WHEELS27: ARGENTINA

2,780,400 km²,^[B]considering 1,084,386 km²(418,684 sq mi) of the Exclusive Economic Zone area of Argentina is 3,939,463 sq km. In this figure the areas claimed are not included.^[c] (8th)
1,073,518 sq mi

•

Water (%)

1.57

Population

•

2015 estimate

43,417,000^[6]

•

2010 census

40,117,096^[5] (32nd)

•

Density

14.4/km²^[5] (212th)
37.3/sq mi

GDP (PPP)

2016 estimate

•

Total

$879.447 billion^[7](25th)

•

Per capita

$20,170^[7] (56th)

GDP (nominal)

2016 estimate

•

Total

$541.748 billion^[7](21st)

•

Per capita

$12,425^[7] (53rd)

Gini (2014)

42.7^[8]
medium

HDI (2014)

0.836^[9]
very high · 40th

Currency

Peso ($) (ARS)

Time zone

ART (UTC−3)

Date format

dd.mm.yyyy (CE)

right^[b]

^a.

^ Though not declared official de jure, the Spanish language is the only one used in the wording of laws, decrees, resolutions, official documents and public acts.

^b.

^ Trains driven on left.

Argentina (

ⁱ/ˌɑːrdʒənˈtiːnə/; Spanish: [aɾxenˈtina]), officially the Argentine Republic^[A] (Spanish: República Argentina), is a federal republic in the southern half of South America. Sharing the bulk of the Southern Cone with its neighbor Chile to the west, the country is also bordered by Bolivia andParaguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km² (1,073,500 sq mi),^[B] Argentina is the eighth-largest countryin the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into twenty-three provinces (Spanish:provincias, singular provincia) and one autonomous city (ciudad autónoma),Buenos Aires, which is the federal capital of the nation (Spanish: Capital Federal) as decided by Congress.^[10] The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system.

Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands(Spanish: Islas Malvinas), and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The earliest recorded human presence in the area of modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period.^[11] The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century.^[12] Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata,^[13] a Spanishoverseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The declaration and fight for independence (1810–1818) was followed by an extended civil war that lasted until 1861, culminating in the country's reorganization as a federation ofprovinces with Buenos Aires as its capital city. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with massive waves of European immigrationradically reshaping its cultural and demographic outlook. The almost-unparalleled increase in prosperity led to Argentina becoming the seventh wealthiest developed nation in the world by the early 20th century.^[14]^[15]

After 1930 Argentina descended into political instability and periodic economic crisis that pushed it back into underdevelopment,^[16] though it nevertheless remained among the fifteen richest countries until the mid-20th century.^[14]Argentina retains its historic status as a middle power^[17] in international affairs, and is a prominent regional power in the Southern Cone and Latin America.^[18]^[19] Argentina has the second largest economy in South America, the third-largest in Latin America and is a member of the G-15 and G-20 major economies. It is also a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank,World Trade Organization, Mercosur, Union of South American Nations,Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the Organization of Ibero-American States. It is the country with the highest Human Development Index in Latin America with a rating of "very high".^[9] Because of its stability, market size and growing high-tech sector,^[20] Argentina is classified as a high-income economy.^[21]

Name and etymology

The name "Argentina" is derived from Latin argentum ("silver", plata in Spanish), a noun associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin.^[22]

The first written use of the name can be traced to La Argentina,^[C] a 1602 poem by Martín del Barco Centenera describing the region and the foundation of Buenos Aires.^[23] Although "Argentina" was already in common usage by the 18th century, the country was formally named "Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata" by the Spanish Empire, and "United Provinces of the Río de la Plata" after independence.

The 1826 constitution included the first use of the name "Argentine Republic" in legal documents.^[24] The name "Argentine Confederation" was also commonly used and was formalized in the Argentine Constitution of 1853.^[25] In 1860 a presidential decree settled the country's name as "Argentine Republic",^[26] and that year's constitutional amendment ruled all the names since 1810 as legally valid.^[27]^[D]

In the English language the country was traditionally called "the Argentine", mimicking the typical Spanish usage la Argentina^[28] and perhaps resulting from a mistaken shortening of the fuller name 'Argentine Republic'. 'The Argentine' fell out of fashion during the mid-to-late 20th century, and now the country is simply referred to as "Argentina".

In the Spanish language "Argentina" is feminine ("La [República] Argentina"), taking the feminine article "La" as the initial syllable of "Argentina" is unstressed.^[29]

History

Main article: History of Argentina

Pre-Columbian era

Main article: Indigenous peoples in Argentina

The Cave of the Hands in Santa Cruz province, with indigenous artwork dating from 13,000–9,000 years ago

The earliest traces of human life in the area now known as Argentina are dated from the Paleolithic period, with further traces in the Mesolithic and Neolithic.^[11] Until the period of European colonization, Argentina was relatively sparsely populated by a wide number of diverse cultures with different social organizations,^[30] which can be divided into three main groups.^[31] The first group are basic hunters and food gatherers without development of pottery, such as the Selknam and Yaghan in the extreme south. The second group are advanced hunters and food gatherers which include the Puelche,Querandí and Serranos in the center-east; and the Tehuelche in the south—all of them conquered by the Mapuche spreading from Chile^[32]—and the Kom and Wichi in the north. The last group are farmers with pottery, like the Charrúa, Minuane and Guaraníin the northeast, with slash and burn semisedentary existence;^[30] the advancedDiaguita sedentary trading culture in the northwest, which was conquered by the Inca Empire around 1480; the Toconoté and Hênîa and Kâmîare in the country's center, and the Huarpe in the center-west, a culture that raised llama cattle and was strongly influenced by the Incas.^[30]

Colonial era

Main article: Colonial Argentina

The surrender of Beresford toSantiago de Liniers during theBritish invasions of the Río de la Plata

Europeans first arrived in the region with the 1502 voyage of Amerigo Vespucci. The Spanish navigators Juan Díaz de Solís and Sebastian Cabot visited the territory that is now Argentina in 1516 and 1526, respectively.^[12] In 1536 Pedro de Mendoza founded the small settlement of Buenos Aires, which was abandoned in 1541.^[33]

Further colonization efforts came from Paraguay—establishing the Governorate of the Río de la Plata—Peru and Chile.^[34] Francisco de Aguirre founded Santiago del Esteroin 1553. Londres was founded in 1558; Mendoza, in 1561; San Juan, in 1562; San Miguel de Tucumán, in 1565.^[35] Juan de Garay founded Santa Fe in 1573 and the same year Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera set up Córdoba.^[36] Garay went further south to re-found Buenos Aires in 1580.^[37] San Luis was established in 1596.^[35]

The Spanish Empire subordinated the economic potential of the Argentine territory to the immediate wealth of the silver and gold mines in Bolivia and Peru, and as such it became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru until the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776 with Buenos Aires as its capital.^[38]

Buenos Aires repelled two ill-fated British invasions in 1806 and 1807.^[39] The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment and the example of the first Atlantic Revolutions generated criticism of the absolutist monarchy that ruled the country. As in the rest of Spanish America, the overthrow of Ferdinand VII during the Peninsular War created great concern.^[40]

Independence and civil wars

Main articles: Argentine War of Independence and Argentine Civil Wars

Portrait of General José de San Martin, Libertador of Argentina,Chile and Peru

Beginning a process from which Argentina was to emerge as successor state to the Viceroyalty,^[13] the 1810 May Revolution replaced the viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros with the First Junta, a new government in Buenos Aires composed by locals.^[40]In the first clashes of the Independence War the Junta crushed a royalist counter-revolution in Córdoba,^[41] but failed to overcome those of the Banda Oriental, Upper Peru and Paraguay, which later became independent states.^[42]

Revolutionaries split into two antagonist groups: the Centralists and the Federalists—a move that would define Argentina's first decades of independence.^[43] The Assembly of the Year XIII appointed Gervasio Antonio de Posadas as Argentina's first Supreme Director.^[43]

In 1816 the Congress of Tucumán formalized the Declaration of Independence.^[44] One year later General Martín Miguel de Güemes stopped royalists on the north, and General José de San Martín took an army across the Andes and secured theindependence of Chile; then he led the fight to the Spanish stronghold of Lima and proclaimed the independence of Peru.^[45]^[E] In 1819 Buenos Aires enacted a centralist constitution that was soon abrogated by federalists.^[47]

