Where is the Pampa located?

The Pampa is a vast plain extending westward across central Argentina from the Atlantic coast to the Andean foothills, bounded by the Gran Chaco (north) and Patagonia (south). The name comes from a Quechua word meaning “flat surface.”

The Argentine Pampa covers an area of approximately 295,000 square miles (760,000 square km) and is divided into two distinct zones. The dry zone in the west, which includes most of La Pampa province, is largely barren, with great saline areas, brackish streams, and sandy deserts. The humid zone in the east, a much smaller area that includes part of Buenos Aires province, is temperate and well watered and is the economic heart of the nation and the country’s most-populated area.

Characteristic animals of the Pampas include foxes, skunks, small herds of guanaco, viscachas, bush dogs, and many bird species related to the sparrows, hawks, and waterfowl of the North American prairies.