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GEOGRAPHY OF SAN RAFAEL
Official Name: San Rafael.
Population Name and Origin: Sanrafaelino.
Geographical Location: 34 degrees 15’ to 36 degrees South latitude
and 70 degrees 10’ to 66 degrees 55’ East longitude.
Extension: 204 kilometers from North to South and 298 kilometers
from East to West, 234 kilometers in the central part and 154 kilometers
in the Southern part.
Perimeter: 1,089 kilometers approximately.
Altitude: 750 meters above sea level.
Borders: <<to the North with the San Carlos, Santa Rosa and La Paz
districts.
<<to the
East with the San Luis Province and the General Alvear district.
<<to the
South with the La Pampa Province and the Malargue district.
<<to the
West with the Republic of Chile.
ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION:
 San
Rafael is made up of seventeen districts: the City, El Cerrito, Cuadro
Nacional, Las Malvinas, Las Paredes, La Llave, Cuadro Benegas, Cuadro
Nacional, Cañada Seca, Goudge, Jaime Prats, Monte Comán, Rama Caída,
Real del Padre, Punta del Agua and Villa 25 de Mayo.
Total
Population: 173,571 inhabitants (2001 National Census) and 5.6
inhabitants / square kilometer. (2001 National Census)
Geo-morphological features: from West to East the district has four main
units. A) The Central Cordillera with Andes which are lower than in the
rest of the province. B) The Huarpes Depression with 300 kilometers of
length by 50 kilometers of width. This structural flat looking unit
presents quaternary period sediments of diverse origins, volcanic,
fluvial, from old lakes and Aeolic. C) The San Rafael Block in the
central area, a low and flat land with North-South orientation,
extremely eroded and with accumulation of sediments in the lower areas.
D) The Llanura de la Travesia plain, also a depressed, flat area in the
eastern part of the district and deeply eroded by climatic cycles. The
general feature here is its aridity except for the man-made cultivated
oasis.
Climate
 San
Rafael is wholly within the Argentine temperate zone featuring great
atmospheric dynamism. The average annual temperatures range between 8
and 23 degrees centigrade with annual rainfall of 343 millimeters. It is
between September and February that rainfall is higher. The climate in
San Rafael offers many advantages for agricultural activities because of
thermal amplitude, solar light, scarcity of clouds, moderate winds, not
too strong and low relative humidity. All these factors are beneficial
for crops and give higher yields.
River System
The area
has two main rivers. One is the Diamante River with an average current
of 65 cubic meters /second and the Atuel with an average of 60 cubic
meters /second. Numerous dams have been built for human consumption,
irrigation of cultivated land and also to generate hydroelectric energy;
Dams: Valle Grande, El Nihuil, Los Reyunos, Agua de Toro, El Tigre and
Galileo Vitale.
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