Laguna Miñiques lies at an altitude of 4,120 metres (13,520 ft) and is a lake with a surface area of 1.6 square kilometres (0.62 sq mi).

[1] The lake is part of the Los Flamencos National Reserve[5] and a tourism destination.

[6] The regional climate is dry and influenced by the Atacama Desert in that regard, although the summits of the Western Cordillera have higher precipitation amounts, especially towards the north such as at Parinacota.

The dry climate restrains the development of glaciers in favour of a terrain that is influenced by periglacial processes.

[8] During the Pleistocene and earliest Holocene however increased precipitation resulted in advances of glaciers[9] and in the growth of lakes.