The 1820 Battle of Cepeda, fought between the Centralists and the Federalists, resulted in the end of the Supreme Director rule. In 1826 Buenos Aires enacted another centralist constitution, with Bernardino Rivadavia being appointed as the first president of the country. However, the interior provinces soon rose against him, forced his resignation and discarded the constitution.^[48] Centralists and Federalists resumed the civil war; the latter prevailed and formed the Argentine Confederation in 1831, led by Juan Manuel de Rosas.^[49] During his regime he faced a French blockade (1838–1840), theWar of the Confederation (1836–1839), and a combined Anglo-French blockade (1845–1850), but remained undefeated and prevented further loss of national territory.^[50] His trade restriction policies, however, angered the interior provinces and in 1852 Justo José de Urquiza, another powerful caudillo, beat him out of power. As new president of the Confederation, Urquiza enacted the liberal and federal 1853 Constitution. Buenos Aires seceded but was forced back into the Confederation after being defeated in the 1859 Battle of Cepeda.^[51]

Rise of the modern nation

Main articles: List of Presidents of Argentina and Generation of '80

President Julio Argentino Rocagiving his constitutionally mandated annual report to Congress, 1886

Overpowering Urquiza in the 1861 Battle of Pavón, Bartolomé Mitre secured Buenos Aires predominance and was elected as the first president of the reunified country. He was followed by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Nicolás Avellaneda; these three presidencies set up the bases of the modern Argentine State.^[52]

Starting with Julio Argentino Roca in 1880, ten consecutive federal governments emphasized liberal economic policies. The massive wave of European immigration they promoted—second only to the United States'—led to a near-reinvention of Argentine society and economy that by 1908 had placed the country as the seventh wealthiest^[14]developed nation^[15] in the world. Driven by this immigration wave and decreasing mortality, the Argentine population grew fivefold and the economy 15-fold:^[53] from 1870 to 1910 Argentina's wheat exports went from 100,000 to 2,500,000 t (110,000 to 2,760,000 short tons) per year, while frozen beef exports increased from 25,000 to 365,000 t (28,000 to 402,000 short tons) per year,^[54] placing Argentina as one of the world's top five exporters.^[55] Its railway mileage rose from 503 to 31,104 km (313 to 19,327 mi).^[56] Fostered by a new public, compulsory, free and secular education system, literacy skyrocketed from 22% to 65%, a level higher than mostLatin American nations would reach even fifty years later.^[55] Furthermore, real GDP grew so fast that despite the huge immigration influx, per capita income between 1862 and 1920 went from 67% of developed country levels to 100%:^[56] In 1865, Argentina was already one of the top 25 nations by per capita income which by 1908, it had surpassed Denmark, Canada and The Netherlands to reach 7th place—behind Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Belgium. Argentina's per capita income was 70% higher than Italy's, 90% higher than Spain's, 180% higher than Japan's and 400% higher than Brazil's.^[14] Despite these unique achievements, the country was slow to meet its original goals of industrialization:^[57] after steep development of capital-intensive local industries in the 1920s, a significant part of the manufacture sector remained labor-intensive in the 1930s.^[58]

In 1912, President Roque Sáenz Peña enacted universal and secret male suffrage, which allowed Hipólito Yrigoyen, leader of the Radical Civic Union (or UCR), to win the 1916 election. He enacted social and economic reforms and extended assistance to family farmers and small businesses. Argentina stayed neutral during World War I. The second administration of Yrigoyen faced an economic crisis, influenced by the Great Depression.^[59]

Infamous Decade

Main article: Infamous Decade

Official presidential portrait of Juan Domingo Perón and his wife Eva Perón, 1948

In 1930, Yrigoyen was ousted from power by the military led by José Félix Uriburu. Although Argentina remained among the fifteen richest countries until mid-century,^[14] this coup d'étatmarks the start of the steady economic and social decline that pushed the country back into underdevelopment.^[16]

Uriburu ruled for two years; then Agustín Pedro Justo was elected in a fraudulent election, and signed a controversial treaty with the United Kingdom. Argentina stayed neutral during World War II, a decision that had full British support but was rejected by the United States after the attack on Pearl Harbor. A new military coup toppled the government, and Argentina declared war on the Axis Powers a month before the end of World War II in Europe. The minister of welfare, Juan Domingo Perón, was fired and jailed because of his high popularity among workers. His liberation was forced by a massive popular demonstration, and he went on to win the 1946 election.^[60]

Peronism

Main article: Peronism

Perón created a political movement known as Peronism. He nationalized strategic industries and services, improved wages and working conditions, paid the full external debt and achieved nearly full employment. The economy, however, began to decline in 1950 because of over-expenditure. His highly popular wife, Eva Perón, played a central political role. She pushed Congress to enact women's suffrage in 1947,^[61] and developed an unprecedented social assistance to the most vulnerable sectors of society.^[62] However, her declining health did not allow her to run for the vice-presidency in 1951, and she died of cancer the following year. Perón was reelected in 1951, even surpassing his 1946 performance. In 1955 the Navy bombed the Plaza de Mayo in an ill-fated attempt to kill the President. A few months later, during the self-called Liberating Revolution coup, he resigned and went into exile in Spain.^[63]

The new head of State, Pedro Eugenio Aramburu, proscribed Peronism and banned all of its manifestations; nevertheless, Peronists kept organized underground. Arturo Frondizi from the UCR won the following elections.^[64] He encouraged investment to achieve energetic and industrial self-sufficiency, reversed a chronic trade deficit and lifted Peronism proscription; yet his efforts to stay in good terms with Peronists and the military earned him the rejection of both and a new coup forced him out.^[65] But Senate Chief José María Guido reacted swiftly and applied the anti-power vacuum legislation, becoming president instead; elections were repealed and Peronism proscribed again. Arturo Illia was elected in 1963 and led to an overall increase in prosperity; however his attempts to legalize Peronism resulted in his overthrow in 1966 by theJuan Carlos Onganía-led coup d'état called the Argentine Revolution, a new military government that sought to rule indefinitely.^[66]

Dirty War

Main article: Dirty War

The "Dirty War" (Spanish: Guerra Sucia) was the name used by the Argentine Government for a period of state terrorism in Argentina against political dissidents, with military and security forces conducting urban and rural guerrilla violence against left-wing guerrillas, political dissidents, and anyone believed to be associated with socialism.^[67]^[68]^[69] Victims of the violence included an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 left-wing activists and militants, including trade unionists, students, journalists,Marxists, Peronist guerrillas^[70] and alleged sympathizers.^[71] Some 10,000 of the "disappeared" were believed to be guerrillas of the Montoneros (MPM), and the Marxist People's Revolutionary Army (ERP).^[72]^[73]^[74] The guerrillas were responsible for causing at least 6,000 casualties among the military, police forces and civilian population according to aNational Geographic Magazine article in the mid-1980s.^[75] The disappeared ones were considered to be a political or ideological threat to the military junta and their disappearances an attempt to silence the opposition and break the determination of the guerillas.^[76]

Raúl Alfonsín, first democratically elected president following the military government.

Declassified documents of the Chilean secret police cite an official estimate by theBatallón de Inteligencia 601 of 22,000 killed or "disappeared" between 1975 and mid-1978. During this period, in which it was later revealed 8,625 "disappeared" in the form of PEN (Poder Ejecutivo Nacional, anglicized as "National Executive Power") detainees who were held in clandestine detention camps throughout Argentina before eventually being freed under diplomatic pressure.^[77] The number of people believed to have been killed or "disappeared," depending on the source, range from 9,089 to 30,000 in the period from 1976 to 1983, when the military was forced from power following Argentina's defeat in the Falklands War.^[78]^[79] The National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons estimates that around 13,000 were disappeared.^[80]

After democratic government was restored, Congress passed legislation to provide compensation to victims' families. Some 11,000 Argentines have applied to the relevant authorities and received up to US $200,000 each as monetary compensation for the loss of loved ones during the military dictatorship.^[81]

The exact chronology of the repression is still debated, however, as in some senses the long political war started in 1969. Trade unionists were targeted for assassination by the Peronist and Marxist paramilitary as early as 1969, and individual cases of state-sponsored terrorism against Peronism and the left can be traced back to the Bombing of Plaza de Mayo in 1955. The Trelew massacre of 1972, the actions of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance since 1973, and Isabel Martínez de Perón's "annihilation decrees" against left-wing guerrillas during Operativo Independencia (translates to Operation of Independence) in 1975, have also been suggested as dates for the beginning of the Dirty War.

