La Quiaca is a small city in the north of the , on the southern bank of the
La Quiaca River
La Quiaca River ( es, Río La Quiaca), also known as Villazón River, is a river of reduced flow on the border between Argentina and Bolivia. It is highly contaminated in its passage through the cities of La Quiaca and Villazón, on its right and ...
, opposite the town of
Villazón
Villazón is a town in southern Bolivia, on the border with Argentina. It sits directly across La Quiaca River from La Quiaca in Argentina. The town is a busy trading hub, with large quantities of goods flowing north.
It is also a heavily used ...
,
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
. It lies at the end of
National Route 9, from
San Salvador de Jujuy
San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...
(the provincial capital), and at an altitude of above mean
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...
.
La Quiaca has 13,761 inhabitants as per the . It is the head town of the Yaví Department, which includes also the towns of Barrios,
Cangrejillos, El Cóndor,
Pumahuasi
Pumahuasi (hispanicized spelling of Quechua Puma Wasi, ''puma'' cougar, ''wasi'' house, "cougar house") is a rural municipality and village in Jujuy Province in Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, Re ...
, and
Yaví. The area is serviced by an
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
located at .
La Quiaca is an approximate
antipode to
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
.
It has all the amenities of a modern city (potable water, electricity, sewer, Internet). This city is one of the north of the Puna which has all the basic facilities for the convenience of tourists, one of the most important urban settlement in northern Argentina.
In the country, this city is the classic reference to the northern end of the country, though in reality this distinction is held by the town of
Salvador Mazza, or Pocitos, in the province of Salta. In 1985, after a three-year national tour, the renowned composer
León Gieco
Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco, better known as León Gieco (born on November 20, 1951 in Cañada Rosquín, Argentina) is an Argentine folk rock performer, composer and interpreter. He is known for mixing popular folkloric genres with Argentini ...
released a folk album called ''De Ushuaia a La Quiaca'' ("From
Ushuaia
Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of nearly 75,000 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, Ushuaia claims the title of world's souther ...
to La Quiaca").
Geography
Climate
In spite of its location within the tropics, because it is located at over above sea level, La Quiaca has a cold
semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...
(''BSk'', according to the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
), with an annual precipitation of . During winter months, temperatures during the day are cool, averaging in July while the nights can get very cold, with temperatures dropping well below .
[ Precipitation is rare during the winter months although snowfalls are possible. During the summer months, temperatures during the day are mild to warm, averaging although nighttime temperatures can remain cool. Most of the precipitation that La Quiaca receives falls during the summer months. It is possibly the sunniest place in Argentina, averaging 3410 hours of sunshine or 76.9% of possible sunshine ranging from a low of 62.5% in February to a high of 87.5% in July.][ The highest temperature recorded was on February 4, 1998, while the lowest temperature was .
]
See also
* Humahuaca
Humahuaca () is a small city in the province of Jujuy, Argentina. Since 2003 declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO at the Paris conference.
It has 11,369 inhabitants as per the , and is the principal town (seat) of the Department of Humahuaca. T ...
* Iruya
Iruya is a small town of population 1,070 in northwestern Argentina. It is located in the Salta Province of northwestern Argentina, and is the capital of the Iruya Department.
Overview
Located in the altiplano region along the Iruya River, Iru ...
* Tilcara
San Francisco de Tilcara (usually referred to as Tilcara) is a city in the province of Jujuy, Argentina, and the head town of the Tilcara Department. It had 6,249 inhabitants at the . Traces of human habitation in the area date back more than 10,00 ...
* Purmamarca
References
Notes
*
Great Circle Airport: SASQ
{{Authority control
Populated places in Jujuy Province
Argentina–Bolivia border crossings