Argentina

1 Geography
2 Biodiversity and Ecology
3 People and Society
4 Energy
5 Conflict
6 Economy
7 Further Reading

Content Partner: World Wildlife Fund (other articles)

Content Sources: Central Intelligence Agency (other articles) and Central Intelligence Agency (other articles)

This article has been reviewed and approved by the following Topic Editor: Juan Pablo Arce (other articles)

Last Updated: May 21, 2009

Map of Argentina (Source: CIA, The World Factbook)

Argentina is a large South American nation that borders Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Chile. It has a long coast fronting the Atlantic Ocean. It is second-largest country in South America (after Brazil). Argentina is strategically located relative to sea lanes between the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans (via Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, and Drake Passage). It encompasses diverse geophysical landscapes ranging 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

Its major environmental issues include: 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

Geography

Location: Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay

Geographic Coordinates: 34 00 S, 64 00 W

Area: 2,766,890 km²(2,736,690 km²land and 30,200 km² water)

arable land: 10.03%
permanent crops: 0.36%
other: 89.61% (2005)

Land Boundaries: 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 to 12 nautical miles; contiguous zone to 24 nautical miles; exclusive economic zone to 200 nautical miles; continental shelf: 200 nautical miles or to the edge of the continental margin

Natural Hazards: San Miguel de Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes are subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the pampas and northeast; heavy flooding

Terrain: Rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border. The lowest point is Laguna del Carbon (-105 metres), located between Puerto San Julian and Comandante Luis Piedra Buena in the province of Santa Cruz. The highest point: Cerro Aconcagua (6,960 metres), located in the northwestern corner of the province of Mendoza.

Climate: Mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest

Capital: Buenos Aires

Biodiversity and Ecology

Very little of the Atlantic Forest remains, and what does is highly fragmented. Despite this, it still maintains extremely high levels of diversity and endemism, and is one of the highest priorities for conservation action globally. The Chilean Winter Rainfall-Valdivian Forests Hotspot represents the crossroads of two major floristic and faunistic regions: the Neotropical and ancient Gondwanan provinces. The influence of past geographical links between South America and other southern lands, such as Australia, is evident in the hotspot’s high plant endemism. The richest and most diverse region on Earth, the Tropical Andes spans 1,542,644 km2, from western Venezuela to northern Chile and Argentina, and includes large portions of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. The Patagonian Shelf large marine ecosystem (LME) extends from Uruguay to the Strait of Magellan. It has a total area of about 2.7 million square kilometers. The continental shelf is relatively narrow in the north but widens progressively to the south, where it reaches a width of about 850 kilometers (km).

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

International Environmental Agreements

Argentina is party to international agreements on: 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, and Whaling. It has signed, but not ratified and international agreement on Marine Life Conservation.

People and Society

Population: 40,913,584 (July 2009 est.)

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 25.6% (male 5,369,477/female 5,122,260)
15-64 years: 63.5% (male 12,961,725/female 13,029,265)
65 years and over: 10.8% (male 1,819,057/female 2,611,800) (2009 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 1.053% (2009 est.)

Birthrate: 18.11 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death Rate: 7.43 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net Migration Rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth: 76.56 years (2009 est.)

Total Fertility Rate: 2.35 children born/woman (2009 est.)

Languages: Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French

Literacy: 97.2% (2001 census)

Energy

Argentina is one of South America’s largest economies. Argentina’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 9.2 percent in 2005 and 8.3 percent in 2006. This high level of economic growth has led to a corresponding increase in the demand for energy, especially natural gas.

Conflict

International Disputes:

Argentina continues to assert its claims to the UK-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), 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;
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 2006, Argentina went to the ICJ to protest, on environmental grounds, the construction of two pulp mills in Uruguay on the Uruguay River, which forms the boundary; both parties presented their pleadings in 2007 with Argentina's reply in January and Uruguay's rejoinder in July 2008;
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)

Economy

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 also increased, however, during the administration of President Nestor Kirchner, which responded with price restraints on businesses, as well as export taxes and restraints, and beginning in early 2007, with understating inflation data. Cristina Fernadez De Kirchner succeeded her husband as President in late 2007, but was stymied in her efforts to hike export taxes still further by protesting farmers. Her government nationalized private pension funds in late 2008, which bolstered government coffers, but failed to assuage investors' concerns about the direction of economic policy.

GDP: (Purchasing Power Parity): $575.6 billion (2008 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 7.1% (2008 est.)

GDP- per capita (PPP): $14,200 (2008 est.)

GDP- composition by sector:

agriculture: 9.2%
industry: 34.1%
services: 56.7% (2008 est.)

Industries: food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel

Natural Resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium

Currency: Argentine pesos (ARS)

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