San Martín de los Andes is a city in the south-west of the province of Neuquén, Argentina, serving as the administration centre of the Lácar Department.

Before the founding of San Martín de los Andes, the valley of Chapelco was sparsely populated by indigenous Puelches who used it as a refuge during the harsh winters of the zone.

Puelches raised horses on the eastern slopes of the Andes and traded them for weapons and alcoholic beverages, becoming one of the main food providers of the isolated exclave of Valdivia.

The Argentine and Chilean military campaigns, the conquest of the Desert, and the occupation of Araucanía in the second half of the 19th century brought a definitive end to this trade.

[3] In the 1880s the Argentine Army displaced indigenous communities, disrupting this trade and forcing leather merchants in Chile to cross the Andes themselves for supplies.

The Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina led to disputes over whether the main Andean Mountain Range or the continental divide should serve as the border in this latitude.

San Martín de los Andes was founded on 4 February 1898 by Colonel Celestino Pérez, who followed orders from Chief of Army Rudecino Roca.

[7] Plutonic rocks around San Martín de los Andes crystallized from magma in the Devonian in connection to the onset of the Gondwanide orogeny.

[8] San Martín de los Andes has a cool ocean-influenced climate, on the boundary between Mediterranean (Köppen Csb) and oceanic (Cfb).

Being shielded somewhat by the Andes in Chile, it is much less wet and more sunny than Chilean Patagonia, but still is very susceptible to heavy storms during the winter which tend to produce a mixture of rain and snow when they manage to retain some moisture over the Andean divide.

[12] Since its foundation as a military outpost, immigrants from different parts of Europe, including Spaniards, Italians, Germans, Dutch people and French, as well as Syrian-Lebanese store owners and settlers from neighboring Chile integrated with the local population, making it ethnically diverse from its beginnings.

[20] San Martín de los Andes was modeled like a mountain village built with traditional materials for the region, such as stone, wood and shingle roofs.

[26] Hua-Hum international pass, which leads to Panguipulli in Chile, lies 45 km (28 mi) from San Martín de los Andes.

[31] The area has hosted different sports events of national and international level, such as the San Martín de los Andes marathons and Snowboardcross competitions of the FIS Snowboard World Cup.