Where Is Patagonia South America

Where is Patagonia? The answer is in South America. Patagonia is located in the southernmost part of South America falling mostly in Argentina and partly in Chile. It includes the Andes Mountains in the south and west and plateau and low lying plane in the east.

The Spanish explorer, Magellan first found where Patagonia is and called the inhabitants Patagons. He used the word to describe them as giants because they belonged mostly to the Tehuelches and Aonikenk whose average heights were about 511. The Spanish of that time hardly measured 51 at an average in those times.

To be precise about where is Patagonia – it lies south of the Neuquen and Colorado rivers in the east of Andes and to the west it stretches just up to the part to exclude Chiloe Archipelago. The Argentine provinces of Patagonia are Chubut, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Santa Cruz and the Tierra Del Feugo and also touch the southern tips of the provinces of Buenos Aires, Mendoza and La Pampa. On the west, the Chilean area covers the southern portion of the region of Los Lagos and Aysen and Magallanes. It does not stretch to those areas of Antarctica claimed by both the countries.

The question that comes after where is Patagonia? is what is Patagonia? Patagonia is vast steppe-like region. It has terraces rising abruptly for about 100 meters covered by shingles and having sparse vegetation. There are ponds and lakes formed into the hollows of the plain and have both brackish and fresh water. As one moves towards the Andes the rock character transforms from shingles to porphyry, granite and basalt lava while the vegetation increases and so does the variety of animals. This is attributed to the rainfall that the region near the Andes gets.

The Patagonia is home to a wide range of vegetation due to its variation in climate and topography. The south-western coast comprises of the Magellanic moorland which consists of moorland, bogs and dwarf shrubs. An evergreen temperate rainforest of southern beech grows in the ice-fields while mixed deciduous woodland is found in the areas with low precipitation. The eastern slopes of Andes also have areas of rain forest and bogs while a grassland with low shrubs cover the eastern plains. Knowing where Patagonia is is incomplete without knowing its vegetation.

The last one need to know to complete ones quest of where is Patagonia is to know the fauna of the region. The area is home to the guanaco, a kind of Lama; the cougar; the Brazilian fox; zorrino, a type of skunk and tuco-tuco, a subterranean rodent. These animals are unique to the region. The bird live native to the region is abundant and comprises of such species as carancho, the carrion-hawk; long-tailed green parakeets; hummingbirds, flamingo, upland-goose and emperor penguins. It also has the southern right whale and Orca besides begin home to the elephant seals. Wikipedia