San Juan (province, Argentina)

• 🌍 San Juan – the provincial captial
• 🌍 San José de Jáchal

• 🌍 Ischigualasto Provincial Park aka the Moon Valley
• 🌍 Barreal – a village up against the Andes Cordillera

This province has an area of 89,651 km² (34,614 sq mi), within which stands out a mountainous relief with sparse vegetation, fertile oases, turbulent rivers from the Andean snowmelt, mountains and important paleontological sites.

Economically, agriculture is a key industry, standing out with the wine industry, being the second producer in Argentina and in South America. A good variety of fruits and vegetables are also produced that are produced in the fertile valleys irrigated by artificial channels at the foot of the Andes.

Because of the arid, steppe-like character of the province, most of the population lives concentrated in a few oasis valleys. Over 80% live in Gran San Juan (approx. 450,000 inhabitants), the metropolitan area around San Juan in the Tulum oasis. Other important cities are Caucete in the east of the province (38,000 inhabitants) and San José de Jáchal (11,000 inhabitants) in the north.

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Airport (UAQ ^IATA) is the main way to enter via air. It receives flights from Buenos Aires on a daily basis.

National Route 40 follows a south-north route through the province between the region of Media Agua in the south and the province of La Rioja in the north.

In the west of the province, National Road 149 (which also has a north–south route) connects National Route 7 in the town of Uspallata in Mendoza to National Route 150 in the locality of Las Flores within San Juan.

The province is also crossed by National Route 20 which runs from Córdoba to San Juan.

San Juan is known for its modern architecture – the kind not found in other Argentine cities, with wide tree-lined streets, hardwood parks, plazas and walkways, in the middle of the desert of San Juan, earning it the nickname of 'city oasis'.

Ischigualasto Provincial Park or Valle de la Luna (lit. Moon Valley) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for its moon-like landscape.

As in all of Argentina, rich roasts, empanadas, locros are popular, but the chacinados stand out in San Juan, as it's a tradition to raise pigs in this province.

There's a good Syrah variety of red wine in San Juan, you can drink red wine – the most outstanding varietal among those most produced in the province for weather reasons and sparkling wines produced in cellars come from the San Juan mountains.