is a scrub and dry forest landscape with Monte and frequent salt deserts and has a much more continental, windier and drier climate. You can find this landscape in the extreme south of the province of Cordoba, in the south of San Luis, in the province of La Pampa and in the southeast of the province of Mendoza.

The temperatures are between 19 and 26 ° C in summer and between 4 and 10 ° C in winter. The amount of precipitation is 250–700 mm per year, with slightly more rain falling in summer than in winter.

The Patagonian Andes

The Patagonian Andes connect to the Arid Andes to the south. They can be found in the provinces of Neuquén , Río Negro , Chubut and Santa Cruz . They differ from these in that they are almost entirely forested and have a very humid, temperate climate. This is due to the westerly wind climate of this zone, which brings precipitation from the Chilean side of the Andes over the Cordillera.

Temperatures in the valleys are 15–22 ° C in summer and 10–18 ° C at high altitudes. In winter 2 to 6 ° C or −2 to 3 ° C are reached. The precipitation is 600-3000 mm per year, with the highest values ​​near the Chilean border.

The Patagonian Monte

The Patagonian Monte is a low scrub forest landscape that adjoins the dry pampas to the south and, like in other Monte areas, is overgrown by mainly thorn bushes and hard grasses. They can be found in the south of the province of Buenos Aires and in the east of Neuquén, Río Negro and Chubut.

The area has a temperate, dry and windy steppe climate with 150 to 400 mm of precipitation per year, with winter being more humid than summer. The wind blows most strongly in spring and early summer and then decreases continuously until winter. Temperatures are around 18–24 ° C in summer and 6–10 ° C in winter.

The Patagonian steppe

The Patagonian steppe includes the south and west of the Patagonian Monte landscape to, those found in the provinces of Chubut and Santa Cruz and the north of the province of Tierra del Fuego (island of Tierra del Fuego ). In contrast to this, only dry grass is found here, but hardly any bushes or trees, which is why a geographical distinction is made between the two zones.

The climate of the area is cool, temperate and dry. In summer the temperature is 12–20 ° C, in winter 2–7 ° C. Snowfall is relatively rare. The annual rainfall is 150 mm in the north and 400 mm in the south.

The Tierra del Fuego moor and park landscape

Climate diagram Ushuaia

In the south of the province of Tierra del Fuego (island of Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados ) there is a separate vegetation zone that is much more humid than the steppe-like north of the island. You can find dense moist forests and moorland here.

The climate is cold temperate and oceanic. In summer the temperatures are around 8–12 ° C, in winter from −2 to +2 ° C. The amount of precipitation is 300–700 mm, there is rain in all seasons.

Bigger cities

Most of the big cities in Argentina lie on a very early settled axis between Buenos Aires and northwest Argentina, which corresponds to the previously important trade route to Lima in Peru .

  • Buenos Aires , whose metropolitan area comprises around 12 million people, is the capital of Argentina and is the most populous city. It is surrounded by a number of independent suburbs, some of which are pure dormitory cities, but some of which also have production facilities themselves. Buenos Aires dominates the national economy and media landscape, so that Argentina is often called a centrally organized country despite its federal structure.
  • The Córdoba metropolitan area , the second largest in the country with 1.4 million inhabitants, has larger production facilities and is home to the country's oldest university , which is also one of the largest. The city is the center of the automotive industry and is often referred to as the “inland capital”.
  • The conurbation of Rosario in the province of Santa Fe (1.3 million inhabitants) has the second largest port in the country. It also has a large university and is another center of the automotive and metal industries. Here is also the largest grain market in Argentina, where prices are set for the whole country.
  • The metropolitan area of Mendoza (967,000 inhabitants) is best known for its wine and fruit growing, but also serves as a bridgehead for trade with Santiago de Chile . All green spaces are artificially irrigated.
  • The conurbation of San Miguel de Tucumán (820,000 Ew.) Is the birthplace of independence and became economically and culturally influential through intensive agriculture, especially sugar cane cultivation, but has lost importance since the 1950s because of the crisis in this economic sector and Tucumán is today one of the cities with the highest poverty rate in the country. However, some of the labor has been absorbed by the relatively new industry. The universities in this city are known nationwide and are attended , for example, by students from Bolivia .
  • The urban area of La Plata (729,000 inhabitants) belongs to the outer catchment area of ​​Buenos Aires. La Plata is the capital of the province of Buenos Aires and is both an administrative and an industrial center (especially oil refineries). The city also has a large university.
  • The Mar del Plata agglomeration (626,000 inhabitants) is the busiest seaside resort on the Atlantic coast of the province of Buenos Aires and at the same time a center of fishing. The city hosts up to 3 million tourists in the summer.
  • Salta (502,000 inhabitants), capital of the province of the same name, is an industrial and commercial city in northwest Argentina; Besides, tourism is also a source of income.
  • Santa Fe (agglomeration: 488,000 inhabitants) is the capital of the province of the same name on the Río Paraná and, in addition to its administrative function, an industrial and port city.
  • The San Juan metropolitan area has 411,000 inhabitants. San Juan is the capital of the province of the same name in western Argentina and is the center of a large area characterized by agriculture and agro-industry, the oasis of the Valle de Tulum .

