Portal:Argentina/Selected location/9
San Juan is the capital city of the Argentine province of San Juan in the Cuyo region, located in the Tulúm Valley, west of the San Juan River, at 650 m (2,133 ft) above mean sea level, with a population of around 112,000 as per the 2001 census [INDEC] (over 500,000 in the metropolitan area). It is a modern city with wide streets and well drawn avenues with wide sidewalks and vegetation of different species of trees irrigated by canals, from which it derives its nickname oasis town. The city of San Juan is located in a fertile valley within a rocky mountainous area. Winter temperatures are generally mild, averaging between 1 °C and 16 °C, but can drop below -8 °C. Summers are hot and very dry, with average temperatures between 19 °C and 35 °C, and a record maximum of 44 °C.
It has an important accommodation infrastructure and transportation. It highlights modern buildings and the surroundings, the reservoir and Ullum dam, spas, museums, large plantations of vines, and various types of agriculture, with wine being the most important. The city of San Juan completely changed its appearance from a colonial one to one of the most modern in the country after the earthquake of 1944, with well-drawn and wide paved streets, ample paths with mosaics, and forests of bananas, moreras and paradises irrigated by channels (small drains).