Onganía shut down Congress, banned all political parties and dismantled student and worker unions. In 1969, popular discontent led to two massive protests: the Cordobazo and the Rosariazo. The terrorist guerrilla organization Montoneroskidnapped and executed Aramburu.^[82] The newly chosen head of government, Alejandro Agustín Lanusse, seeking to ease the growing political pressure, let Héctor José Cámpora be the Peronist candidate instead of Perón. Cámpora won theMarch 1973 election, issued a pardon for condemned guerrilla members and then secured Perón's return from his exile in Spain.^[83]

On the day Perón returned to Argentina, the clash between Peronist internal factions—right-wing union leaders and left-wingyouth from Montoneros—resulted in the Ezeiza Massacre. Cámpora resigned, overwhelmed by political violence, and Perón won the September 1973 election with his third wife Isabel as vice-president. He expelled Montoneros from the party^[84] and they became once again a clandestine organization. José López Rega organized the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance(AAA) to fight against them and the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP). Perón died in July 1974 and was succeeded by his wife, who signed a secret decree empowering the military and the police to "annihilate" the left-wing subversion,^[85] stopping ERP's attempt to start a rural insurgence in Tucumán province.^[86] Isabel Perón was ousted one year later by a junta of the three armed forces, led by army general Jorge Rafael Videla. They initiated the National Reorganization Process, often shortened to Proceso.^[87]

The Proceso shut down Congress, removed the judges of the Supreme Court, banned political parties and unions, and resorted to the forced disappearance of suspected guerrilla members and of anyone believed to be associated with the left-wing. By the end of 1976 Montoneros had lost near 2,000 members; by 1977, the ERP was completely defeated. A severely weakened Montoneros launched a counterattack in 1979, which was quickly annihilated, ending the guerrilla threat. Nevertheless, the junta stayed in power. Then head of state General Leopoldo Galtieri launched Operation Rosario, which escalated into the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de Malvinas); within two months Argentina was defeated by the United Kingdom. Reynaldo Bignone replaced Galtieri and began to organize the transition to democratic rule.^[88]

Contemporary era

Main articles: Argentine economic crisis (1999–2002) and Kirchnerism

Cristina Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2007 to 2015

Raúl Alfonsín won the 1983 elections campaigning for the prosecution of those responsible for human rights violations during the Proceso: the Trial of the Juntas and other martial courts sentenced all the coup's leaders but, under military pressure, he also enacted the Full Stop and Due Obedience laws,^[89]^[90] which halted prosecutions further down the chain of command. The worsening economic crisis and hyperinflation reduced his popular support and the Peronist Carlos Menem won the 1989 election. Soon after,riots forced Alfonsín to an early resignation.^[91]

Menem embraced neo-liberal policies:^[92] a fixed exchange rate, business deregulation,privatizations and dismantling of protectionist barriers normalized the economy for a while. He pardoned the officers who had been sentenced during Alfonsín's government. The 1994 Constitutional Amendment allowed Menem to be elected for a second term. The economy began to decline in 1995, with increasing unemployment and recession;^[93] led by Fernando de la Rúa, the UCR returned to the presidency in the 1999 elections.^[94]

Mauricio Macri, incumbent President of Argentina

De la Rúa kept Menem's economic plan despite the worsening crisis, which led to growing social discontent.^[93] A massive capital flight was responded to with afreezing of bank accounts, generating further turmoil. The December 2001 riotsforced him to resign.^[95] Congress appointed Eduardo Duhalde as acting president, who abrogated the fixed exchange rate established by Menem.^[96] By the late 2002 the economic crisis began to recess, but the assassination of two piqueteros by the police caused political commotion, prompting Duhalde to move elections forward.^[97] Néstor Kirchner was elected as the new president.^[98]

Boosting the neo-Keynesian economic policies^[97] laid by Duhalde, Kirchner ended the economic crisis attaining significant fiscal and trade surpluses, and steep GDP growth.^[99] Under his administration Argentina restructured its defaulted debt with an unprecedented discount of about 70% on most bonds, paid off debts with theInternational Monetary Fund,^[100] purged the military of officers with doubtful human rights records,^[101] nullified and voidedthe Full Stop and Due Obedience laws,^[102]^[F] ruled them as unconstitutional, and resumed legal prosecution of the Juntas' crimes. He did not run for reelection, promoting instead the candidacy of his wife, senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who was elected in 2007^[104] and reelected in 2011.

On 22 November 2015, after a tie in the first round of presidential elections on 25 October, Mauricio Macri won the firstballotage in Argentina's history, beating Front for Victory candidate Daniel Scioli and becoming president-elect. Macri is the first democratically elected non-radical or peronist president since 1916, although he had the support of the first mentioned.^[105] He took office on 10 December 2015. In April 2016, the Macri Government introduced austerity measures intended to tackle inflation and public deficits.^[106]

Geography

Main article: Geography of Argentina

Aconcagua is the highest mountain outside of Asia, at 6,960.8 metres (22,837 ft), and the highest point in the Southern Hemisphere.^[107]

With a mainland surface area of 2,780,400 km² (1,073,518 sq mi),^[B] Argentina is located in southern South America, sharing land borders with Chile across the Andes to the west;^[108] Bolivia and Paraguay to the north; Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east;^[109] and the Drake Passage to the south;^[110] for an overall land border length of 9,376 km (5,826 mi). Its coastal border over the Río de la Plata and South Atlantic Ocean is 5,117 km (3,180 mi) long.^[109]

Argentina's highest point is Aconcagua in the Mendoza province (6,959 m (22,831 ft) above sea level),^[111] also the highest point in the Southern and Western Hemispheres.^[112] The lowest point is Laguna del Carbón in the San Julián Great Depression Santa Cruz province (−105 m (−344 ft) below sea level,^[111] also the lowest point in the Southern and Western Hemispheres, and the seventh lowest point on Earth)^[113]

The northernmost point is at the confluence of the Grande de San Juan and Río Mojinete rivers in Jujuy province; the southernmost is Cape San Pío in Tierra del Fuego province; the easternmost is northeast of Bernardo de Irigoyen, Misionesand the westernmost is within Los Glaciares National Park in Santa Cruz province.^[109] The maximum north–south distance is 3,694 km (2,295 mi), while the maximum east–west one is 1,423 km (884 mi).^[109]

Some of the major rivers are the Paraná, Uruguay—which join to form the Río de la Plata, Paraguay, Salado, Negro, Santa Cruz, Pilcomayo, Bermejo and Colorado.^[114] These rivers are discharged into the Argentine Sea, the shallow area of the Atlantic Ocean over the Argentine Shelf, an unusually wide continental platform.^[115] Its waters are influenced by two major ocean currents: the warm Brazil Current and the cold Falklands Current.^[116]

Regions

Main article: Regions of Argentina

Argentina is divided into seven geographical regions:^[G]

Northwest, a continuation of the high Puna with even higher, more rugged topography to the far-west;^[117] the aridprecordillera, filled with narrow valleys or quebradas to the mid-west;^[118] and an extension of the mountainous Yungasjungles to the east.^[118]
Mesopotamia, a subtropical wedge covering the western Paraná Plateau and neighboring lowlands enclosed by the Paraná and Uruguay rivers.^[112]
Gran Chaco, a large, subtropical and tropical low-lying, gently sloping alluvial plain^[119] between Mesopotamia and the Andes.
Sierras Pampeanas, a series of medium-height mountain chains located in the center.^[120]
Cuyo, a basin and range area in the central Andes piedmont, to the west.^[119]
Pampas, a massive and hugely fertile alluvial plain located in the center east.^[121]
Patagonia, a large southern plateau consisting mostly of arid, rocky steppes^[112] to the east; with moister cold grasslandsto the south and dense subantarctic forests to the west.^[122]

Pampas
Sierras Pampeanas
Mesopotamia
Cuyo
Gran Chaco
Northwest Puna
Northwest Valleys
Northwest Yungas
Western Patagonia
Eastern Patagonia
Northwest Patagonia

Biodiversity

Main article: Environment of Argentina

Puna Flamenco, typical of the Northwest region of Puna.

High precipitation along with cold temperatures in the west form permanent snowfields such as thePerito Moreno Glacier

Argentina is a megadiverse country^[123] hosting one of the greatest ecosystemvarieties in the world: 15 continental zones, 3 oceanic zones, and the Antarctic region are all represented in its territory.^[123] This huge ecosystem variety has led to a biological diversity that is among the world's largest:^[123]^[124]

9,372 cataloged vascular plant species (ranked 24th)^[H]
1,038 cataloged bird species (ranked 14th)^[I]
375 cataloged mammal species (ranked 12th)^[J]
338 cataloged reptilian species (ranked 16th)
162 cataloged amphibian species (ranked 19th)

Climate

Main articles: Climate of Argentina and Climatic regions of Argentina

Although the most populated areas are generally temperate, Argentina has an exceptional climate diversity,^[125] ranging from subtropical in the north to subpolar in the far south.^[126] The average annual precipitation ranges from 150 millimetres (6 in) in the driest parts of Patagonia to over 2,000 millimetres (79 in) in the westernmost parts of Patagonia and the northeastern parts of the country.^[125] Mean annual temperatures range from 5 °C (41 °F) in the far south to 25 °C (77 °F) in the north.^[125]

