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Introduction | Argentina

Background: | In 1816, the United Provinces of the Rio Plata declared their independence from Spain. After Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay went their separate ways, the area that remained became Argentina. The country's population and culture were heavily shaped by immigrants from throughout Europe, but most particularly Italy and Spain, which provided the largest percentage of newcomers from 1860 to 1930. Up until about the mid-20th century, much of Argentina's history was dominated by periods of internal political conflict between Federalists and Unitarians and between civilian and military factions. After World War II, an era of Peronist authoritarian rule and interference in subsequent governments was followed by a military junta that took power in 1976. Democracy returned in 1983, and has persisted despite numerous challenges, the most formidable of which was a severe economic crisis in 2001-02 that led to violent public protests and the resignation of several interim presidents. The economy has recovered strongly since bottoming out in 2002.

Geography | Argentina

Location: | Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay
Geographic coordinates: | 34 00 S, 64 00 W
Map references: | South America
Area: | total: 2,766,890 sq km land: 2,736,690 sq km water: 30,200 sq km
Area - comparative: | slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US
Land boundaries: | total: 9,861 km border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,261 km, Chile 5,308 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 580 km
Coastline: | 4,989 km
Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Climate: | mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest
Terrain: | rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Laguna del Carbon -105 m (located between Puerto San Julian and Comandante Luis Piedra Buena in the province of Santa Cruz) highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,960 m (located in the northwestern corner of the province of Mendoza)
Natural resources: | fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium
Land use: | arable land: 10.03% permanent crops: 0.36% other: 89.61% (2005)
Irrigated land: | 15,500 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources: | 814 cu km (2000)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): | total: 29.19 cu km/yr (17%/9%/74%) per capita: 753 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards: | San Miguel de Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the pampas and northeast; heavy flooding
Environment - current issues: | environmental problems (urban and rural) typical of an industrializing economy such as deforestation, soil degradation, desertification, air pollution, and water pollution note: Argentina is a world leader in setting voluntary greenhouse gas targets
Environment - international agreements: | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note: | second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage); diverse geophysical landscapes range from tropical climates in the north to tundra in the far south; Cerro Aconcagua is the Western Hemisphere's tallest mountain, while Laguna del Carbon is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere

People | Argentina

Population: | 40,677,348 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 24.6% (male 5,123,722/female 4,893,843) 15-64 years: 64.6% (male 13,143,693/female 13,127,372) 65 years and over: 10.8% (male 1,801,101/female 2,587,617) (2008 est.)
Median age: | total: 30.3 years male: 29.3 years female: 31.3 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate: | 0.917% (2008 est.)
Birth rate: | 16.32 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate: | 7.54 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate: | 0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | total: 13.87 deaths/1,000 live births male: 15.65 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 76.52 years male: 72.81 years female: 80.43 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate: | 2.09 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.7% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 130,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 1,500 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: | degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A water contact disease: leptospirosis (2008)
Nationality: | noun: Argentine(s) adjective: Argentine
Ethnic groups: | white (mostly Spanish and Italian) 97%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry), Amerindian, or other non-white groups 3%
Religions: | nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%
Languages: | Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French
Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97.2% male: 97.2% female: 97.2% (2006 census)

