city, capital of Mendoza provincia (province), western Argentina, at an elevation of 2,497 ft (761 m), in the irrigated Río Mendoza Valley, at the foot of the secondary Andean range, Sierra de los Paramillos. The city was founded and relocated several times in the 1560s by Spaniards arriving from Chile. Not until 1776 did control of the region, then known as Cuyo, pass from Spanish Chilean administration to the newly created Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, governed from Buenos Aires. During the movement for independence from Spain, Mendoza was the headquarters of General José de San Martín (San Martín, José de), who organized an expeditionary force to cross the Andes and liberate Chile in 1817. A monument commemorating this event is atop Gloria Hill, overlooking the city on the west. In 1861 Mendoza was destroyed by an earthquake, with heavy loss of life. A new city was planned (1863) with broad tree-lined streets, squares, and public parks, close to the ruins. An influx of immigrants, mostly Italians, in the late 19th century stimulated economic development.

provincia (province), western Argentina. Mendoza province extends eastward from the high peaks of the Andes Mountains, which form its boundary with Chile. A considerable part of its area is occupied by arid and semiarid sections of sub-Andean ranges, foothills, and piedmont. The highest peak of the Andes (and the Western Hemisphere), Mount Aconcagua (Aconcagua, Mount) (22,831 feet 【6,959 metres】), is in its northwest corner at the Chilean border. The most heavily populated districts of the province are at the base of the cordillera, in the north, where the Mendoza River, in particular, supplies water for irrigation. Toward the east are sandy plains with extensive saline basins, into which flow all the rivers, with the exception of the Grande River in the southwest. Dams built on the Atuel and Diamante rivers in the foothills of central Mendoza province have made the area around the city of San Rafael more agriculturally productive.