Major wind currents include the cool Pampero Winds blowing on the flat plains of Patagonia and the Pampas; following the cold front, warm currents blow from the north in middle and late winter, creating mild conditions.^[127] The Sudestada usually moderates cold temperatures but brings very heavy rains, rough seas and coastal flooding. It is most common in late autumn and winter along the central coast and in the Río de la Plata estuary.^[127]The Zonda, a hot dry wind, affects Cuyo and the central Pampas. Squeezed of all moisture during the 6,000 m (19,685 ft) descent from the Andes, Zonda winds can blow for hours with gusts up to 120 km/h (75 mph), fueling wildfires and causing damage; between June and November, when the Zonda blows, snowstorms and blizzard (viento blanco) conditions usually affect higher elevations.^[128]

Politics

Main article: Politics of Argentina

Government

Main article: Government of Argentina

**Government of Argentina**
Congressional Palace Seat of the Congress	Casa Rosada Workplace of the President	Palace of Justice Supreme Court

Argentina is a federal constitutional republicand representative democracy.^[129] The government is regulated by a system ofchecks and balances defined by theConstitution of Argentina, the country's supreme legal document. The seat of government is the city of Buenos Aires, as designated by Congress.^[10] Suffrage isuniversal, equal, secret and mandatory.^[130]^[K]

The federal government is composed of three branches:

The Legislative branch consists of the bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate and Deputy chambers, which makesfederal law, declares war, approves treaties and has the power of the purse and of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government.^[132] The Chamber of Deputies represents the people and has 257 voting members elected to a four-year term. Seats are apportioned among the provinces by population every tenth year.^[133] As of 2014 ten provinces have just five deputies while the Buenos Aires Province, being the most populous one, has 70. The Chamber of Senators represents the provinces, has 72 members elected at-large to six-year terms, with each province having three seats; one third of Senate seats are up for election every other year.^[134] At least one-third of the candidates presented by the parties must be women.

In the Executive branch, the President is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative bills before they become law—subject to Congressional override—and appoints the members of the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.^[135] The President is elected directly by the vote of the people, serves a four-year term and may be elected to office no more than twice in a row.^[136]

The Judicial branch includes the Supreme Court and lower federal courts interpret laws and overturn those they findunconstitutional.^[137] The Judicial is independent of the Executive and the Legislative. The Supreme Court has seven members appointed by the President—subject to Senate approval—who serve for life. The lower courts' judges are proposed by the Council of Magistrates (a secretariat composed of representatives of judges, lawyers, researchers, the Executive and the Legislative), and appointed by the President on Senate approval.^[138]

Provinces

Main article: Provinces of Argentina

Argentina is a federation of twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. Provinces are divided for administration purposes intodepartments and municipalities, except for Buenos Aires Province, which is divided into partidos. The City of Buenos Aires is divided into communes.

Provinces hold all the power that they chose not to delegate to the federal government;^[139] they must be representative republics and must not contradict the Constitution.^[140] Beyond this they are fully autonomous: they enact their own constitutions,^[141] freely organize their local governments,^[142] and own and manage their natural and financial resources.^[143] Some provinces have bicameral legislatures, while others have unicameral ones.^[L]

During the War of Independence the main cities and their surrounding countrysides became provinces though the intervention of their cabildos. The Anarchy of the Year XX completed this process, shaping the original thirteen provinces. Jujuy seceded from Salta in 1834, and the thirteen provinces became fourteen. After seceding for a decade, Buenos Aires accepted the 1853 Constitution of Argentina in 1861, and was made a federal territory in 1880.^[145]

An 1862 law designated as national territories those under federal control but outside the frontiers of the provinces. In 1884 they served as bases for the establishment of the governorates of Misiones, Formosa, Chaco, La Pampa, Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego.^[146] The agreement about a frontier dispute with Chile in 1900 created the National Territory of Los Andes; its lands were incorporated into Jujuy, Salta and Catamarca in 1943.^[145] La Pampa and Chaco became provinces in 1951. Misiones did so in 1953, and Formosa, Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz, in 1955. The last national territory, Tierra del Fuego, became the Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province in 1990.^[145]

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Argentina

Argentina is one of G-20 major economies

Foreign policy is officially handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, which answers to the President.

An historical and current middle power,^[17] Argentina bases its foreign policies on the guiding principles of non-intervention,^[147] human rights, self-determination, international cooperation, disarmament and peaceful settlement of conflicts.^[148] The country is one of the G-15 and G-20 major economies of the world, and a founding member of the UN, WBG, WTO and OAS. In 2012Argentina was elected again to a two-year non-permanent position on theUnited Nations Security Council and is participating in major peacekeeping operations in Haiti, Cyprus, Western Sahara and the Middle East.^[149]

A prominent Latin American^[18] and Southern Cone^[19] regional power, Argentina co-founded OEI, CELAC and UNASUR, of which the former president Néstor Kirchner was first Secretary General. It is also a founding member of the Mercosur block, having Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela as partners. Since 2002 the country has emphasized its key role in Latin American integration, and the block—which has some supranational legislative functions—is its first international priority.^[150]

Argentina claims 965,597 km² (372,819 sq mi) in Antarctica, where it has the world's oldest continuous state presence, since 1904.^[151] This overlaps claims by Chile and the United Kingdom, though all such claims fall under the provisions of the 1961Antarctic Treaty, of which Argentina is a founding signatory and permanent consulting member, with the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat being based in Buenos Aires.^[152]

Argentina disputes sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas), and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands,^[153] which are administered by the United Kingdom as Overseas Territories.

Armed forces

Main article: Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic

**Argentine Armed Forces**
Argentine Army TAM	Argentine Navy ARA Hércules	Argentine Air Force A-4AR Fightinghawk

The President holds the title of commander-in-chief of the Argentine Armed Forces, as part of a legal framework that imposes a strict separation between national defense and internal security systems:^[154]^[155]

The National Defense System, an exclusive responsibility of the federal government,^[156]coordinated by the Ministry of Defense, and comprising the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.^[157] Ruled and monitored by Congress^[158] through the Houses' Defense Committees,^[159] it is organized on the essential principle of legitimate self-defense: the repelling of any external military aggression in order to guarantee freedom of the people, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity.^[159] Its secondary missions include committing to multinational operations within the framework of the United Nations, participating in internal support missions, assisting friendly countries, and establishing a sub-regional defense system.^[159]

Military service is voluntary, with enlistment age between 18 and 24 years old and no conscription.^[160] Argentina's defense has historically been one of the best equipped in the region, even managing its own weapon research facilities, shipyards, ordnance, tank and plane factories.^[161] However, real military expenditures declined steadily after 1981 and the defense budget in 2011 was about 0.74% of GDP, a historical minimum,^[162] below the Latin American average.

The Interior Security System, jointly administered by the federal and subscribing provincial governments.^[155] At the federal level it is coordinated by the Interior, Security and Justice ministries, and monitored by Congress.^[155] It is enforced by theFederal Police; the Prefecture, which fulfills coast guard duties; the Gendarmerie, which serves border guard tasks; and theAirport Security Police.^[163] At the provincial level it is coordinated by the respective internal security ministries and enforced by local police agencies.^[155]

Economy

Main article: Economy of Argentina

Industry

Main article: Industry in Argentina

Atucha Nuclear Power Plant was the first nuclear power plant in Latin America.^[179] The electricity comes from 3 operational nuclear reactors: The Embalse Nuclear Power Station, the Atucha I and the Atucha II.

In 2012 manufacturing accounted for 20.3% of GDP—the largest goods-producing sector in the nation's economy.^[180] Well-integrated into Argentine agriculture, half of the industrial exports have rural origin.^[180]

With a 6.5% production growth rate in 2011,^[181] the diversified manufacturing sector rests on a steadily growing network of industrial parks (314 as of 2013)^[182]^[183]

In 2012 the leading sectors by volume were: food processing, beverages and tobacco products; motor vehicles and auto parts; textiles and leather; refinery products andbiodiesel; chemicals and pharmaceuticals; steel, aluminum and iron; industrial and farm machinery; home appliances and furniture; plastics and tires; glass and cement; and recording and print media.^[180] In addition, Argentina has since long been one of the top five wine-producing countries in the world.^[180] However, it has also been classified as one of the 74 countries where instances of child labor and forced labor have been observed and mentioned in a 2014 report published by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs.^[184] The ILAB's List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Laborshows that many of the goods produced by child labor and/or forced labor comes from the agricultural sector.^[184]

Córdoba is Argentina's major industrial center, hosting metalworking, motor vehicle and auto parts manufactures. Next in importance are the Greater Buenos Aires area (food processing, metallurgy, motor vehicles and auto parts, chemicals and petrochemicals, consumer durables, textiles and printing); Rosario (food processing, metallurgy, farm machinery, oil refining, chemicals, and tanning); San Miguel de Tucumán (sugar refining); San Lorenzo (chemicals and pharmaceuticals); San Nicolás de los Arroyos (steel milling and metallurgy); and Ushuaia and Bahía Blanca (oil refining).^[185] Other manufacturing enterprises are located in the provinces of Santa Fe (zinc and copper smelting, and flour milling); Mendoza and Neuquén (wineries and fruit processing); Chaco (textiles and sawmills); and Santa Cruz, Salta and Chubut (oil refining)^[185]