Government | Argentina

Country name: | conventional long form: Argentine Republic conventional short form: Argentina local long form: Republica Argentina local short form: Argentina
Government type: | republic
Capital: | name: Buenos Aires geographic coordinates: 34 36 S, 58 40 W time difference: UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins first Sunday in October; ends third Saturday in March; note - a new policy of daylight saving time was initiated by the government on 30 December 2007
Administrative divisions: | 23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 autonomous city* (distrito federal); Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Capital Federal*, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego - Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur, Tucuman note: the US does not recognize any claims to Antarctica
Independence: | 9 July 1816 (from Spain)
National holiday: | Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)
Constitution: | 1 May 1853; amended many times starting in 1860
Legal system: | mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Executive branch: | chief of state: President Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER (since 10 December 2007); Vice President Julio COBOS (since 10 December 2007); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER (since 10 December 2007); Vice President Julio COBOS (since 10 December 2007) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held 28 October 2007 (next election to be held in 2011) election results: Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER elected president; percent of vote - Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER 45%, Elisa CARRIO 23%, Roberto LAVAGNA 17%, Alberto Rodriguez SAA 8%
Legislative branch: | bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate (72 seats; members are elected by direct vote; presently one-third of the members elected every two years to serve six-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies (257 seats; members are elected by direct vote; one-half of the members elected every two years to serve four-year terms) elections: Senate - last held 28 October 2007 (next to be held in 2009); Chamber of Deputies - last held last held 28 October 2007 (next to be held in 2009) election results: Senate - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA; seats by bloc or party - FV 12, UCR 4, CC 4, other 4; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA; seats by bloc or party - FV 5, UCR 10, PJ 10, PRO 6, CC 16, FJ 2, other 31; note - Senate and Chamber of Deputies seating reflect the number of replaced senators and deputies, rather than the whole Senate and Chamber of Deputies
Judicial branch: | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (the nine Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president with approval of the Senate) note: the Supreme Court currently has two unfilled vacancies, and the Argentine Congress is considering a bill to reduce the number of Supreme Court judges to five
Political parties and leaders: | Coalicion Civica (a broad coalition loosely affiliated with Elisa CARRIO); Front for Victory or FV (a broad coalition, including elements of the UCR and numerous provincial parties) [Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER]; Interbloque Federal or IF (a broad coalition of approximately 12 parties including PRO); Justicialist Front or FJ; Justicialist Party or PJ (Peronist umbrella political organization); Radical Civic Union or UCR [Gerardo MORALES]; Republican Proposal or PRO (including Federal Recreate Movement or RECREAR [Ricardo LOPEZ MURPHY] and Commitment for Change or CPC [Mauricio MACRI]); Socialist Party or PS [Ruben GIUSTINIANI]; Union For All [Patricia BULLRICH]; several provincial parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: | Argentine Association of Pharmaceutical Labs (CILFA); Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association); Argentine Rural Confederation or CRA (small to medium landowners' association); Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association); business organizations; Central of Argentine Workers or CTA (a radical union for employed and unemployed workers); General Confederation of Labor or CGT (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization); Peronist-dominated labor movement; Piquetero groups (popular protest organizations that can be either pro or anti-government); Roman Catholic Church; students
International organization participation: | AfDB (nonregional members), Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CAN (associate), CSN, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina (observer), UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Hector Marcos TIMERMAN chancery: 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 238-6400 FAX: [1] (202) 332-3171 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Earl Anthony WAYNE embassy: Avenida Colombia 4300, C1425GMN Buenos Aires mailing address: international mail: use embassy street address; APO address: Unit 4334, APO AA 34034 telephone: [54] (11) 5777-4533 FAX: [54] (11) 5777-4240
Flag description: | three equal horizontal bands of light blue (top), white, and light blue; centered in the white band is a radiant yellow sun with a human face known as the Sun of May

