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Location: Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay
Map references: South America
Area:
total area: 2,766,890 sq km
land area: 2,736,690 sq km
comparative area: slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US
Land boundaries: total 9,665 km, Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km
Coastline: 4,989 km
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
Natural resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium
Land use:
arable land: 9%
permanent crops: 4%
meadows and pastures: 52%
forest and woodland: 22%
other: 13%
Irrigated land: 17,600 sq km (1989 est.)
Population: 34,292,742 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14years: 28% (female 4,706,793; male 4,903,589)
15-64 years: 62% (female 10,680,074; male 10,689,728)
65 years and over: 10% (female 1,922,552; male 1,390,006) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.11% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 19.51 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 8.62 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.19 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 28.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.51 years
male: 68.22 years
female: 74.97 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.65 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Argentine(s)
adjective: Argentine
Ethnic divisions: white 85%, mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups 15%
Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 6%
Languages: Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 95%
male: 96%
female: 95%
Labor force: 10.9 million
by occupation: agriculture 12%, industry 31%, services 57% (1985 est.)
Names:
conventional long form: Argentine Republic
conventional short form: Argentina
local long form: Republica Argentina
local short form: Argentina
Digraph: AR
Type: republic
Capital: Buenos Aires
Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia), and 1 federal district*
(distrito federal); Buenos Aires; Catamarca; Chaco; Chubut; Cordoba; Corrientes;
Distrito Federal*; 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 or Argentina's claims
to the Falkland Islands
Independence: 9 July 1816 (from Spain)
National holiday: Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)
Constitution: 1 May 1853; revised August 1994
Legal system: mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Overview: Argentina, rich in natural resources, benefits also from a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Nevertheless, following decades of mismanagement and statist policies, the economy in the late 1980s was plagued with huge external debts and recurring bouts of hyperinflation. Elected in 1989, in the depths of recession, President MENEM has implemented a comprehensive economic restructuring program that shows signs of putting Argentina on a path of stable, sustainable growth. Argentina's currency has traded at par with the US dollar since April 1991, and inflation has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years. Argentines have responded to the relative price stability by repatriating flight capital and investing in domestic industry. The economy registered an impressive 6% advance in 1994, fueled largely by inflows of foreign capital and strong domestic consumption spending. The government's major short term objective is encouraging exports, e.g., by reducing domestic costs of production. At the start of 1995, the government had to deal with the spillover from international financial movements associated with the devaluation of the Mexican peso. In addition, unemployment had become a serious issue for the government. Despite average annual 7% growth in 1991-94, unemployment surprisingly has doubled - due mostly to layoffs in government bureaus and in privatized industrial firms and utilities and, to a lesser degree, to illegal immigration. Much remains to be done in the 1990s in dismantling the old statist barriers to growth, extending the recent economic gains, and bringing down the rate of unemployment.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $270.8 billion (1994 est.)
National product real growth rate: 6% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $7,990 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.9% (1994 est.)
Unemployment rate: 12% (1994 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $48.46 billion
expenditures: $46.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.5 billion (1994
est.)
Exports: $15.7 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, manufactures
partners: US 12%, Brazil, Italy, Japan, Netherlands
Imports: $21.4 billion (c.i.f., 1994 est.)
commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, fuels and lubricants,
agricultural products
partners: US 22%, Brazil, Germany, Bolivia, Japan, Italy, Netherlands
External debt: $73 billion (April 1994)
Industrial production: growth rate 12.5% accounts for 31% of GDP (1994 est.)
Electricity:
capacity: 17,330,000 kW
production: 54.8 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 1,610 kWh (1993)
Industries: food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel
Agriculture: accounts for 8% of GDP (including fishing); produces abundant food for both domestic consumption and exports; among world's top five exporters of grain and beef; principal crops - wheat, corn, sorghum, soybeans, sugar beets
Currency: 1 nuevo peso argentino = 100 centavos
Fiscal year: calendar year
Railroads:
total: 34,572 km
broad gauge: NA km 1.676-m gauge
standard gauge: NA km 1.435-m
narrow gauge: 400 km 0.750-m gauge; NA km 1.000-m gauge (209 km electrified)
Highways:
total: 208,350 km
paved: 57,000 km
unpaved: gravel 39,500 km; improved/unimproved earth 111,850 km
Inland waterways: 11,000 km navigable
Pipelines: crude oil 4,090 km; petroleum products 2,900 km; natural gas 9,918 km
Ports: Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia, Concepcion del Uruguay, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Necochea, Rio Gallegos, Rosario, Santa Fe, Ushuaia
Merchant marine:
total: 44 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 434,525 GRT/667,501 DWT
ships by type: bulk 3, cargo 21, chemicaltanker 1, container 4, oil tanker 8, railcar
carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 5, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1
Airports:
total: 1,602
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 5
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 25
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 55
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 48
with paved runways under 914 m: 703
with unpaved runways over 3,047 m: 2
with unpaved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 70
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 693