The electric output of Argentina in 2009 totaled over 122 TWh (440 PJ), of which about 37% was consumed by industrial activities.^[186]

Transport

Main article: Transport in Argentina

Argentine Airlines, the largestairline in the country and considered one of the safest in the world.^[187]

Argentina has the largest railway system in Latin America, with 36,966 km (22,970 mi) of operating lines in 2008, out of a full network of almost 48,000 km (29,826 mi).^[188]This system links all 23 provinces plus Buenos Aires City, and connects with all neighboring countries.^[189] There are four incompatible gauges in use; this forces virtually all interregional freight traffic to pass through Buenos Aires.^[189] The system has been in decline since the 1940s: regularly running up large budgetary deficits, by 1991 it was transporting 1,400 times less goods than it did in 1973.^[189] However, in recent years the system has experienced a greater degree of investment from the state, in both commuter rail lines and long distance lines, renewing rolling stock and infrastructure.^[190]^[191] In April 2015, by overwhelming majority the Argentine Senatepassed a law which re-created Ferrocarriles Argentinos (2015), effectively re-nationalising the country's railways, a move which saw support from all major political parties on both sides of the political spectrum.^[192]^[193]^[194]

Buenos Aires Underground, was the first underground railway inLatin America, the Southern Hemisphere and the Spanish speaking world.^[195]

By 2004 Buenos Aires, all provincial capitals except Ushuaia, and all medium-sized towns were interconnected by 69,412 km (43,131 mi) of paved roads, out of a total road network of 231,374 km (143,769 mi).^[196] Most important cities are linked by a growing number of expressways, including Buenos Aires–La Plata, Rosario–Córdoba, Córdoba–Villa Carlos Paz, Villa Mercedes–Mendoza, National Route 14 General José Gervasio Artigas and Provincial Route 2 Juan Manuel Fangio, among others. Nevertheless, this road infrastructure is still inadequate and cannot handle the sharply growing demand caused by deterioration of the railway system.^[189]

In 2012 there were about 11,000 km (6,835 mi) of waterways,^[197] mostly comprising the La Plata, Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay rivers, with Buenos Aires, Zárate, Campana, Rosario, San Lorenzo, Santa Fe, Barranqueras and San Nicolas de los Arroyos as the main fluvial ports. Some of the largest sea ports are La Plata–Ensenada, Bahía Blanca, Mar del Plata, Quequén–Necochea, Comodoro Rivadavia, Puerto Deseado, Puerto Madryn, Ushuaia and San Antonio Oeste. Buenos Aires has historically been the most important port; however since the 1990s the Up-River port region has become dominant: stretching along 67 km (42 mi) of the Paraná river shore in Santa Fe province, it includes 17 ports and in 2013 accounted for 50% of all exports.

In 2013 there were 161 airports with paved runways^[198] out of more than a thousand.^[189] The Ezeiza International Airport, about 35 km (22 mi) from downtown Buenos Aires,^[199] is the largest in the country, followed by Cataratas del Iguazú in Misiones, and El Plumerillo in Mendoza.^[189] Aeroparque, in the city of Buenos Aires, is the most important domestic airport.^[200]

Media and communications

Main article: Communications in Argentina

"Estudio Pais 24, the Program of the Argentines" in Channel 7, the first television station in the country.

Print media industry is highly developed in Argentina, with more than two hundred newspapers. The major national ones include Clarín (centrist, Latin America's best-seller and the second most widely circulated in the Spanish-speaking world), La Nación(center-right, published since 1870), Página/12 (leftist, founded in 1987), the Buenos Aires Herald (Latin America's most prestigious English language daily, liberal, dating back to 1876), La Voz del Interior (center, founded in 1904),^[201] and theArgentinisches Tageblatt (German weekly, liberal, published since 1878)^[202]

Argentina began the world's first regular radio broadcasting on 27 August 1920, whenRichard Wagner's Parsifal was aired by a team of medical students led by Enrique Telémaco Susini in Buenos Aires' Teatro Coliseo.^[203]^[204] By 2002 there were 260 AMand 1150 FM registered radio stations in the country.^[205]

The Argentine television industry is large, diverse and popular across Latin America, with many productions and TV formatshaving been exported abroad. Since 1999 Argentines enjoy the highest availability of cable and satellite television in Latin America,^[206] as of 2014 totaling 87.4% of the country's households, a rate similar to those in the United States, Canada and Europe.^[207]

By 2011 Argentina also had the highest coverage of networked telecommunications among Latin American powers: about 67% of its population had internet access and 137.2%, mobile phone subscriptions.^[208]

Science and technology

Main article: Science and technology in Argentina

SAC-D is an Argentine earth science satellite built byINVAP and launched in 2011

Argentines have three Nobel Prizes laureates in the Sciences. Bernardo Houssay, the first Latin American among them, discovered the role of pituitary hormones in regulating glucosein animals. César Milstein did extensive research in antibodies. Luis Leloir discovered how organisms store energy converting glucose into glycogen and the compounds which are fundamental in metabolizing carbohydrates. Argentine research has led to the treatment ofheart diseases and several forms of cancer. Domingo Liotta designed and developed the first artificial heart successfully implanted in a human being in 1969. René Favalorodeveloped the techniques and performed the world's first ever coronary bypass surgery.

Argentina's nuclear programme has been highly successful. In 1957 Argentina was the first country in Latin America to design and build a research reactor with homegrown technology, the RA-1 Enrico Fermi. This reliance in the development of own nuclear related technologies, instead of simply buying them abroad, was a constant of Argentina's nuclear programme conducted by the civilian National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA). Nuclear facilities with Argentine technology have been built in Peru, Algeria, Australia and Egypt. In 1983, the country admitted having the capability of producing weapon-grade uranium, a major step needed to assemble nuclear weapons; since then, however, Argentina has pledged to use nuclear power only for peaceful purposes.^[209] As a member of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Argentina has been a strong voice in support of nuclear non-proliferation efforts^[210] and is highly committed to global nuclear security.^[211] In 1974 it was the first country in Latin America to put in-line a commercial nuclear power plant, Atucha I. Although the Argentine built parts for that station amounted to 10% of the total, the nuclear fuel it uses are since entirely built in the country. Later nuclear power stations employed a higher percentage of Argentine built components; Embalse, finished in 1983, a 30% and the 2011 Atucha II reactor a 40%.^[212]

President Macri in the INVAPwith the SAOCOM A and B, two planned Earth observation satellite constellation of ArgentineSpace Agency CONAE. the scheduled launch dates for 1A and 1B were further pushed back to October 2017 and October 2018.^[213]

Despite its modest budget and numerous setbacks, academics and the sciences in Argentina have enjoyed an international respect since the turn of the 1900s, when Dr.Luis Agote devised the first safe and effective means of blood transfusion as well asRené Favaloro, who was a pioneer in the improvement of the coronary artery bypass surgery. Argentine scientists are still on the cutting edge in fields such asnanotechnology, physics, computer sciences, molecular biology, oncology, ecology, and cardiology. Juan Maldacena, an Argentine-American scientist, is a leading figure in string theory.

Space research has also become increasingly active in Argentina. Argentine built satellites include LUSAT-1 (1990), Víctor-1 (1996), PEHUENSAT-1 (2007),^[214] and those developed by CONAE, the Argentine space agency, of the SAC series.^[215] Argentina has its own satellite programme, nuclear power station designs (4th generation) and public nuclear energy company INVAP, which provides several countries with nuclear reactors.^[216] Established in 1991, the CONAE has since launched two satellites successfully and,^[217] in June 2009, secured an agreement with the European Space Agency for the installation of a 35-m diameter antenna and other mission support facilities at the Pierre Auger Observatory, the world's foremost cosmic rayobservatory.^[218] The facility will contribute to numerous ESA space probes, as well as CONAE's own, domestic research projects. Chosen from 20 potential sites and one of only three such ESA installations in the world, the new antenna will create a triangulation which will allow the ESA to ensure mission coverage around the clock ^[219]

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in Argentina

Tourism in Argentina is characterized by its cultural offerings and its ample and varied natural assets. The country had 5.57 million visitors in 2013, ranking in terms of the international tourist arrivals as the top destination in South America, and second in Latin America after Mexico.^[220] Revenues from international tourists reached US$4.41 billion in 2013, down fromUS$4.89 billion in 2012.^[220] The country's capital city, Buenos Aires, is the most visited city in South America.^[221] There are 30 National Parks of Argentina including many World Heritage Sites in Argentina.

