As we travel around the southern part of Argentina & Chile (Patagonia) we thought we'd share a small bit of information about the geography here...
Patagonia is the name of the region and encompasses an area that is shared between Chile & Argentina. We're yet to travel the Chilean side but within Argentinean Patagonia there are a number of provinces that are part of the region and these are
- Tierra del Fuego (translates to Land of Fire and is an island only joined to the mainland of both Argentina & Chile by ferry). Tierra del Fuego is the southernmost province and where Ushuaia is located; along with its sister city Rio Grande, on the east coast of Tierra del Fuego.
San Sebastian is north of Rio Grande and this is where the border between Argentina & Chile is. - Santa Cruz - The next province (north of Tierra del Fuego) - the city of Rio Gallegos (pronounced Rio Gaj-ee-gos") is on the east coast of this province. El Calafate & El Chalten are also part of this province - and this is where we are at the moment (stay tuned for posts to come).
- Chubut - next door (north) to Santa Cruz - we'll be pretty much flying over this province en route from El Calafate to Bariloche.
- Rio Negro will also be a province that we travel through - this is where Bariloche (our destination for early-mid January) is located. Bariloche is also the area of the Lakes District of Patagonia.
- Nequen - north of Rio Negro (we're not travelling through here)
- La Pampa - East of Nequen (again, we're not travelling this far north in Patagonia)
Patagonia is also the southern part of the Andes Mountains.