City in Mendoza, Argentina
Malargue
(
Spanish pronunciation:
[ma?la??we]
) is a city in the southwest part of
province
of
Mendoza
, Argentina, about 370 km south of the provincial capital
Mendoza
. It is the head town of the
Malargue Department
, and it has about 27,000 inhabitants as per the 2010
census
[
INDEC
]
.
Overview
[
edit
]
The city is located in a semi-arid area. Agriculture is focused on the production of
seed potato
, along with minor crops such as
alfalfa
,
onion
and
garlic
. In the past, the local industries included oil exploration and production (now almost completely deactivated) and
uranium
mining. As a touristic area, Malargue provides hotels and cabins for visitors interested in
eco-tourism
in the summer and skiing in the winter at the nearby resorts of
Las Lenas
and
Los Molles
.
The city is known for its traditional dish, the
chivito
(baby goat). It hosts the annual National Festival of the Goat and the Provincial Festival of the Lamb, during the second week of January.
History
[
edit
]
1972
[
edit
]
On 13 October 1972 the
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
crashed in the
Andes
, in the municipal territory of Malargue (
34°45′54″S
70°17′11″W
/
34.76500°S 70.28639°W
/
-34.76500; -70.28639
).
Climate
[
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]
Malargue's climate is dry and relatively cold. It is a
semi-arid climate
under the
Koppen climate classification
. Summers bring very warm days (the average high is 28 °C (82 °F)) and cool nights (11 °C (52 °F)), with sporadic thunderstorms occurring. By March or early April, frost is to be expected, and during the winter (May to September), wild fluctuations of temperature can occur: the average high is 11 °C (52 °F) and the average low is ?2 °C (28 °F), but northwesterly winds that blow downslope from the Andes can bring temperatures of 25 °C (77 °F), and extreme Antarctic outbreaks will bring periods of snow, daytime highs well below 0 °C (32 °F) and night lows well below ?12 °C (10 °F).
| Climate data for Malargue, Mendoza, Argentina (1991?2020, extremes 1958?present)
|
| Month
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Year
|
| Record high °C (°F)
|
36.9
(98.4)
|
37.0
(98.6)
|
33.6
(92.5)
|
30.7
(87.3)
|
28.6
(83.5)
|
27.4
(81.3)
|
28.5
(83.3)
|
29.4
(84.9)
|
31.0
(87.8)
|
33.0
(91.4)
|
34.0
(93.2)
|
36.5
(97.7)
|
37.0
(98.6)
|
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
|
29.1
(84.4)
|
27.2
(81.0)
|
25.0
(77.0)
|
20.0
(68.0)
|
15.3
(59.5)
|
12.5
(54.5)
|
11.8
(53.2)
|
14.2
(57.6)
|
17.0
(62.6)
|
20.5
(68.9)
|
24.4
(75.9)
|
27.5
(81.5)
|
20.4
(68.7)
|
| Daily mean °C (°F)
|
20.6
(69.1)
|
18.9
(66.0)
|
16.4
(61.5)
|
11.5
(52.7)
|
7.4
(45.3)
|
4.7
(40.5)
|
3.8
(38.8)
|
5.8
(42.4)
|
8.7
(47.7)
|
12.5
(54.5)
|
16.2
(61.2)
|
19.2
(66.6)
|
12.1
(53.8)
|
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
|
11.6
(52.9)
|
10.7
(51.3)
|
8.9
(48.0)
|
4.8
(40.6)
|
1.5
(34.7)
|
?1.0
(30.2)
|
?2.3
(27.9)
|
?1.1
(30.0)
|
1.3
(34.3)
|
4.4
(39.9)
|
7.3
(45.1)
|
10.0
(50.0)
|
4.7
(40.5)
|
| Record low °C (°F)
|
0.5
(32.9)
|
?1.3
(29.7)
|
?6.1
(21.0)
|
?6.9
(19.6)
|
?12.0
(10.4)
|
?18.0
(?0.4)
|
?24.6
(?12.3)
|
?15.6
(3.9)
|
?11.4
(11.5)
|
?6.4
(20.5)
|
?3.9
(25.0)
|
?1.1
(30.0)
|
?24.6
(?12.3)
|
| Average
precipitation
mm (inches)
|
22.7
(0.89)
|
32.4
(1.28)
|
30.2
(1.19)
|
30.4
(1.20)
|
30.4
(1.20)
|
33.5
(1.32)
|
24.4
(0.96)
|
26.9
(1.06)
|
17.4
(0.69)
|
24.5
(0.96)
|
25.9
(1.02)
|
21.9
(0.86)
|
320.6
(12.62)
|
| Average precipitation days
(≥ 0.1 mm)
|
5.3
|
6.0
|
4.5
|
4.0
|
5.3
|
5.5
|
4.2
|
4.5
|
4.3
|
4.4
|
3.6
|
4.1
|
55.7
|
| Average snowy days
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
0.4
|
1.2
|
2.0
|
2.9
|
3.2
|
2.3
|
0.9
|
0.1
|
0.0
|
12.9
|
| Average
relative humidity
(%)
|
43.8
|
50.3
|
55.4
|
60.6
|
63.7
|
61.9
|
59.8
|
53.7
|
49.2
|
44.9
|
40.9
|
40.0
|
52.0
|
| Mean monthly
sunshine hours
|
341.0
|
279.7
|
266.6
|
219.0
|
179.8
|
162.0
|
182.9
|
210.8
|
234.0
|
269.7
|
312.0
|
344.1
|
3,001.6
|
| Mean daily
sunshine hours
|
11.0
|
9.9
|
8.6
|
7.3
|
5.8
|
5.4
|
5.9
|
6.8
|
7.8
|
8.7
|
10.4
|
11.1
|
8.2
|
| Percent
possible sunshine
|
78.5
|
70.8
|
66.5
|
60.1
|
57.5
|
50.6
|
58.2
|
59.6
|
62.2
|
65.4
|
72.9
|
76.5
|
64.9
|
| Source:
Servicio Meteorologico Nacional
(percent sun 1991?2000)
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
|
Transport and infrastructures
[
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]
Offices of the Pierre Auger Observatory
Transportation
[
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]
Malargue is linked to the north of Mendoza by
National Route 40
. This route continues south, entering
Neuquen Province
, but is only partially built and not well maintained beyond Malargue City.
Air traffic in the area (only local flights) is served by the
Comodoro D. Ricardo Salomon Airport
.
Aerolineas Argentinas
and
American Jet
offer services, as of 2021, to this airport.
Astronomic and space center
[
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]
Malargue is also home to the
Pierre Auger Observatory
, an international physics experiment searching for
ultra-high-energy cosmic rays
.
The
European Space Agency
began construction of a deep space ground station 30 km south of Malargue in 2010.
[7]
It became operational in early 2013
Malargue Station
and is the third 35m dish in its
ESTRACK
network.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Malargue
.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for
Malargue
.