The Iguazu Falls, in the Misiones Province it is one of the New7Wonders of Nature.^[222]

Water supply and sanitation

Main article: Water supply and sanitation in Argentina

The tariffs for water supply and sanitation in Argentina are relatively low, the service quality reasonable. However, according to the WHO, 21% of the total population remains without access to house connections and 52% of the urban population do not have access to sewerage.

Between 1991 and 1999, as part of one of the world's largest privatization programs, water and sanitation concessions with the private sector were signed. After the 2001 economic crisis, many concessions were renegotiated.

Most service providers barely recover operation and maintenance costs and have no capacity to self-finance investments. While private operators were able to achieve higher levels of cost recovery, since the Argentine financial crisis in 2002 tariffs have been frozen and the self-financing capacity of utilities has disappeared.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Argentina

Ethnography

Main articles: Ethnography of Argentina and Immigration to Argentina

Queen Maxima was born and raised in Argentina of Spanish andItalian descent.

As with other areas of new settlement such as the United States, Canada, Australia,New Zealand, Brazil and Uruguay, Argentina is considered a country of immigrants.^[230]^[231]^[232] Argentines usually refer to the country as a crisol de razas(crucible of races, or melting pot).

During the 19th and 20th centuries especially, Argentina was the country with the second biggest immigration wave in the world, with 6.6 million, second only to the United States in the numbers of immigrants received (27 millions) and ahead of such other areas of new settlement like Canada, Brazil and Australia.^[233]^[234]

Strikingly, at those times, the national population doubled every two decades. This belief is endured in the popular saying "los argentinos descienden de los barcos"(Argentines descend from the ships). Therefore, most Argentines are descended from the 19th- and 20th-century immigrants of the great immigration wave to Argentina(1850–1955),^[235]^[236] with a great majority of these immigrants coming from diverse European countries. The majority of these European immigrants came from Italy and Spain.^[237] The majority of Argentines descend from multiple European ethnic groups, primarily of Italian and Spanish descent (over 25 million individuals in Argentina, almost 60% of the population have some partial Italian origins),^[238] while 17% of the population also have partial French origins,^[239] and a sizeable number of Germans.

Argentina is home to a significant population of Arab and partial Arab background, mostly of Syrian and Lebanese origin (in Argentina they are considered among the white people, just like in the United States Census). The Asian population in the country numbers at around 180,000 individuals, most of whom are of Chinese^[240] and Korean descent, although an olderJapanese community that traces back to the early 20th century still exists.^{[citation needed]}

A study conducted on 218 individuals in 2010 by the Argentine geneticist Daniel Corach, has established that the genetic map of Argentina is composed by 79% from different European ethnicities (mainly Spanish and Italian ethnicities), 18% of different indigenous ethnicities, and 4.3% of African ethnic groups, in which 63.6% of the tested group had at least one ancestor who was Indigenous.^[241]^[242]

From the 1970s, immigration has mostly been coming from Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru, with smaller numbers fromDominican Republic, Ecuador and Romania.^[243] The Argentine government estimates that 750,000 inhabitants lack official documents and has launched a program^[244] to encourage illegal immigrants to declare their status in return for two-year residence visas —so far over 670,000 applications have been processed under the program.^[245]

Languages

Main article: Languages of Argentina

Dialectal variants of the Spanish language in Argentina

The de facto^[N] official language is Spanish, spoken by almost all Argentines.^[246] The country is the largest Spanish-speaking society that universally employs voseo, the use of the pronoun vos instead of tú ("you"), which imposes the use of alternate verb forms as well. Due to the extensive Argentine geography, Spanish has a strong variation among regions, although the prevalent dialect is Rioplatense, primarily spoken in the La Plata Basin and accented similarly to Neapolitan language.^[247] Italian and other European immigrants influenced Lunfardo—the regional slang—permeating the vernacular vocabulary of other Latin American countries as well.

There are several second-languages in widespread use among the Argentine population:

English,^[O] taught since elementary school. 42.3% of Argentines claim to speak it, with 15.4% of them claiming to have a high level of language comprehension.^{[citation needed]}
Italian, by 1.5 million people.^[246]^[P]
Arabic, specially its Northern Levantine dialect, by one million people.^[246]
Standard German, by 400,000 people.^[246]^[Q]
Yiddish, by 200,000 people,^[246] the largest Jewish population in Latin America and 7th in the world.^[248]
Guaraní, by 200,000 people,^[246] mostly in Corrientes (where it is official de jure) and Misiones.^[3]
Catalan, by 174,000 people.^[246]
French, including the rare Occitan language.
Quechua, by 65,000 people, mostly in the Northwest.^[246]
Wichí, by 53,700 people, mainly in Chaco^[246] where, along with Kom and Moqoit, it is official de jure.^[4]
Vlax Romani, by 52,000 people.^[246]
Japanese, by 32,000 people.^[246]
Aymara, by 30,000 people, mostly in the Northwest.^[246]
Ukrainian, by 27,000 people.^[246]
Welsh, including its Patagonian dialect, in which 25,000 people are fluent.^[246] Some districts have recently incorporated it as an educational language.^[249]

Religion

Main article: Religion in Argentina

Francis, the first pope from the New World, was born and raised in Argentina.

The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.^[250] Although it enforces neither an official nor a state faith,^[251] it gives Roman Catholicism a differential status.^[252]^[R]

According to a CONICET poll, Argentines are 76.5% Catholic, 11.3% Agnostics andAtheists, 9% Evangelical Protestants, 1.2% Jehovah's Witnesses, 0.9% Mormons; 1.2% follow other religions, including Islam, Judaism and Buddhism.^[254]

The country is home to both the largest Muslim^[253] and largest Jewish communities in Latin America, the latter being the 7th most populous in the world.^[255] Argentina is a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.^[253]

Argentines show high individualization and de-institutionalization of religious beliefs;^[256]23.8% of them claim to always attend religious services; 49.1%, to seldom do and 26.8%, to never do.^[257]

On 13 March 2013, Argentine Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church. He took the name "Francis", and he became the first Pope from either the Americas or from the Southern Hemisphere. He is the first Pope born outside of Europe since theelection of Pope Gregory III (who was Syrian) in 741. He is also the first Jesuit Pope.^[258]

Urbanization

Argentina is highly urbanized, with 92% of its population living in cities:^[259] the ten largest metropolitan areas account for half of the population. About 3 million people live in the city of Buenos Aires, and including the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area it totals around 13 million, making it one of the largest urban areas in the world.^[260]

The metropolitan areas of Córdoba and Rosario have around 1.3 million inhabitants each.^[260] Mendoza, San Miguel de Tucumán, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Salta and Santa Fe have at least half a million people each.^[260]

The population is unequally distributed: about 60% live in the Pampas region (21% of the total area), including 15 million people in Buenos Aires province. The provinces of Córdoba and Santa Fe, and the city of Buenos Aires have 3 million each. Seven other provinces have over one million people each: Mendoza, Tucumán, Entre Ríos, Salta, Chaco, Corrientes and Misiones. With 64.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (167/sq mi), Tucumán is the only Argentine province more densely populated than the world average; by contrast, the southern province of Santa Cruz has around 1.1/km² (2.8/sq mi).^[261]

v t e Largest cities or towns in Argentina (2015 INDEC metro area estimate)^[262]
	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.
Buenos Aires Córdoba	1	Buenos Aires	(Autonomous city)	13,834,000	11	Resistencia	Chaco	409,000	Rosario Mendoza
	2	Córdoba	Córdoba	1,519,000	12	Santiago del Estero	Santiago del Estero	406,000
	3	Rosario	Santa Fe	1,429,000	13	Corrientes	Corrientes	383,000
	4	Mendoza	Mendoza	1,082,000	14	Posadas	Misiones	355,000
	5	Tucumán	Tucumán	868,000	15	San Salvador de Jujuy	Jujuy	338,000
	6	La Plata	Buenos Aires	836,000	16	Neuquén	Neuquén	309,000
	7	Mar del Plata	Buenos Aires	633,000	17	Bahía Blanca	Buenos Aires	307,000
	8	Salta	Salta	625,000	18	Paraná	Entre Ríos	274,000
	9	Santa Fe	Santa Fe	530,000	19	Formosa	Formosa	258,000
	10	San Juan	San Juan	513,000	20	San Luis	San Luis	218,000

Education

Main article: Education in Argentina

Argentina has historically been placed high in the global rankings of literacy, with rates similar to those of developed countries.

