Calingasta is a department of the province of
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Juan Province, Argentina
* San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province
* San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province
* San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
(
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
). It is the southwestern corner of the province, which is predominantly a landscape of
mountains
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...
and rivers. It is characterized by its production of
apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
s and by tourism, mainly in the tourist towns of Barreal and
Tamberías
Origin of name
Several meanings that have been given to indigenous root of this word. People of the inhabitants of Calían. Skirt or safe or major hills. Transforming Catalve "(River of the hillside), as the area was called Calingasta prior to the arrival of the Spaniards.
Geography
The department Calingasta comprises the southwest corner of the province of San Juan. It is west of the
City of San Juan with an area of . Its boundaries are:
* To the north with the
Iglesia Department
Iglesia is a department of the province of San Juan Province (Argentina), San Juan, Argentina. It is located in the northwest mountainous corner of this province with substantial vegetation. Iglesia is one of the most visited departments in the pr ...
* To the south with the
Mendoza Province
Mendoza, officially Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the republic o ...
* To the east with the departments of
Sarmiento,
Zonda, and
Ullum
* To the west with the
Republic of Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
Relief
Calingasta has a rugged, hilly topography due to its location is at the foot of the Andes. The mountain
Mercedario
Cerro Mercedario is the highest peak of the Cordillera de la Ramada range and the eighth-highest mountain of the Andes. It is located 100 km to the north of Aconcagua, in the Argentine province of San Juan. It was first ascended in 1934 ...
is the eighth-highest mountain of the Andes with an altitude of . It is located north of
Aconcagua
Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the List of highest mountains on Earth, highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in the ...
. It is possible to highlight an area precordillerana lower height as the first with numerous mountain cave highlight the
Sierra del Tontal
The Sierra del Tontal is a mountain range in the southern part of San Juan Province, Argentina.
The range is in the precordillera area of La Rioja, San Juan and Mendoza, in the Cuyo region.
It extends south of the Sierra del Tigre, from which i ...
. The soil is mainly desert with little vegetation cover except on the river banks in the valleys.
Climate
The climate is mostly desert with little precipitation, highlighting marked thermal amplitudes, with notable differences in temperature between night and day, a major solar radiation.
Departments of San Juan Province, Argentina
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