Confluencia is a department located in the east of

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. It also meets La Pampa Provinc ...

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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

Neuquén Neuquén (; arn, Nehuenken) is the capital city of the Argentine province of Neuquén and of the Confluencia Department, located in the east of the province. It occupies a strip of land west of the confluence of the Limay and Neuquén river ...

, the capital city of the province, is located in this department. The department is named ''Confluencia'' after the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the rivers

and

Limay Limay, officially the Municipality of Limay ( tl, Bayan ng Limay), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 78,272 people. Limay is accessible via the Bataan Provin ...

Geography

The department borders on the north with

Añelo Department Añelo is a department located in the east of Neuquén Province, Argentina. Geography The Department is bounded by Pehuenches Department in the north, Rio Negro Province to the east, Confluencia Department on the southeast, Zapala Department to ...

, on the east and southeast with Rio Negro Province, on the southwest with

Picún Leufú Department Picún Leufú is a department located in the east of Neuquén Province, Argentina. Geography The Department limits with Confluencia Department at northeast, Rio Negro Province at southeast, Collón Curá Department at southwest, Catán Lil Dep ...

and with

Zapala Department Zapala is a department located in the center of Neuquén Province, Argentina. Geography The Department limits with Confluencia Department Confluencia is a department located in the east of Neuquén Province in Argentina. Neuquén, the capital ci ...

on the west.

Economy

Agriculture

Agriculture is one of the most important activities in the area. The major productions in the zone are

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, n ...

es and

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosacea ...

Power sources

Electricity

In Confluencia Department there are many important power sources. In

Villa El Chocón Villa El Chocón is a village and municipality in Neuquén Province in southwestern Argentina. The village was initially created to house the workmen building the Ezequiel Ramos Mexía dam (colloquially known as El Chocón Dam) on the Limay River. ...

is located El Chocón Dam, one of the most important electricity sources of the country, with

Yacyretá Dam The Yacyretá Dam or Jasyretâ-Apipé Hydroelectric Power Station (from Guaraní ''jasy retã'', "land of the moon") is a dam and hydroelectric power plant built over the waterfalls of Jasyretâ-Apipé in the Paraná River, between the Paraguaya ...

located in

Misiones Province Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes ...

. The power generated by the dam is 222 MVA for each generator, and 180 MVA for each transformer. A new kind of production of energy used in the province, as in the department, is

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...

but on a small scale.

Petroleum

In the Confluencia Department area, petroleum is extracted mostly in the El Chocón area.

Culture

In the department there are important museums located in the capital city,

, and an important paleontologic museum located in

Villa el Chocón Villa El Chocón is a village and municipality in Neuquén Province in southwestern Argentina. The village was initially created to house the workmen building the Ezequiel Ramos Mexía dam (colloquially known as El Chocón Dam) on the Limay River. ...

managed by Ruben Carolini, who discovered one of the most important pieces in exhibition at the museum, the ''

Giganotosaurus carolinii ''Giganotosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina, during the early Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 99.6 to 95 million years ago. The holotype specimen was discovered in th ...

'' in 1995. {{coord, 38, 57, 05, S, 68, 03, 33, W, source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Departments of Neuquén Province