Mountains

Argentina is crossed by several mountain ranges, which mostly cross the country in a north-south direction. They are listed here from north to south and from west to east.

To the

The most striking mountains in Argentina are the Andes on the western border of the country. They reach their greatest height in Argentina at 6959  m on the Aconcagua .

A distinction is made between the following mountain ranges in the Argentine Andes:

  • the foothills of the central Andes in northwest Argentina (provinces Jujuy , Salta and Catamarca ), which have the same character further north to about Peru . They are divided into a main ridge (cordillera) in the west, on the border with Chile , and a slightly lower precordillera (roughly on a line between La Quiaca in Jujuy and Tinogasta in Catamarca). In between the plateau lies Puna on 3000- 3500  m height and three high valleys. The main ridge in particular is characterized by very high volcanoes such as Monte Pissis ( 6882  m ) and Ojos del Salado ( 6880  m ).
  • the southern central Andes in the central western provinces of Argentina (Catamarca, La Rioja , San Juan and Mendoza ). They consist of three only slightly apart, hardly distinguishable main ridges ( Cordillera Principal , Cordillera Frontal and Precordillera ), which consist almost exclusively of folding mountains. Here lies the highest mountain in Argentina, the Aconcagua .
  • the Patagonian Andes in Neuquén , Río Negro , Chubut and Santa Cruz . They are consistently lower than the central Andes and are a mixture of volcanoes and folding products. The highest peaks are the Monte Tronador in Río Negro and the Fitz Roy in Santa Cruz. The many lakes at the foot of the mountains are characteristic, the largest of them being Lago Argentino (Argentino Lake).

Subandine Sierren

The Subandine Sierren form an almost homogeneous mountain range, interrupted only by two larger incisions ( Valle de Jujuy and Valle de Lerma in Salta), which runs parallel to them east of the central Andes of northwestern Argentina. They range from the northeastern province of Salta over the west of Tucumán to the extreme north of the province of Catamarca. The mountain range reaches its highest heights in the south, where it merges into the Sierras Pampeanas . The highest point is the Nevado del Candado ( 5450  m ).

Sierras Pampeanas

The Sierras Pampeanas adjoin the Subandine Sierren to the southeast. There are several mountain ranges in north-south direction, some of which are far apart, with similar characteristics. While the western slopes of these mountains drop off steeply, the eastern slopes are flatter and penetrated by numerous valleys and gorges. The Sierras Pampeanas include several sierras in the east of the provinces of Catamarca, La Rioja, San Juan and Mendoza and in the west of Córdoba , San Luis and Santiago del Estero . The western sierras are generally higher than those located further to the east and merge almost seamlessly into the Andes , but geologically they are built up completely differently. The highest point is the Cerro Famatina with 6250  m .

See also: Sierras de Córdoba

Sierras Australes Bonaerenses

Although the Sierra de la Ventana and the Sierra de Tandil in the province of Buenos Aires are also referred to as Sierras Pampeanas in some publications, this is because they are in the landscape of the pampas , not because of similarities with the above-mentioned sierras. They are isolated, relatively low, low mountain ranges surrounded by plains. The highest point is the Cerro La Ventana in the Sierra de la Ventana with 1200  m .