The Argentine education system consists of four levels:^[263]

An initial level for children between 45 days to 5 years old, with the last two years^[264] being compulsory.
An elementary or lower school mandatory level lasting 6 or 7 years.^[S] In 2010 the literacy rate was 98.07%.^[265]
A secondary or high school mandatory level lasting 5 or 6 years.^[S] In 201018.3% of people over age 15 had completed secondary school.^[266]
A higher level, divided in tertiary, university and post-graduate sub-levels. in 2013 there were 47 national public universities across the country, as well as 46 private ones.^[267] In 2010 6.3% of people over age 20 had graduated from university.^[266] The public universities ofBuenos Aires, Córdoba, La Plata, Rosario, and the National Technological University are some of the most important.

The Argentine state guarantees universal, secular and free-of-charge public education for all levels.^[T] Responsibility for educational supervision is organized at the federal and individual provincial states. In the last decades the role of the private sector has grown across all educational stages.

Health care

Main article: Health care in Argentina

The University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine, alma mater to many of the country's 3,000 medical graduates, annually.^[268]

Health care is provided through a combination of employer and labor union-sponsored plans (Obras Sociales), government insurance plans, public hospitals and clinics and through private health insurance plans. Health care cooperatives number over 300 (of which 200 are related to labor unions) and provide health care for half the population; the national INSSJP (popularly known as PAMI) covers nearly all of the five million senior citizens.^[269]

There are more than 153,000 hospital beds, 121,000 physicians and 37,000 dentists (ratios comparable to developed nations).^[270]^[271] The relatively high access to medical care has historically resulted in mortality patterns and trends similar to developed nations': from 1953 to 2005, deaths from cardiovascular diseaseincreased from 20% to 23% of the total, those from tumors from 14% to 20%,respiratory problems from 7% to 14%, digestive maladies (non-infectious) from 7% to 11%, strokes a steady 7%, injuries, 6%, and infectious diseases, 4%. Causes related to senility led to many of the rest. Infant deaths have fallen from 19% of all deaths in 1953 to 3% in 2005.^[270]^[272]

The availability of health care has also reduced infant mortality from 70 per 1000 live births in 1948^[273] to 12.1 in 2009^[270]and raised life expectancy at birth from 60 years to 76.^[273] Though these figures compare favorably with global averages, they fall short of levels in developed nations and in 2006, Argentina ranked fourth in Latin America.^[271]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Argentina

Literature

Main article: Argentine literature

Four of the most influential Argentine writers. Top-left to bottom-right: Julio Cortázar, Victoria Ocampo, Jorge Luis Borges andAdolfo Bioy Casares

Although Argentina's rich literary history began around 1550,^[278] it reached full independence with Esteban Echeverría's El Matadero, a romantic landmark that played a significant role in the development of 19th century's Argentine narrative,^[279] split by the ideological divide between the popular, federalist epic of José Hernández' Martín Fierro and the elitist and cultured discourse of Sarmiento's masterpiece, Facundo.^[280]

The Modernist movement advanced into the 20th century including exponents such asLeopoldo Lugones and poet Alfonsina Storni;^[281] it was followed by Vanguardism, withRicardo Güiraldes's Don Segundo Sombra as an important reference.^[282]

Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina's most acclaimed writer and one of the foremost figures in the history of literature,^[283] found new ways of looking at the modern world in metaphorand philosophical debate and his influence has extended to authors all over the globe. Short stories such as Ficciones and The Aleph are among his most famous books. He was a friend and collaborator with Adolfo Bioy Casares, who wrote one of the most praised science fiction novels, The Invention of Morel.^[284] Julio Cortázar, one of the leading members of the Latin American Boom and a major name in 20th century literature,^[285] influenced an entire generation of writers in the Americas and Europe.^[286]

Other highly regarded Argentine writers, poets and essayists include Estanislao del Campo, Eugenio Cambaceres, Pedro Bonifacio Palacios, Hugo Wast, Benito Lynch, Enrique Banchs, Oliverio Girondo, Ezequiel Martínez Estrada, Victoria Ocampo, Leopoldo Marechal, Silvina Ocampo, Roberto Arlt, Eduardo Mallea, Manuel Mujica Láinez, Ernesto Sábato, Silvina Bullrich, Rodolfo Walsh, María Elena Walsh, Tomás Eloy Martínez, Manuel Puig, Alejandra Pizarnik, and Osvaldo Soriano.^[287]

Music

Main article: Music of Argentina

Carlos Gardel, the most prominent figure in the history of tango

Tango, a Rioplatense musical genre with European and African influences,^[288] is one of Argentina's international cultural symbols.^[289] The golden age of tango (1930 to mid-1950s) mirrored that of jazz and swing in the United States, featuring large orchestras like those ofOsvaldo Pugliese, Aníbal Troilo, Francisco Canaro, Julio de Caro and Juan d'Arienzo.^[290] After 1955, virtuoso Astor Piazzolla popularized Nuevo tango, a subtler and more intellectual trend for the genre.^[290] Tango enjoys worldwide popularity nowadays with groups like Gotan Project,Bajofondo and Tanghetto.

Argentina developed strong classical music and dance scenes that gave rise to renowned artists such as Alberto Ginastera, composer; Alberto Lysy, violinist; Martha Argerich andEduardo Delgado, pianists; Daniel Barenboim, pianist and symphonic orchestra director; José Cura and Marcelo Álvarez, tenors; and to ballet dancers Jorge Donn, José Neglia, Norma Fontenla, Maximiliano Guerra, Paloma Herrera, Marianela Núñez, Iñaki Urlezaga and Julio Bocca.^[290]

A national Argentine folk style emerged in the 1930s from dozens of regional musical genres and went to influence the entirety of Latin American music. Some of its interpreters, like Atahualpa Yupanqui and Mercedes Sosa, achieved worldwide acclaim.

The romantic ballad genre included singers of international fame such as Sandro de América.

Argentine rock developed as a distinct musical style in the mid-1960s, when Buenos Aires and Rosario became cradles of aspiring musicians. Founding bands like Los Gatos, Sui Generis, Almendra and Manal were followed by Seru Giran, Los Abuelos de la Nada, Soda Stereo and Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, with prominent artists including Gustavo Cerati, Litto Nebbia, Andrés Calamaro, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Charly García, Fito Páez and León Gieco.^[290]

Tenor saxophonist Leandro "Gato" Barbieri and composer and big band conductor Lalo Schifrin are among the most internationally successful Argentine jazz musicians.

Theatre

Main article: Theatre in Argentina

Teatro Colón.

Buenos Aires is one of the great theater capitals of the world,^[291]^[292] with a scene of international caliber centered on Corrientes Avenue, "the street that never sleeps", sometimes referred to as an intellectual Broadway in Buenos Aires.^[293]Teatro Colón is a global landmark for opera and classical performances; its acoustics are considered among the world's top five.^[294]^[U] Other important theatrical venues include Teatro General San Martín, Cervantes, both in Buenos Aires City; Argentino in La Plata, El Círculo in Rosario, Independencia in Mendoza, and Libertador in Córdoba. Griselda Gambaro, Copi, Roberto Cossa,Marco Denevi, Carlos Gorostiza, and Alberto Vaccarezza are a few of the most prominent Argentine playwrights.

Argentine theatre traces its origins to Viceroy Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo's creation of the colony's first theatre, La Ranchería, in 1783. In this stage, in 1786, a tragedy entitled Siripo had its premiere. Siripo is now a lost work (only the second act is conserved), and can be considered the first Argentine stage play, because it was written by Buenos Aires poet Manuel José de Lavardén, it was premiered in Buenos Aires, and its plot was inspired by an historical episode of the early colonization of the Río de la Plata Basin: the destruction of Sancti Spiritu colony by aboriginals in 1529. La Rancheríatheatre operated until its destruction in a fire in 1792. The second theatre stage in Buenos Aires was Teatro Coliseo, opened in 1804 during the term of Viceroy Rafael de Sobremonte. It was the nation's longest-continuously operating stage. The musical creator of the Argentine National Anthem, Blas Parera, earned fame as a theatre score writer during the early 19th century. The genre suffered during the regime of Juan Manuel de Rosas, though it flourished alongside the economy later in the century. The national government gave Argentine theatre its initial impulse with the establishment of the Colón Theatre, in 1857, which hosted classical and operatic, as well as stage performances. Antonio Petalardo's successful 1871 gambit on the opening of the Teatro Opera, inspired others to fund the growing art in Argentina.

Cinema

Main article: Cinema of Argentina

The Argentine film industry has historically been one of the three most developed in Latin American cinema, along with those produced in Mexico and Brazil.^[295]^[296] Started in 1896; by the early 1930s it had already become Latin America's leading film producer, a place it kept until the early 1950s.^[297] The world's first animated feature films were made and released in Argentina, by cartoonist Quirino Cristiani, in 1917 and 1918.^[298]

Berenice Bejo, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2011.

The art director of The Secret in Their Eyes won the Academy Award for that film.

