Cuyo (Argentina) in the context of Ischigualasto Provincial Park

The Patagonian Desert, also known as the Patagonian Steppe, is the largest desert in Argentina and is the eighth-largest desert in the world by area, occupying approx. 673,000 square kilometres (260,000 mi). It is located primarily in Argentina and is bounded by the Andes, to its west, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east, in the region of Patagonia, southern Argentina and areas of Chile. To the north the desert grades into the Cuyo Region and the Monte. The central parts of the steppe are dominated by shrubby and herbaceous plant species albeit to the west, where precipitation is higher, bushes are replaced by grasses. Topographically the deserts consist of alternating tablelands and massifs dissected by river valleys and canyons. The more western parts of the steppe host lakes of glacial origin and grades into barren mountains or cold temperate forests along valleys.

Inhabited by hunter-gatherers since Pre-Hispanic times, the desert faced migration in the 19th century of Argentines, Welsh, and other European peoples, transforming it from a conflictive borderland zone to an integral part of Argentina, with cattle, sheep and horse husbandry being the primary land uses.

Mendoza (Spanish pronunciation: [menˈdosa]), officially the Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the republic of Chile to the west; the international limit is marked by the Andes mountain range. Its capital city is the homonymous city of Mendoza.

Covering an area of 148,827 km, it is the seventh biggest province of Argentina with 5.35% of the country's total area. The population for 2022 is 2,014,533 inhabitants, which makes it the fifth most populated region of the country, or 4.38% of the total national population.

The Argentine Northwest (Spanish: Noroeste argentino, NOA) is a geographic and historical region of Argentina comprising the provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, La Rioja, Salta, Santiago del Estero and Tucumán. It borders Bolivia to the north, Chile to the west, the Northeast region to the east, the Center region to the south, and the Cuyo region to the southwest.

The region extends primarily over the Andes Mountains and their adjacent valleys, encompassing a diverse range of landscapes. The region's main geographic features are the Puna, the Calchaquí Valleys, the Yungas, and the Argentine portion of the Chaco Plains. Major rivers in the region include the Bermejo River, the Salí-Dulce River, and the Pilcomayo River.

The Huarpes or Warpes are an Indigenous people of Argentina, living in the Cuyo region. Some scholars assume that in the Huarpe language, this word means "sandy ground", but according to Arte y Vocabulario de la lengua general del Reino de Chile, written by Andrés Febrés in Lima in 1765, the word Cuyo comes from Araucanian cuyum puulli, meaning "sandy land" or "desert country".