Location
Mendoza is located in the central-western zone of the most southern country of South America. It forms part of the Cuyo Region, and it is bordered by the Province of San Juan to the north, by the Province of San Luis to the east, by the Provinces of La Pampa y Neuquén to the south, and by the Republic of Chile to the west. Its location allows Mendoza to be an important trade passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.
Mendoza’s surface has 148,827 km2, and its exact location is between 31.59º and 37.33º of South Latitude; and between 63.30º and 70.35º of West Longitude.
Population: cultural and religious aspects
At present, Mendoza’s population reaches 1,675,309 inhabitants. The population’s structure, considering large age groups, indicates that 62.22% of the population corresponds to people between 15 and 65 years old, 29.91% to people under 15 years old, and 7.87 % to people older than 65.
Historically, Mendoza has been an open society, having received successive immigrations which have been incorporated to its cultural wealth. Since the beginning of the XIX century, Mendoza has received immigrants without distinction of race, creed or ideology.
The province of Mendoza was also the departure point and the manager of one of the most important military campaigns of the XIX century, of a unique complexity and audacity for that time: the crossing of the Andes and the further liberation of Chile and Peru.
In a desertic geography, with permanent hard work and modern irrigation techniques, the Mendocinean people created oases which nowadays irrigate more than 360,000 hectares, 25% of the country’s irrigated surface.
Education
In Mendoza, approximately 80% of the population is urban. Teaching is ensured in three levels of education, and 97% of the population is literate.
Apart from primary and secondary schools, Mendoza has eight universities and seven university technological institutes with numerous agreements with foreign universities. There is an offer of about 400 tertiary, university and post grade programs, which cover most of the university careers dictated all around the country.
Over the last years, the province has greatly increased its exchange programs with grade and post grade teachers and students from Spain, France, Switzerland and Germany. Also, an interesting research activity in arid and semi-arid zones is carried out by the CONICET Research Center, which all universities have access to.
Geologic Relief
As regards its geologic relief, Mendoza presents well differentiated structures, with clear features determined by the strong geo-morphological contrasts of its territory, between the mountains and the plains.
The Andes Mountain Range runs all along the west of the Province. Its heights of over 4,500m reach its maximum expression in Mount Aconcagua -6.959 m above sea level-, which is also the highest peak of the American Continent. The Andes Range and Mount Aconcagua are important attraction centers for many foreign tourists who visit our Province. Towards the south, the region is dominated by a conformation of modern and volcanic relieves, in clear transition to the Patagonian landscape.
The zone of plains is located in the eastern sector and in the basin of the Desaguadero River. The formation of the Mendocinean oases is largely due to the water provided by five important rivers: Mendoza, Tunuyán, Diamante, Atuel and Río Grande, which carry down melted water from the high mountains.
Climate
The characteristic climate of our Province is identified by very dry summers with more humid winters. The average temperatures for January (summer) are 30° C during the day and 23° C at night. The average temperatures for July (winter) are 12° C during the day and 0° C at night.
Besides, the great diversity of relief combines climatic conditions which are also contrasting: on one hand, the cold mountainous climate with snow precipitations in winter which nurture the rivers of Mendoza with the summer melting; and on the other hand, the warm summer climate of the plains which give Mendoza its own identity. Although the Province has an arid climate with the typical influence of a low rainfall and a great daily and seasonal thermal amplitude, this aridity is interrupted by the oases of Cuyo which are formed by the rivers being born from the mountain glaciers.
The Mendocinean Oases
The Province of Mendoza is in the arid diagonal of Argentina. This is an extensive land strip which covers almost 75% of the national territory, characterized by low rainfall although it has a great variety of landscapes. All these conditions have forced men to reduce their settlements to the zones where water can be found. Thanks to water and to the work of men, it was possible to make these soils productive, even though they have natural aptitudes for the development of agricultural activities.
In Mendoza there are 3 main oases:
1) North Oasis: It is the most extensive of the Province and one of the most important at national level. It covers completely or part of the following departments:
• Capital
• Godoy Cruz
• Guaymallén
• Junín
• Las Heras
• La Paz
• Lavalle
• Luján de Cuyo
• Maipú
• Rivadavia
• San Martín
• Santa Rosa
The North Oasis is generated from the water of the Mendoza and Tunuyán Rivers; the former being the river that also provides drinkable water to the agglomerate Gran Mendoza, which concentrates 75% of the total provincial population. The historical importance of this oasis takes root in the fact that it is located in the main access path to Chile, a country with which an active trade activity has been maintained since colonial times.
2) Central Oasis: This is inserted in the Uco Valley, and it is framed by the frontal Andes Range to the west and by the Huayquerías to the east. It comprises the following departments:
• San Carlos
• Tunuyán
• Tupungato
Its origin goes back to the foundation of the San Carlos Fort, in 1770, which allowed the Spanish and the Criollos (native people born from European parents) advance in face of the Indians’ threats. Its settlers quickly took advantage of its natural conditions, which combined soils of excellent quality, numerous streams and a special micro-climate for groves and fruit trees.
3) South Oasis: Its importance, mainly due to its agricultural production, has placed it in the second position at provincial level. It covers the following departments:
• San Rafael
• General Alvear
• Malargüe
Its birth goes back as far as the XlX century, when it could extend the occupation frontiers first of the Spanish with the foundation of the San Rafael Fort in 1805, and then of the National State after Roca’s expeditions at the end of the same century.
“These Mendocinean oases have always had optimum agro-ecological characteristics for the cultivation of varied crops, the grapevine outstanding among them.”
Territorial organization
The Province is divided into 18 Departments. At the same time, each Department is divided into Districts.
Government and Politics
Our Province’s government system is divided into 3 powers: Executive, Legislative and Judicial.
- Executive: This power is held by a citizen who is directly chosen by the Province’s population to occupy the position of Governor. The Governor is in charge of executing the laws and of administering the provincial budget, with the help of his/her Cabinet of Ministers. The Governor is seconded by the Vice-Governor, who at the same time is the President of the Provincial Chamber of Senators. The security forces of the Province of Mendoza’s Police Department depend on the Executive power.
- Legislative: This is a bi-cameral power, having a Chamber of Senators and a Chamber of Deputies. It is in charge of sanctioning the provincial laws. The Senators give their consent to the appointment of judges and other officials who are constitutionally required, approve the annual expense budget, and control the Executive Power through the requirement of reports and summonings to its officials. Both chambers operate in the building of the Provincial Legislature, located in the City of Mendoza.
- Judicial: This power takes care of the accomplishment of the laws, and channels the penal, civil and labor trials.
Besides, each Department has its own Communal Government integrated by an executive organ –the Intendant or Mayor- and by a deliberative organ: the Deliberative Council.
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