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The Argentine Republic presents a great variety of beautiful scenery as a result of very dissimilar climatic, geological and biological features. According to these natural conditions, the country is subdivided into six geographical regions. The Patagonia is the southernmost region and comprises the provinces of Río Negro, Neuquén, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego. 
The climate in Patagonia is semi-arid and arid,
with yearly mean temperatures below 12º. Towards the east, along the Atlantic coast, the climate is cold and dry and the predominant landscape is the steppe. The landscape, marked by staggered plateaus, intersected by river valleys and lowlands; it also features the presence of low bushes, uneven vegetation, like the llareta, juncal and the coirón (Festuca gracillima). To the west, following the Andean Mountains, the relief is mountainous and holds back the magellanic forest. The landscape is crossed by a number of courses of water from snow thaw and lakes of glaciary origin, remains of the last glaciation in the continental ice field, like the still majestic Perito Moreno. The temperature varies with altitude. Predominant winds from the west are humid and generate abundant precipitation with a maximum during the winter. The slopes are covered with forests that normally reach up to the level of permanent snow. The Andean-Patagonian forests present two levels: the arboreal, that can surpass 20 meters in height, the undergrowth, formed by bushes like the notro or the calafate and colihue cane. Among the arboreal species there are conifers y fagaceae: the pehuén, the giant lahuán or Patagonian larch tree, the lipain or Patagonian cypress, the coihue, quetri or myrtle, raulí, radal, ñire, maitén and the lenga. The human action introduced vegetal and animal species that have adapted by developing survival mechanisms in the region, like the rosa mosqueta rose, European deer, wild boar, beaver (only in Tierra del Fuego), mink and salmonids, among others. Within the native continental fauna we find deer, like the huemul and pudú, in addition to pumas, maras and Patagonian hare, guanaco, fox, condor, black-necked swan and ostrich. The jaguar lived in northern Patagonia until extermination by man in the XIX Century. In the coastal fauna we find sea wolves and sea elephants, penguins, petrels. Cormorans and right whales. The National Park Administration had an important presence in the Patagonian region, and many of these important protected areas are now important tourist attractions. In the region you find, among others, the Lanin National Park, the Nahuel Huapi and Los Glaciares, which were jointly declared by UNESCO, World Heritage Sites. The Los Glaciares National Reserve and Park, protects the area that goes from the Continental Ice Field towards the east. The Viedma Glaciar, over the lake of the same name, and the Upsala and Onelli, Spegazzini, Mayo and Perito Moreno glaciers in the Lago Argentino, among the largest. This field covers the Patagonian mountain range along 350 kilometers and is shared with Chile. Other argentine national parks in the region are: Los Arrayanes, Los Alerces, Laguna Blanca, Lago Puelo, Perito Moreno, Monte León, Tierra del Fuego, Petrified Forests, and the Valdés Peninsula being in the same category of World Heritage Sites, one of the largest reserves of marine fauna. The Patagonian region, as a whole, is one of the largest natural regions in the planet, comprised by vast plains, mountains and Andean forests, spectacular deserts, beaches and oceanic coasts with unique faunal resources in the planet, added to a low demographic density, with reminiscences of the history of its original peoples expressed in the art and its culture. All this attracts millions of tourists a year that choose this place to spend their vacations. For information on the different Patagonian provinces you can contact
the official organizations of each province. Tierra del Fuego Subsecretaría de Turismo de la Provincia de Santa Cruz Secretaría de Turismo de la Provincia de Chubut Subsecretaría de Turismo de la Provincia de Neuquén Ministerio de Turismo de la Provincia de Río Negro |
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