"YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL" a Neuquén Travel Page by Orkaena

Neuquen is the place where I live now, this patagonic province is located at the northwest of the region named "Patagonia", the southernmost region of Argentina, the american continent and even the whole world.
Nailed in the desert, this city rests on the junction of two rivers which flows from the (not too far) mountains to the ocean, Neuquen and Limay rivers.
At more or less 170 kilometers to the west the majestic Cordillera de Los Andes, and at 400 kilómeters to the east the turbulent South Atlantic Ocean.

"Neuquen" is an aboriginal word. A Mapuche word. The meaning?
"Brave".
Very appropriated name for this mountain river with transparent waters like crystals and cold as a piece of ice.
This terroir belonged to the Mapuche people, a noble tribe whom ruled the northpatagonia lands along 1000 years.
150 years ago the white men arrived and broken the peace, the history is repeated as in the whole american colonization process, crime, steal, genocide and subjugation.
Now the land belongs to a modern white people republic and the city of Neuquen celebrated his first hundred years in 2004. City of inmigrants with a population of 250.000 , the age average of his inhabitants is the youngest of the country, 29 years old...

The patagonic steppe is composed by an amazing palette of colors, red, ocre, beige, and a hard, short, inhospitable vegetation fighting for survival against the dry land and the wind.
This is a partial view of the city of Neuquén behind the borders of the red patagonic meseta, "La Barda", looking straight to the south.