Economy | Argentina

Economy - overview: | Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Although one of the world's wealthiest countries 100 years ago, Argentina suffered during most of the 20th century from recurring economic crises, persistent fiscal and current account deficits, high inflation, mounting external debt, and capital flight. A severe depression, growing public and external indebtedness, and a bank run culminated in 2001 in the most serious economic, social, and political crisis in the country's turbulent history. Interim President Adolfo RODRIGUEZ SAA declared a default - the largest in history - on the government's foreign debt in December of that year, and abruptly resigned only a few days after taking office. His successor, Eduardo DUHALDE, announced an end to the peso's decade-long 1-to-1 peg to the US dollar in early 2002. The economy bottomed out that year, with real GDP 18% smaller than in 1998 and almost 60% of Argentines under the poverty line. Real GDP rebounded to grow by an average 9% annually over the subsequent five years, taking advantage of previously idled industrial capacity and labor, an audacious debt restructuring and reduced debt burden, excellent international financial conditions, and expansionary monetary and fiscal policies. Inflation, however, reached double-digit levels in 2006 and the government of President Nestor KIRCHNER responded with "voluntary" price agreements with businesses, as well as export taxes and restraints. Multi-year price freezes on electricity and natural gas rates for residential users stoked consumption and kept private investment away, leading to restrictions on industrial use and blackouts in 2007.
GDP (purchasing power parity): | $523.7 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): | $260 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | 8.7% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): | $13,300 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 9.5% industry: 34% services: 56.5% (2007 est.)
Labor force: | 16.03 million note: urban areas only (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 1% industry: 23% services: 76% (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate: | 14.1% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line: | 23.4% (January-June 2007)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 1% highest 10%: 35% (January-March 2007)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 49 (2006)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 8.8% official rate; actual rate may be double the official rate (2007 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): | 22% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget: | revenues: $48.99 billion expenditures: $61.33 billion (2007 est.)
Public debt: | 59% of GDP (June 2007 est.)
Agriculture - products: | sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock
Industries: | food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel
Industrial production growth rate: | 7.5% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production: | 101.1 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 52.2% hydro: 40.8% nuclear: 6.7% other: 0.2% (2001)
Electricity - consumption: | 88.98 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports: | 4.14 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports: | 8.017 billion kWh (2005)
Oil - production: | 801,700 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption: | 480,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports: | 367,600 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports: | 21,650 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves: | 2.086 billion bbl (2007 est.)
Natural gas - production: | 43.76 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: | 38.79 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports: | 6.646 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports: | 1.669 billion cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves: | 512.4 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance: | $7.438 billion (2007 est.)
Exports: | $54.6 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities: | soybeans and derivatives, petroleum and gas, vehicles, corn, wheat
Exports - partners: | Brazil 17.5%, Chile 9.5%, US 8.9%, China 7.5% (2006)
Imports: | $42.59 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities: | machinery, motor vehicles, petroleum and natural gas, organic chemicals, plastics
Imports - partners: | Brazil 34.8%, US 12.6%, China 9.1%, Germany 4.5% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient: | $99.66 million (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $46.12 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external: | $135.4 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: | $64.11 billion (2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: | $26.16 billion (2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares: | $79.73 billion (2006)
Currency (code): | Argentine peso (ARS)
Currency code: | ARS
Exchange rates: | Argentine pesos per US dollar - 3.1105 (2007), 3.0543 (2006), 2.9037 (2005), 2.9233 (2004), 2.9006 (2003)
Fiscal year: | calendar year

Communications | Argentina

Telephones - main lines in use: | 9.46 million (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | 31.51 million (2006)
Telephone system: | general assessment: by opening the telecommunications market to competition and foreign investment with the "Telecommunications Liberalization Plan of 1998," Argentina encouraged the growth of modern telecommunications technology; fiber-optic cable trunk lines are being installed between all major cities; major networks are entirely digital and the availability of telephone service is improving; fixed-line telephone density is gradually increasing reaching nearly 25 lines per 100 people in 2006; mobile telephone density has been increasing rapidly and has reached a level of 80 telephones per 100 persons domestic: microwave radio relay, fiber-optic cable, and a domestic satellite system with 40 earth stations serve the trunk network; more than 110,000 pay telephones are installed and mobile telephone use is rapidly expanding; broadband services are gaining ground international: country code - 54; landing point for the Atlantis-2, UNISUR, and South America-1 optical submarine cable systems that provide links to Europe, Africa, South and Central America, and US; satellite earth stations - 112; 2 international gateways near Buenos Aires (2007)
Radio broadcast stations: | AM 260 (includes 10 inactive stations), FM (probably more than 1,000, mostly unlicensed), shortwave 6 (1998)
Radios: | 24.3 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: | 42 (plus 444 repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: | 7.95 million (1997)
Internet country code: | .ar
Internet hosts: | 2.159 million (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 33 (2000)
Internet users: | 8.184 million (2006)