Argentine films have achieved worldwide recognition: the country has won two Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, with The Official Story (1985) and The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) with seven nominations:

The Truce (La Tregua) in 1974
Camila (Camila) in 1984
The Official Story (La Historia Oficial) in 1985
Tango (Tango) in 1998
Son of the Bride (El hijo de la novia) in 2001
The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de sus Ojos) in 2009
Wild Tales (Relatos Salvajes) in 2015

In addition, Argentine composers Luis Enrique Bacalov and Gustavo Santaolalla have been honored with Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2006 and 2007 nods and Armando Bo and Nicolás Giacobonehave been honored with Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2015. Also, the Argentine French actress Berenice Bejo received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2011 and won the César Award for Best Actress and won the Best Actress award in the Cannes Film Festival for her role in the film The Past.^[299]

Argentina also has won sixteen Goya Awards for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film with A King and His Movie (1986), A Place in the World (1992), Gatica, el mono (1993), Autumn Sun (1996), Ashes of Paradise (1997), The Lighthouse (1998),Burnt Money (2000), The Escape (2001), Intimate Stories (2003), Blessed by Fire (2005), The Hands (2006), XXY (2007),The Secret in Their Eyes (2009), Chinese Take-Away (2011), Wild Tales (2014) and The Clan (2015) being by far the most awarded in Latin America with twenty three nominations.

Many other Argentine films have been acclaimed by the international critique: Camila (1984), Man Facing Southeast (1986),A Place in the World (1992), Pizza, Beer, and Cigarettes (1997), Nine Queens (2000), A Red Bear (2002), The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), The Aura (2005), Chinese Take-Away (2011) and Wild Tales (2014) being some of them.

In 2013 about 100 full-length motion pictures were being created annually.^[300]

Visual arts

Architecture

Main article: Architecture of Argentina

The Neoclassical façade of theCórdoba Palace of Justice.

The colonization brought the Spanish Baroque architecture, which can still be appreciated in its simpler Rioplatense style in the reduction of San Ignacio Miní, theCathedral of Córdoba, and the Cabildo of Luján. Italian and French influences increased at the beginning of the 19th century with strong eclectic overtones that gave the local architecture a unique feeling.^[302]

Numerous Argentine architects have enriched their own country's cityscape and those around the world: Juan Antonio Buschiazzo helped popularize Beaux-Arts architecture and Francisco Gianotti combined Art Nouveau with Italianate styles, each adding flair to Argentine cities during the early 20th century. Francisco Salamone and Viktor Sulčič left an Art Deco legacy, and Alejandro Bustillo created a prolific body of Neoclassical andRationalist architecture. Alberto Prebisch and Amancio Williams were highly influenced by Le Corbusier, while Clorindo Testa introduced Brutalist architecture locally. César Pelli's and Patricio Pouchulu's Futurist creations have graced cities worldwide: Pelli's 1980s throwbacks to the Art Deco glory of the 1920s made him one of the world's most prestigious architects, with the Norwest Center and the Petronas Towers among his most celebrated creations.

Sport

Main article: Sport in Argentina

Diego Maradona one of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century ^[303]^[304]holding the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Lionel Messi, five times FIFA Ballon d'Or winner, is the current captain of the Argentina national football team

Pato is the national sport,^[305] an ancient horseback game locally originated in the early 1600s and predecessor of horseball.^[306]^[307]The most popular sport is Football. Along with France, the men's national team is the only to have won the most important international triplet: World Cup, Confederations Cup, and Olympic Gold Medal. It has also won 14 Copas América, 6 Pan American Gold Medals, and many other trophies.^[308] Alfredo Di Stéfano, Diego Maradona, andLionel Messi are among the best players in the game's history.^[309]

The country's women's field hockey team Las Leonas is one of the world's most successful, with four Olympic medals, two World Cups, aWorld League and seven Champions Trophy.^[310] Luciana Aymar is recognized as the best female player in the history of the sport,^[311]being the only person to have received the FIH Player of the Year Award eight times.^[312]

Basketball is a very popular sport. The men's national team is the only one in the FIBA Americas zone that has won the quintuplet crown:World Championship, Olympic Gold Medal, Diamond Ball, Americas Championship, and Pan American Gold Medal. It has also conquered 13 South American Championships, and many other tournaments.^[313] Emanuel Ginóbili, Luis Scola, Andrés Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto, Pablo Prigioni, Carlos Delfino and Juan Ignacio Sánchez are a few of the country's most acclaimed players, all of them part of the NBA.^[310] Argentina hosted the Basketball World Cup in 1950 and 1990.

Rugby is another popular sport in Argentina. As of 2014 the men's national team, known as 'Los Pumas' has competed at the Rugby World Cup each time it has been held, achieving their highest ever result in 2007 when they came third. Since2012 the Los Pumas have competed against Australia, New Zealand & South Africa in The Rugby Championship, the premier international Rugby competition in the Southern Hemisphere. Since 2009 the men's national 'A' team known as the 'Los Jaguares' has competed against the USA & Canada 'A' teams along with Uruguay in the Americas Rugby Championship, The Los Jaguares have won every year the competition has been competed.

Argentina women's national field hockey team (The Lionesses), has dominated and won every tournament they played, including the World Cup, World League,Champions Trophy, Olympic Games, Pan American Cup and thePan American Games.

Argentina has produced some of the most formidable champions for Boxing, includingCarlos Monzón, the best middleweight in history;^[314] Pascual Pérez, one of the most decorated flyweight boxers of all times; Víctor Galíndez, as of 2009 record holder for consecutive world light heavyweight title defenses; and Nicolino Locche, nicknamed "The Untouchable" for his masterful defense; they are all inductees into theInternational Boxing Hall of Fame.^[315]

Tennis has been quite popular among people of all ages. Guillermo Vilas is the greatest Latin American player of the Open Era,^[316] while Gabriela Sabatini is the most accomplished Argentine female player of all time—having reached #3 in the WTA Ranking,^[317] are both inductees into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.^[318]

Argentina reigns undisputed in Polo, having won more international championships than any other country and been seldom beaten since the 1930s.^[319] The Argentine Polo Championship is the sport's most important international team trophy. The country is home to most of the world's top players, among them Adolfo Cambiaso, the best in Polo history.^[320]

Historically, Argentina has had a strong showing within Auto racing. Juan Manuel Fangio was five times Formula One world champion under four different teams, winning 102 of his 184 international races, and is widely ranked as the greatest driver of all time.^[321] Other distinguished racers were Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Juan Gálvez, José Froilán González, and Carlos Reutemann.^[322]

Cuisine

Main article: Argentine cuisine

Argentine beef as asado, a traditional dish

Besides many of the pasta, sausage and dessert dishes common to continental Europe, Argentines enjoy a wide variety of Indigenous and Criollo creations, includingempanadas (a small stuffed pastry), locro (a mixture of corn, beans, meat, bacon, onion, and gourd), humita and mate.^[323]

The country has the highest consumption of red meat in the world,^[324] traditionally prepared as asado, the Argentine barbecue. It is made with various types of meats, often including chorizo, sweetbread, chitterlings, and blood sausage.^[325]

Common desserts include facturas (Viennese-style pastry), cakes and pancakes filled with dulce de leche (a sort of milk caramel jam), alfajores (shortbread cookies sandwiched together with chocolate, dulce de leche or a fruit paste), and tortas fritas(fried cakes)^[326]

Argentine wine, one of the world's finest,^[327] is an integral part of the local menu. Malbec, Torrontés, Cabernet Sauvignon,Syrah and Chardonnay are some of the most sought-after varieties.^[328]

National symbols

Main article: National symbols of Argentina

Some of Argentina's national symbols are defined by law, while others are traditions lacking formal designation.^[329] The Flag of Argentina consists of three horizontal stripes equal in width and colored light blue, white and light blue, with the Sun of May in the center of the middle white stripe.^[330] The flag was designed by Manuel Belgrano in 1812; it was adopted as a national symbol on 20 July 1816.^[331] The Coat of Arms, which represents the union of the provinces, came into use in 1813 as the seal for official documents.^[332] The Argentine National Anthem was written by Vicente López y Planes with music byBlas Parera, and was adopted in 1813.^[332] The National Cockade was first used during the May Revolution of 1810 and was made official two years later.^[333] The Virgin of Luján is Argentina's patron saint.^[334]

The hornero, living across most of the national territory, was chosen as the national bird in 1928 after a lower school survey.^[335] The ceibo is the national floral emblem and national tree,^[329]^[336] while the quebracho colorado is the national forest tree.^[337] Rhodochrosite is known as the national gemstone.^[338] The national sport is pato, an equestrian game that was popular among gauchos.^[305]

Argentine wine is the national liquor, and mate, the national infusion.^[339]^[340] Asado and locro are considered the national dishes.^[341]^[342]

Thursday 24 November 2016

ARGENTINA

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