San Juan Province (Argentina) in the context of San Luis Province

Ischigualasto Provincial Park (Spanish: Parque Provincial Ischigualasto), also called Valle de la Luna ("Valley of the Moon" or "Moon Valley"), due to its moon-like appearance, is a provincial protected area in the north-east of San Juan Province, north-western Argentina, limiting to the north with the Talampaya National Park, in La Rioja Province. Both areas belong to the same geological formation, the Ischigualasto Formation (sometimes called the Ischigualasto-Talampaya Formation).Established on 3 November 1971, the park has an area of 60,370 ha (603.7 km; 233.1 sq mi).

In 2000, UNESCO included Ischigualasto and Talampaya National Park among its World Heritage Sites.

The Atacama Region (Spanish: Región de Atacama, pronounced [ataˈkama]) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It comprises three provinces: Chañaral, Copiapó and Huasco. It is bordered to the north by Antofagasta, to the south by Coquimbo, to the east by the provinces of Catamarca, La Rioja and San Juan of Argentina, and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. The regional capital Copiapó is located 806 km (501 mi) north of the country's capital of Santiago. The region occupies the southern portion of the Atacama Desert, the rest of the desert is mainly distributed among the other regions of Norte Grande. As a generalization south of Copiapó River the region is mostly semi-arid and north of it is a true desert. The inland area in the north also differs from the southern part by hosting active volcanoes part of the Central Volcanic Zone of Andes.

The region has a long tradition of mining that features a silver rush from 1832 to 1850 and a strong development of iron mining from 1952 to 1966. Besides silver and iron the region also hosts valuable reserves of gold, copper and lithium. Agriculture in the region is mainly restricted to the valleys of Copiapó and Huasco where irrigation is aided by the dams of Lautaro and Santa Juana respectively. Crops cultivated include table grapes, olives, alfalfa and pisco grapes.