La Rioja Province, Argentina in the context of San Luis Province

The Diaguita people are a group of South American Indigenous people native to the Chilean Norte Chico and the Argentine Northwest. Western or Chilean Diaguitas lived mainly in the Transverse Valleys that incise semi-arid mountains. Eastern or Argentine Diaguitas lived in the provinces of La Rioja and Catamarca and part of the provinces of Salta, San Juan and Tucumán. The term Diaguita was first applied to peoples and archaeological cultures by Ricardo E. Latcham in the early 20th century.

Ancient Diaguitas were not a unified people; the language or dialects used by them seems to have varied from valley to valley and they were politically fragmented into several chiefdoms. Coastal and inland Chilean Diaguitas traded, as evidenced by the archaeological findings of mollusc shells in the upper courses of Andean valleys.

32°S 70°W / 32°S 70°W / -32; -70

Principal Cordillera (Spanish: Cordillera Principal) is the Andean mountain range that makes up the boundary between Central Chile and neighbouring areas of Argentina. It is also a continental divide between the Atlantic and the Pacific watersheds. It extends in a north–south direction in the Argentine provinces of La Rioja, San Juan and Mendoza and the Chilean regions of Valparaíso, Santiago, O'Higgins and Maule. To the east of the Principal Cordillera lies the Frontal Cordillera which is fully in Argentina. Aconcagua, the tallest mountain outside Asia, lies in the Principal Cordillera.

Córdoba (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkoɾðoβa]) is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Its neighboring provinces are (clockwise from the north) Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja, and Catamarca. Together with Santa Fe and Entre Ríos, the province is part of the economic and political association known as the Center Region.

Córdoba is the second-most populous Argentine province, with 3,978,984 inhabitants, and the fifth by size, at about 165,321 km (63,831 sq mi). Almost 41% of its inhabitants reside in the capital city, Córdoba, and its surroundings, making it the second most populous metro area in Argentina.

Departments (Spanish: departamentos) form the second level of administrative division (below the provinces), and are subdivided into municipalities. They are extended in all of Argentina except for the Province of Buenos Aires and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, the national capital, each of which has different administrative arrangements (respectively partidos and comunas).

Except in La Rioja, Mendoza, and San Juan Provinces, departments have no executive authorities or assemblies of their own. However, they serve as territorial constituencies for the election of members of the legislative bodies of most provinces. For example, in Santa Fe Province, each department returns one senator to the provincial senate. In Tucumán Province, on the other hand, where legislators are elected by zone (Capital, East, West) the departments serve only as districts for the organization of certain civil agencies, such as the police or the health system.

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.

Carlos Saúl Menem (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaɾlos ˈmenen] ; 2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine politician who served as the president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 2001 and again from 2001 to 2003), and his political approach became known as Menemism.

Born in Anillaco, La Rioja, to a Syrian family, Menem was raised as a Muslim, but later converted to Roman Catholicism to pursue a political career. Menem became a Peronist during a visit to Buenos Aires. He was elected governor of La Rioja in 1973, deposed and detained following the 1976 Argentine coup d'état, and re-elected in 1983. He defeated the Buenos Aires governor Antonio Cafiero in the primary elections for the 1989 presidential elections. Hyperinflation and riots forced outgoing president Raúl Alfonsín to resign early, shortening the presidential transition.

Catamarca (Spanish pronunciation: [kataˈmaɾka]) is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province had a population of 429,556 as per the 2022 census [INDEC], and covers an area of 102,602 km. Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are (clockwise, from the north): Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, and La Rioja. To the west it borders the country of Chile.

The capital is San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, usually shortened to Catamarca. Other important cities include Andalgalá, Tinogasta, and Belén.

32°59′S 69°31′W / 32.983°S 69.517°W / -32.983; -69.517

The Frontal Cordillera (Spanish: Cordillera Frontal) is a mountain range in western Argentina that forms part of the Andes. It extends in a north–south direction in the provinces of La Rioja, San Juan and Mendoza. To the west of the Frontal Cordillera lies the Principal Cordillera that makes up the Argentina–Chile border and the continental divide.