Sierra Lihuel Calel

The Sierra Lihuel Calel is an isolated mountain range in the center of the province of La Pampa , which neither belongs to the Sierras Pampeanas nor to the Patagonian Meseta landscapes. In contrast to most other mountain ranges, it runs in an east-west direction. Its maximum height is only 499  m .

Patagonids

The Mesetas Patagoniens (Patagoniden) are mountain ranges with steeply sloping slopes, but no pronounced peaks. Instead, you will find plateaus at the highest elevations, so it is a tiered land. They cover the entire central area of ​​Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz and merge into the Andes in the west. In the east, the highest point is the Cerro Corona on the Meseta de Somuncurá at 1674  m . Temporary lakes and salt lakes as well as wadi-like dry rivers are characteristic.

High mountains

All six thousand meter peaks and some mountains below six thousand meters are listed below:


Cerro Torre

Lanín volcano in Argentina

Hydrology

Argentina only has a normal hydrological system of rivers, tributaries and lakes in the humid eastern part. The west and the center are largely without drainage areas, the waters of which often only carry significant water masses in the rainy season.

Rivers

The hydrography of Argentina can be divided into four major systems: the catchment area of ​​the Río de la Plata, which encompasses the entire north and east of Argentina, the Mar Chiquita system with no outflow, the catchment area of ​​the Río Colorado in western Argentina and the relatively small catchment areas of the parallel The Patagonian rivers Río Negro, Río Chubut, Río Deseado, Río Santa Cruz, Río Coig and Río Gallegos run towards each other. The water network on Tierra del Fuego and the South Atlantic Islands is comparatively insignificant.

There are other areas without drainage, especially in the northwest, west and south of Argentina, u. a. most of the Puna Plateau.

Catchment area of ​​the Río de la Plata (Paraná - Paraguay - Uruguay - Bermejo - Dulce)

The Río de la Plata with the greater Buenos Aires area at the bottom right

The most famous and richest rivers are located in the eastern part of the country. The Río Paraná and Río Uruguay , which come from Brazil and which unite at their meeting (near Zárate in the northern province of Buenos Aires) to form the Río de la Plata , a 50–150 km wide freshwater basin, should be mentioned here in particular . The Paraguay River , one of the tributaries, drains a large part of the Brazilian Pantanal wetland .

The Río Bermejo-Teuco , the longest river on Argentine territory, is particularly important for hydrology . It changes its name several times in its course between the central Andes and the Río Paraguay , it also has several alternative river beds such as the Río Bermejito , the Arroyo Guaycura and the Río Teuco . Its catchment area extends from southern Bolivia to the central province of Salta , so it drains the entire north-west of Argentina with the exception of the Puna plain and the catchment area of ​​Lake Mar Chiquita .

Further south, in the eastern Chaco, lies the Río Salado , whose catchment area also extends into the province of Salta. The Carcarañá River is instead for Southern Central Argentina of meaning and drains the southern province of Córdoba and east of San Luis.

Dulce-Mar Chiquita System

The lake Mar Chiquita (with 5,770 km² also the largest lake in Argentina) is an outflow-free salt lake in the northeast of the province of Córdoba , which is the outflow for a large part of central and northwestern Argentina. It is mainly fed by the Río Dulce and the smaller Río Suquía (also Río Primero ) and Río Xanaes (also Río Segundo ) and thus drains the provinces of Santiago del Estero, north of Córdoba, almost the entire province of Tucumán and the south of Salta .

Catchment area of ​​the Río Colorado

The Río Colorado rises on the border between the province of Mendoza and the province of Neuquén and flows into the Atlantic at Bahía San Blas in the south of the province of Buenos Aires . Its catchment area is, however, much larger, because it and its main tributary Río Salado del Oeste , which has several names on its course, e.g. B. Río Vinchina , Río Salado , Río Desaguadero and Río Chadileuvu , drains a wide area in western Argentina, between the northwest of the province of La Rioja via San Juan , Mendoza and western San Luis to the north of the Neuquén province.

Patagonian river systems

To the south of the Río Colorado, several rivers running roughly parallel drain the Patagonian plateau and the Patagonian Andes, with numerous lakes being formed, especially in the foothills. Between these rivers, however, there are sometimes quite large areas without drainage. The largest is located in the southern province of Chubut, her "drain" are the slightly saline lakes Lago pattern and Lago Lake Musters and Lake Colhue Huapi .

