Patagonia

Patagonia ... up of the Andes mountains to the west and south and plateaus and low plains to the east. The name Patagonia comes from the Spanish word Patagon (Bigfoot) used by sailors in Magellan's voyage to describe native people they thought to be giants. Most people now believe the Patagons were actually Tehuelches and Aonikenk with an average height of 1.80m compared to the 1.55 average for Spaniard by the time. To the east of the Andes, it lies south of the Neuquén River and Colorado rivers, and, to the west of the Andes, south of (39°S), excluding the Chiloé Archipelago. East of the Andes the Argentine portion of Patagonia includes the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego, as well as the southern tips of the provinces of Buenos Aires, Mendoza and La Pampa. The Chilean portion embraces the southern part of the region of Los Lagos, and the regions of Aysen and Magallanes. It excludes those portions of Antarctica claimed by both countries. The Andes Mountains in Patagonia are characterized by these soaring granite pillars in Torres del Paine National Park in nearby Chile.