"The gateway to the Patagonia" Neuquén by saantfv

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 Province at its northeast corner.
The province's limits are set by the Colorado River to the Northeast, separating it from the Mendoza Province, the Limay River to the Southeast facing the Río Negro Province, and the Andes mountain range to the west, separating it from Chile.

There are two main distinctive landscapes; the mountainous fertile valleys with forest on the West, and the arid plateau with fertile land only near the basins of the rivers on the East, mainly the Limay River and Neuquén River.

The lacustrine system includes other less important rivers such as Aluminé River, Malleo, and Picún Leufú River, and a series of lakes including the Nahuel Huapi Lake (550 km²), shared with the Río Negro Province, the Aluminé Lake (58 km²), Lácar Lake (49 km²), Huechulaufquen Lake (110 km²), Lolog (35 km²), Traful, Hermoso, Quillén, Ñorquinco, Tromen and Falkner.

The weather is continental and cold, with temperate summers, and in the arid regions a wide difference in temperature between day and night. There is also a big contrast in humidity, with regular precipitations of up to 4.000 mm in some regions of the Andean part of the province.

The province is home of the magnificent Arrayanes forest at the Los Arrayanes National Park. Other National parks include Lanín National Park and the Lanín extinct volcano, the Nahuel Huapí National Park shared with the Río Negro Province, and the Laguna Blanca National Park.

Neuquen is one of Argentina's most prosperous provinces, its estimated US$7 billion economy in 2006 (the country's eighth largest, despite its small population) generated a per capita income of US$14,700, Argentina's fourth highest and two-thirds above the national average.[1]

No province in Argentina, however, is as dependent on any one sector as is Neuquen's. Roughly half its output is accounted for by its mining and extractive sector, mainly on account of its massive gas and petroleum production, the most important in Argentina.

The province generates a significant part of Patagonia's electric power through the hydroelectric plants of Piedra del Águila, El Chocón, Pichi Picún Leufú, Planicie Banderita (in the Cerros Colorados Complex), and Alicurá. The town of Arroyito hosts the only heavy water plant in the country.
Another important activity is the production of apples, pears, peaches and others, specially in the Alto Valle area, shared with Río Negro.

Destination of many Argentines and foreigners, the province has many and varied options for winter and summer; San Martín de los Andes, Villa La Angostura, Camino de los Siete Lagos, Los Arrayanes National Park, Lanín National Park, Nahuel Huapí National Park, Laguna Blanca National Park, and the Copahue hot baths are just some of them. For the winter season, there are the ski centres of Chapelco, Cerro Bayo and Caviahue.

Many explore the lake district region of Southwestern Neuquén that stretches into Río Negro and Chubut Provinces. Another form of tourism is the fishing excursions of mainly the trout, where spinning, trolling and fly casting in the Limay and Neuquén rivers, but also in different smaller streams.

Aerial view of Neuquén city

The city of Neuquén , the provincial capital, - the place where i live- is located on the east of Neuquen territory in Confluence department , where the waters converge from two major rivers: Limay and Neuquen, which are its natural limits and bring life into a fertile valley surrounded by highlight typical Patagonian plateaus. The city is located within the tourist area called "la estepa de los dinosaurios"("steppe of the dinosaurs")

Neuquen is one of the most important cities in Patagonia, both as an economic, political and administrative province of Neuquen and for its great social and cultural development, caused largely by the continuing migration came from the alluvium within the province from other provinces and neighboring Republic of Chile in the quest to improve quality of life.
Neuquén is a city in constant growth, modern, integrated with nature, his name in the Mapuche language means bold, powerful and arrogant

• Pros:Natural landscapes, great cultural and tourist development. Options for everyone
• Cons:Aloof from B.A
• In a nutshell:Neuquen: earthly paradise