The Río Negro has its source near Bariloche as Río Limay and flows into the Atlantic at Viedma . Its only notable tributary is the Río Neuquén .

The Río Chubut drains almost the entire province of Chubut . It rises west of the town of Esquel in the southern Andes and flows into the Atlantic at Rawson . Its most important tributary, the Río Chico , drains the east of the province.

The Río Deseado drains the north of the province of Santa Cruz and, as one of the few Argentine rivers, also part of southern Chile . It rises south of the city of Coihaique (Chile) and has hardly any tributaries worth mentioning, with the exception of the canyon-like Río Pinturas , on which the famous Cueva de las Manos cave is located.

The Río Chico and Río Santa Cruz drain the central south of the Santa Cruz province and thus the lakes Lago Viedma and Lago Argentino as well as the nearby glacier area around the Los Glaciares National Park . At Puerto Santa Cruz they flow into an elongated, about 10 km wide basin.

The Río Coig or Coyle is a smaller river that drains a small part of the south of the Santa Cruz province. It has two arms, called Brazo Norte and Brazo Sur , both of which arise in the suburbs.

The Río Gallegos has its source near the city of Río Turbio and flows into the Atlantic Ocean at the city of Río Gallegos, which is named after it, in a basin up to 10 km wide, the Ría Gallegos . It has only a few, insignificant tributaries and also drains a small part of southern Chile.

Rivers on Tierra del Fuego

The rivers on the island of Tierra del Fuego are short, but some of them carry a relatively large volume of water.

The largest river here is the Río Grande , which flows into the Atlantic Ocean near the city of Río Grande . Parallel to the Río Grande, the smaller rivers Ewan , San Pablo , Irigoyen and Bueno flow into the Atlantic Ocean on the northeast coast. The coast of the Beagle Channel has no outstanding tributaries, as the mountainous land here abruptly drops into the sea and only allows small temporary streams to develop.

Major rivers

The most important rivers in Argentina are:

Lakes

Lake Argentino and Perito Moreno Glacier

Argentina has two major lake areas: one in the southern Andes, the other in the plains of the western pampas.

Lakes of the southern Andes

The most extensive lake area in Argentina lies at the foot of the southern Andes, where a long chain of meltwater lakes extends from the province of Neuquén to Tierra del Fuego . The lakes are usually quite deep and are partly fed by glaciers , the most famous of which is the Perito Moreno Glacier in southern Santa Cruz . The largest lakes in these groups are Lago Argentino and Lago Viedma , both with over 1,000 km².

Flatlands

In the western central pampas and in the southern Chaco there are numerous flatland lakes, some of which are only a few meters deep and sometimes salty . The largest of these areas is in the western province of Buenos Aires and in the south of Santa Fe , where a ring of mostly very shallow lakes stretches along between Venado Tuerto and Bahía Blanca . Another extensive lake district can be found in the north of the province of Santa Fe and in the southern Chaco .

The two large lakes, Lago Musters and Lago Colhué Huapí , are located in Central Patagonia , isolated from the rest of the Argentine lakes , about 200 km inland from Comodoro Rivadavia .

Salt lakes and salt pans

There are a large number of salt lakes in the north-west, center and south-east of Argentina, which often become salt pans or salt deserts in dry periods . The Salinas Grandes in the northwest of the province of Córdoba , the Salinas de Ambargasta in Santiago del Estero , a little further north, and the Arizaro and Antofalla salt pans in the provinces of Salta and Catamarca are the largest of these.

Reservoirs

In the mountainous west of Argentina, there are a multitude of reservoirs that cover a large part of the country's electricity generation. The largest is the Embalse Ramos Mexia in the provinces of Neuquén and Río Negro . The Embalse Cerros Colorados , also in Neuquén, and the Embalse Río Hondo in Tucumán and Santiago del Estero are also important .

There are also dams on the Río Paraná and Río Uruguay ( Salto Grande in Entre Ríos together with Uruguay and Yacyretá in Misiones together with Paraguay ), the reservoirs of which are very elongated and imperceptibly merge into the normal river courses.

