SAN JUAN DE LA FRONTERA, one of the provinces of the Argentine Confederation, South America, extends between 30' 30' and 32 S. lat. ; 67' 30' and 7V 20' W. long. It is bounded S. by the province of Mendoza; E. by that of San Luis ; N. by La Rioja; and W. by the repnblic of Chili. The area is about 40,000 square miles : the population is estimated at from 22,000 to 25,000.
The province lies to the north of which it resembles in its general character and productions, The surface of the country is described generally under A ItOrtrITNL CONFEDERATION. Extending along the eastern declivity of the Andes, San Juan comprehends the northern part of the Vale of Uspallata and a large portion of the plain which separates the Paramllla range from the mountains of Cordova, and contains the Lake. of Guanacache. The Vale of Uepal lata is barren and nearly uncultivated. The soil of the plain consists of sand, and is without grass, but covered with stunted prickly trees of the mimosa kind. It is quite barren, and produces no kind of grain or vegetables, except where it is by the sweet water of the Rio do San Juan and some of Its minor effluents. This irrigation renders tha land exceedingly fertile ; without any other manure, they produce most plentiful crops of wheat and maize. The ordinary crop. of wheat are fifty for one, in better lands eighty or a hundred for one,'and at Augaco, about 5 leagues north of the city of San Juan, they have been two hundred and even two hundred and forty. The
distance from a market and the difficulties attendant on tho transport of heavy goods through desert plains, greatly diminish the value of this fertility. But as fruit-trees, especially vines, succeed very well in this soil, wines and brandies are exported to a considerable amount. In the northern district, called Jachal, there are some gold-mines, whose produce is however not very great. Like the other provinces of the Argentine Confederation San Juan is a federal state, owning little dependence on the central government. The executive power is vested in a governor, elected by the junta, or provincial assembly.
San Juan, the capital of the province, is situated on the Rio de Sau Juan, in 31' 4' S. lat., 68° 57' W. long.: population about 7000. It contains the government house and other publio buildings, and has considerable commerce, being the mart whence the wines and brandies of the province are exported, and from which foreign goods are dis tributed to the interior. In 1833 the city was nearly destroyed by an inundation of the Rio de San Juan, by which three churches and several other publio buildings, with numerous private houses, were thrown down, and many of the inhabitants lost their lives.