Transportation | Argentina

Airports: | 1,272 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 154 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 26 1,524 to 2,437 m: 65 914 to 1,523 m: 50 under 914 m: 9 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 1,118 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 44 914 to 1,523 m: 515 under 914 m: 556 (2007)
Heliports: | 1 (2007)
Pipelines: | gas 28,657 km; liquid petroleum gas 41 km; oil 5,607 km; refined products 3,052 km; unknown (oil/water) 13 km (2007)
Railways: | total: 31,902 km broad gauge: 20,858 km 1.676-m gauge (141 km electrified) standard gauge: 2,885 km 1.435-m gauge (26 km electrified) narrow gauge: 7,922 km 1.000-m gauge; 237 km 0.750-m gauge (2006)
Roadways: | total: 231,374 km paved: 69,412 km (includes 734 km of expressways) unpaved: 161,962 km (2004)
Waterways: | 11,000 km (2006)
Merchant marine: | total: 47 ships (1000 GRT or over) 542,556 GRT/892,818 DWT by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 11, chemical tanker 1, container 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 23, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: 12 (Chile 7, UK 4, Uruguay 1) registered in other countries: 19 (Bolivia 1, Chile 1, Liberia 3, Panama 8, Paraguay 3, Uruguay 3) (2007)
Ports and terminals: | Arroyo Seco, Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, La Plata, Punta Colorada, Rosario, San Lorenzo-San Martin

Military | Argentina

Military branches: | Argentine Army (Ejercito Argentino), Navy of the Argentine Republic (Armada Republica; includes naval aviation and naval infantry), Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Argentina, FAA) (2008)
Military service age and obligation: | 18-24 years of age for voluntary military service (18-21 requires parental permission); no conscription (2001)
Manpower available for military service: | males age 16-49: 10,029,488 females age 16-49: 9,889,002 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: | males age 16-49: 8,352,147 females age 16-49: 8,366,781 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually: | males age 16-49: 350,040 females age 16-49: 334,830 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 1.3% (2005 est.)
Military - note: | the Argentine military is a well-organized force constrained by the country's prolonged economic hardship; the country has recently experienced a strong recovery, and the military is implementing a modernization plan aimed at making the ground forces lighter and more responsive (2008)

Transnational Issues | Argentina

Disputes - international: | Argentina continues to assert its claims to the UK-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in its constitution, forcibly occupying the Falklands in 1982, but in 1995 agreed no longer to seek settlement by force; territorial claim in Antarctica partially overlaps UK and Chilean claims (see Antarctic disputes); unruly region at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay borders is locus of money laundering, smuggling, arms and illegal narcotics trafficking, and fundraising for extremist organizations; uncontested dispute between Brazil and Uruguay over Braziliera/Brasiliera Island in the Quarai/Cuareim River leaves the tripoint with Argentina in question; in January 2007, ICJ provisionally ruled Uruguay may begin construction of two paper mills on the Uruguay River, which forms the border with Argentina, while the court examines further whether Argentina has the legal right to stop such construction with potential environmental implications to both countries; the joint boundary commission, established by Chile and Argentina in 2001 has yet to map and demarcate the delimited boundary in the inhospitable Andean Southern Ice Field (Campo de Hielo Sur)
Trafficking in persons: | current situation: Argentina is primarily a destination country for women and children trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation with most victims trafficked internally, from rural to urban areas, for exploitation in prostitution; foreign women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation come primarily from Paraguay, but also from Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Chile; Bolivians are trafficked for forced labor; Argentine women and girls are also trafficked to neighboring countries for sexual exploitation tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Argentina failed to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking particularly in the key area of prosecutions
Illicit drugs: | used as a transshipment country for cocaine headed for Europe; some money-laundering activity, especially in the Tri-Border Area; domestic consumption of drugs in urban centers is increasing

This page was last updated on 19 June, 2008