The largest lakes

The largest lakes in Argentina are:

Islands

The Islas Malvinas from space

Argentina has a long coastline on the South Atlantic , but for geological reasons it has relatively few islands, apart from the areas claimed by Argentina - the Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands . The Argentine lakes and especially the delta of the Río Paraná have significantly more islands than the Atlantic coast. Isla Martín García in the Río de la Plata occupies a special position , as it is the only exclave in Argentina.

There are five island groups on the Argentine Atlantic coast:

Bahía Blanca

There are around 25 smaller islands in the shallow bay of Bahía Blanca. They are all flat and are therefore often inundated during floods. The largest of these islands is Isla Trinidad , which is 207 km² in size and the only one of these islands that has developed hydrography with small rivers and streams. This is followed by the Isla del Palo (a peninsula at low tide) and the Isla Bermejo . Overall, the islands are as good as uninhabited (Isla Trinidad had 2 inhabitants at times), but there are some clubs and accommodation for nature lovers on the islands closer to the city of Bahía Blanca.

Bahía Anegada and Bahía San Blas

Bahía Anegada Bay in the extreme south of the Province of Buenos Aires is the largest Wadden Sea in Argentina. There are several islands in it, all of which are flat and are therefore often partially inundated during high water. The largest and only inhabited of them is the Isla Jabalí on which the seaside resort Bahía San Blas (1,500 inhabitants) is located on the bay of the same name. Other larger islands are the Isla Flamenco , the Isla de los Cesares and the Isla Gama .

Valdés peninsula

There are around 10 small rock islands around the Valdés peninsula . The best known is the Isla de los Pájaros , which is only 1 km² in size, in the Golfo San José to the west, where there is a bird sanctuary. However, most of the islands are located in the Caleta Valdés Bay on the east coast of the peninsula. All islands are uninhabited.

80 km south of the Peninsula Valdes is the small Isla Escondida (approx. 3 km²) near the nature reserve Punta Tombo .

Cabo Dos Bahías

Several small archipelagos are located around Cape Cabo Dos Bahías in the south of the province of Chubut, near the village of Camarones (1,500 inhabitants). They are all uninhabited and are protected. The largest are the Isla Tova and the Isla Arce , there are also the Islas Blancas (approx. 5 km² in total), the Isla Leones and the Isla Rasa . There are sea lion colonies on the islands of Arce and Leones.

Santa Cruz Province

There are small islands in some of the bays and estuaries of the Santa Cruz province:

  • Rock islands in the estuary of the Río Deseado (less than 1 km² in size)
  • Rock islands in the bay of Bahía San Julián near Puerto San Julián , largest island: Isla Cormorán (1.5 km²).
  • the Isla Deseada at the mouth of the Río Gallegos (3 km²)

Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados

The island of Tierra del Fuego is the largest island that partially belongs to Argentina. The largest part (27,000 km²) in the west of the island, however, belongs to Chile . The Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego covers an area of ​​more than 20,000 km².

Directly east of Tierra del Fuego is the Isla de los Estados , also known under the German name of States Island. It is 63 km long and 5 km wide, making it the second largest island in Argentina, but has no regular inhabitants as it is under nature protection.

The islands of Picton , Lennox and Nueva and all the islands south of the Beagle Channel up to Cape Horn and the Diego Ramírez Islands were only claimed by Argentina since 1904 and 1971 respectively. In 1977, however, the arbitration tribunal in the Beagle conflict definitely awarded the islands to Chile.

Listing by size

Natural resources

Valuable mineral ores and rocks are only found in small amounts in Argentina, such as gold , silver , copper , lead , zinc , iron , tin , tungsten , mica , uranium and limestone . Most of the occurrences are limited to the Andes region and the Sierras Pampeanas . However, it is believed that significantly more resources could be discovered with better prospecting.

The largest mines are El Aguilar in the western Jujuy Province and the newer Campo Arenal in the Catamarca Province . In Chilecito ( La Rioja province ) is the historic mine of La Mejicana , which is closed today, but which used to be the highest cable car in the world at an altitude of almost 5000  m .

The oil and gas deposits are economically more important . They are concentrated in the northwest (especially Jujuy and Salta ), Neuquén (region around Rincón de los Sauces and Cutral-Có ), the area around the bay of Golfo San Jorge ( Comodoro Rivadavia and Caleta Olivia ) and off the coast.

