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Argentina
Background: Following independence from Spain in 1816, Argentina experienced periods of internal political conflict between conservatives and liberals and between civilian and military factions. After World War II, a long period of Peronist dictatorship was followed by a military junta that took power in 1976. Democracy returned in 1983, and four free elections since then have underscored Argentina's progress in democratic consolidation.
Location: Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay Geographic coordinates: 34 00 S, 64 00 W Map references: South America Area:
Area - comparative: slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US Land boundaries:
Coastline: 4,989 km Maritime claims:
Climate: mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest Terrain: rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border Elevation extremes:
Natural resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium Land use:
Irrigated land: 17,000 sq km (1993 est.) Natural hazards: San Miguel de Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the Pampas and northeast; heavy flooding Environment - current issues:
environmental problems (urban and rural) typical of an industrializing economy such as soil degradation, desertification, air pollution, and water pollution
Environment - international agreements:
Geography - note: second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)
Population: 36,955,182 (July 2000 est.) Age structure:
Population growth rate: 1.16% (2000 est.) Birth rate: 18.59 births/1,000 population (2000 est.) Death rate: 7.59 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.) Net migration rate: 0.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.) Sex ratio:
Infant mortality rate: 18.31 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.) Life expectancy at birth:
Total fertility rate: 2.47 children born/woman (2000 est.) Nationality:
Ethnic groups: white (mostly Spanish and Italian) 97%, mestizo, Amerindian, or other nonwhite groups 3% Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4% Languages: Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French Literacy:
Country name:
Data code: AR Government 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, Antartica e Islas del Atlantico Sur; Tucuman
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 Executive branch:
Legislative branch:
bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate (72 seats; formerly, three members appointed by each of the provincial legislatures; presently transitioning to one-third of the members being elected every two years to six-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies (257 seats; one-half of the members elected every two years to four-year terms)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema), the nine Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president with approval of the Senate Political parties and leaders: Action for the Republic or AR [Domingo CAVALLO]; Alliance (UCR, Frepaso and others) [leader NA]; Front for a Country in Solidarity or Frepaso (a four-party coalition) [Carlos ALVAREZ]; Justicialist Party or PJ [Carlos Saul MENEM] (Peronist umbrella political organization); Radical Civic Union or UCR [Raul ALFONSIN]; several provincial parties Political pressure groups and leaders: Argentine Association of Pharmaceutical Labs (CILFA); Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association); Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association); Armed Forces; business organizations; General Confederation of Labor or CGT (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization); Peronist-dominated labor movement; Roman Catholic Church; students International organization participation: AfDB, Australia Group, BCIE, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G- 6, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur, MINURSO, MIPONUH, MTCR, NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC Diplomatic representation in the US:
Diplomatic representation from the US:
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of light blue (top), white, and light blue; centered in the white band is a radiant yellow sun with a human face known as the Sun of May
Economy - overview: Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. However, when President Carlos MENEM took office in 1989, the country had piled up huge external debts, inflation had reached 200% per month, and output was plummeting. To combat the economic crisis, the government embarked on a path of trade liberalization, deregulation, and privatization. In 1991, it implemented radical monetary reforms which pegged the peso to the US dollar and limited the growth in the monetary base by law to the growth in reserves. Inflation fell sharply in subsequent years. In 1995, the Mexican peso crisis produced capital flight, the loss of banking system deposits, and a severe, but short-lived, recession; a series of reforms to bolster the domestic banking system followed. Real GDP growth recovered strongly, reaching 8% in 1997. In 1998, international financial turmoil caused by Russia's problems and increasing investor anxiety over Brazil produced the highest domestic interest rates in more than three years, halving the growth rate of the economy. Conditions worsened in 1999 with GDP falling by 3%. President Fernando DE LA RUA, who took office in December 1999, sponsored tax increases and spending cuts to reduce the deficit, which had ballooned to 2.5% of GDP in 1999. The new government also arranged a new $7.4 billion stand-by facility with the IMF for contingency purposes - almost three times the size of the previous arrangement. Key challenges facing the new government include reforming the country's rigid labor code and addressing the precarious financial situation of several highly indebted provinces. GDP: purchasing power parity - $367 billion (1999 est.) GDP - real growth rate: -3% (1999 est.) GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $10,000 (1999 est.) GDP - composition by sector:
Population below poverty line: 36% (1998 est.) Household income or consumption by percentage share:
Inflation rate (consumer prices): -2% (1999 est.) Labor force: 15 million (1999) Labor force - by occupation: agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% Unemployment rate: 14% (December 1999) Budget:
Industries: food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel Industrial production growth rate: -7% (1999 est.) Electricity - production: 75.237 billion kWh (1998) Electricity - production by source:
Electricity - consumption: 75.57 billion kWh (1998) Electricity - exports: 250 million kWh (1998) Electricity - imports: 5.85 billion kWh (1998) Agriculture - products: sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock Exports: $23 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.) Exports - commodities: edible oils, fuels and energy, cereals, feed, motor vehicles Exports - partners: Brazil 24%, EU 21%, US 11% (1999 est.) Imports: $25 billion (c.i.f., 1999 est.) Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures, plastics Imports - partners: EU 28%, US 22%, Brazil 21% (1999 est.) Debt - external: $149 billion (1999 est.) Economic aid - recipient: $2.833 billion (1995) Currency: 1 peso = 100 centavos Exchange rates: peso is pegged to the US dollar at an exchange rate of 1 peso = $1 Fiscal year: calendar year
Telephones - main lines in use: 7.5 million (1997) Telephones - mobile cellular: 1.8 million (1997) Telephone system:
12,000 public telephones; extensive modern system but many families do not have telephones; despite extensive use of microwave radio relay, the telephone system frequently fails during rainstorms, even in Buenos Aires
Radio broadcast stations: AM 260 (including 10 inactive stations), FM NA (probably more than 1,000, mostly unlicensed), shortwave 6 (1998) Radios: 24.3 million (1997) Television broadcast stations: 42 (plus 444 repeaters) (1997) Televisions: 7.95 million (1997) Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 47 (1999)
Railways:
Highways:
Waterways: 10,950 km navigable Pipelines: crude oil 4,090 km; petroleum products 2,900 km; natural gas 9,918 km Ports and harbors: Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia, Concepcion del Uruguay, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Necochea, Rio Gallegos, Rosario, Santa Fe, Ushuaia Merchant marine:
Airports: 1,359 (1999 est.) Airports - with paved runways:
Airports - with unpaved runways:
Military branches: Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic (includes Naval Aviation, Marines, and Coast Guard), Argentine Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Aeronautical Police Force Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age Military manpower - availability:
Military manpower - fit for military service:
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $4.3 billion (FY99) Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.3% (FY99)
Disputes - international: claims UK-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); claims UK-administered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica Illicit drugs: increasing use as a transshipment country for cocaine headed for Europe and the US; increasing use as a money-laundering center; domestic consumption of drugs has skyrocketed Please click here for a guide to the country profiles Click here for all other countries
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