San Martin de los Andes is the main city in Lanín Department and is home to the National Park bearing the department’s same name. Such park covers an area of 412,000 hectares.
Within this area is located the impressive and dormant Lanín volcano and hence the name of the park. Lanín is a Mapuche word that makes reference to the state of dormancy of the volcano, since it can be translated as “dead rock”.
The park began to be built on the 11th May 1937 and it is located in the south west area of Neuquén province, between 39°7' and 40°40' south latitude and 71°42' and 71°12' west longitude.
It is one hundred and seventy kilometers long and forty kilometers wide starting in the border with Chile. It was built for geopolitical reasons and the main aim was to preserve the landscape.
The protected area covers 412 thousand hectares and 56,785 of these belong to the Strict Natural Reserve, which means that only people who are responsible for the supervision of the area or people who are conducting scientific research are allowed to access this place.
More than just a visually stunning area, this reserve is hugely important since it belongs to the National System of Protected Areas, home to seven Mapuche Communities.
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