Larger oil deposits have also been proven in the Malwinen area , although the territorial dispute with Great Britain and the high investment costs have made exploitation impossible so far. The same applies to areas near the Antarctic , where the Antarctic Treaty excludes economic use for reasons of nature conservation.

Flora and fauna

According to the very different climatic zones of Argentina, the vegetation and the fauna also vary greatly. In total, around twelve percent of the land area is forested.

flora

An American plane tree

In hot-humid tropical and subtropical rainforests in the north grow tropical plants, such as rose wood ( Dalbergia ) Guajakholzbäume ( Guaiacum officinale ), Rosewood ( Jacaranda mimosifolia ) and Quebracho trees ( schinopsis lorentzii ) from which tannin is extracted, but also palm trees .

The Gran Chaco , also located in the north, has savanna-like vegetation, which is dominated by the Algarrobo trees (mainly Prosopis alba and Prosopis nigra ), Quebracho also occurs. The south and east of the Chaco, with its milder climate, is used intensively for agriculture, while the north is still largely original.

The pampas are characterized by extensive grasslands with a wide variety of grasses . Apart from eucalyptus ( Eucalyptus ), American plane trees ( Platanus occidentalis ) and acacias ( Acacia ), there are no trees here; the former two genera are not native. The reason is not the climate of the region, which would allow forest cover, but the nature of the very fine stone-free soil, which preferred the grasses over the trees in evolution. Due to the quality of the soil, agricultural development is also possible, so that only little original vegetation has survived.

Patagonia is already in the shadow of the Andes and is a barren and largely treeless landscape. Here, as in the pampas, the grasses predominate, but the vegetation is adapted to the much drier conditions. There is also a wide variety of herbaceous plants and bushes . Because of the stony soil, grain cultivation is not possible, instead the grasslands are used as sheep pasture.

In the foothills of the southern Andes and on Tierra del Fuego, there are extensive coniferous forests with spruce ( Picea ), cypress ( Cypressus ), pine ( Pinus ), cedar ( Cedrus ) and other timber. There are isolated groups of false beeches ( Nothofagus ) near the Chilean border . A specialty is the Pehuén (also called Araucaria ), a tree species only native to the southern Andes with a long trunk and a pronounced umbrella-shaped treetop. The tree line is around 2000  m .

In the arid semi-deserts of the dry, northern highlands of the Andes, there are many cacti (Cactaceae) and thorn bushes . Otherwise the flora is similar to that in Patagonia.

The flower of the Ceibo (German: cockscomb tree or coral tree) is one of the national symbols as a so-called “national flower” .

fauna

Guanacos - a wild form of the llama

In the tropical north, the fauna is extremely diverse. Here you can mainly find different species of monkeys , jaguars , pumas , ocelots , raccoons , coatis , anteaters , but also tapirs , umbilical pigs and reptiles such as snakes and alligators . The bird life here is home to hummingbirds , flamingos and parrots . Piranhas can also be found in the rivers, along with many other fish .

In the Pampa is one armadillos , maned wolves , pampas foxes , pampas cat , pampas deer , rheas , various birds of prey such as hawks and herons .

In the barren areas of the Andes you can meet the wild llamas , guanacos and vicuñas , as well as the Andean condor . Predators are the mountain cat , the puma and the Andean jackal . Migratory birds such as flamingos are often found at salt lakes.

In Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego , animal life is poor in species. Pumas, rheas and guanacos also live here; the pudú is a small deer from the southern Andes. Cormorants also nest on Tierra del Fuego . The Patagonian coasts are home to Magellanic penguins and colonies of South American fur seals and maned seals .

The coastal waters of Argentina are home to southern right whales , orcas and Commerson's dolphins , as well as hake , sardines , mackerel and dorados .

See also

literature

  • José A. Friedl Zapata: Argentina. Nature, society, history, culture, economy. Erdmann Verlag, Tübingen / Basel 1978, ISBN 3-7711-0307-X

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See: Beagle Channel Arbitration between the Republic of Argentina and the Republic of Chile, 1977, Report and Decision of the Court of Arbitration (PDF; 4.9 MB)