Zapala is a city in the Patagonic province of Neuquén, Argentina. It has about 32,000 inhabitants as of the 2001 census [INDEC].
The city is located in the geographic center of the province and on the confluence of national and provincial roads, which makes it a forced passageway to the Andes and Chile. The city has an important cement factory.
Zapala is near the Laguna Blanca National Park and a ski resort. The region (known as Pehuenia, and comprising Zapala, the nearby town of Aluminé and others) is a steppe, with small araucaria forests.
Zapala was founded on 12 July 1913 as a train station for the Ferrocarril del Sud (now Ferrocarril General Roca). At present the city is split in two by the railways; on one side there is a commercial district with old buildings, and on the other a modern residential area.
Chapi