San Martín de los Andes
| San Martín de los Andes | |
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| City | |
View of village and surrounding area
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 San Martín de los Andes
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| Coordinates: 40°10′S 071°21′W / 40.167°S 71.350°WCoordinates: 40°10′S 071°21′W / 40.167°S 71.350°W | |
| Country |
 Argentina
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| Province | Neuquén |
| Department | Lácar |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Carlos Fernández (MPN) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 140 km2 (50 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 640 m (2,100 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 23,519 |
| • Density | 170/km2 (440/sq mi) |
| Time zone | ART (UTC-3) |
| CPA base | Q8370 |
| Dialing code | +54 2972 |
| Climate | Csb |
San Martín de los Andes is a city in the province of Neuquén, Argentina. It is located in the Lácar Department in the south-west of the province, at the foot of the Andes.
At the time of the founding of San Martín de los Andes the valley of Chapelco were sparsely populated by indigenous Puelches who used it as a refuge during the harsh winters of the zone. The Puelches had since colonial times engage in trade with the Huilliches on the eastern slope of the Andes through various mountain passes. Puelches raised horses on the eastern slopes of the Andes and traded them for weapons and alcoholic beverages becoming one of the main food providers of the isolated exclave of Valdivia. The Argentine and Chilean military campaigns; the conquest of the Desert and the occupation of Araucanía; in the second half of the 19th century bought a definitive end to this trade.
In 1898 a military expedition arrived to the zone to take a definitive control of the zone due to increasing border disputes with Chile. The Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina led to disputes whether the main Andean cordillera or the continental divide should serve as border in this latitude. Chilean authorities argued that since Lácar Lake drained into the Pacific the area of San Martín should belong to Chile. The Argentine government was also concerned about the zone's dependence on trade with Chile, just like in Bariloche and other parts of the southern Andes. San Martín de los Andes, modeled like a European style alpine village, was founded on 4 February 1898. Following the founding the main economic activities were wood logging and husbandry.
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