Argentina

republicIndependence 9 July 1816 (from Spain)

Argentina as the 1991 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 70 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalBuenos Aires (tentative plans to move to Viedma by 1990 indefinitely postponed)
Area2,766,890 km2
1991

Every edition of Argentina

Populationas each edition published it
32.66 million July 1991 · 32.29m in 1990
Population growth% a year
Not in this edition 1.13% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 29 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
Not in this edition 71.19 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
2.7 children per woman 1991 · 2.8 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
31 deaths per 1,000 live births 1991 · 32 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
Not in this edition $3,400 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
Not in this edition 7% in 1993

Geography

11 fields
Total area
2,766,890km2
land area: 2,736,690 km2Comparative area: slightly more than four times the size of Texas
Land boundaries
9,665km total
Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km

Coastline

4,989 km Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation; Territorial sea: 200 nm (overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm)

Disputes

  • short section of the boundary with Uruguay is in dispute;
  • short section of the boundary with Chile is indefinite;
  • claims British-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas);
  • claims British-administered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands;
  • territorial claim in Antarctica

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, crude oil, uranium

Land use

  • arable land 9%;
  • permanent crops 4%;
  • meadows and pastures 52%;
  • forest and woodland 22%;
  • other 13%;
  • includes irrigated 1%

Environment

  • Tucuman and Mendoza areas in Andes subject to earthquakes;
  • pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike Pampas and northeast;
  • irrigated soil degradation;
  • desertification;
  • air and water pollution in Buenos Aires

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)

People

14 fields
Population
32,663,983
(July 1991), growth rate 1.1% (1991)

Per 1,000 population(1991)

Birth
20Death
9

Religion

nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20% practicing)Protestant 2%Jewish 2%other 6%
Literacy
95%
(male 96%, female 95%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

Net migration rate

NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Infant mortality rate

31 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Life expectancy at birth

68 years male, 74 years female (1991)

Total fertility rate

2.7 children born/woman (1991)

Nationality

noun--Argentine(s); adjective--Argentine

Ethnic divisions

white 85%; mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups 15%

Language

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

Labor force

10,900,000; agriculture 12%, industry 31%, services 57% (1985 est.)

Organized labor

3,000,000; 28% of labor force

Government

Republic

17 fields

Chamber of Deputies, elected 14 May 1989percent of vote

JP 47%UCR 30%UCD 7%other 16%

Long-form name

Argentine Republic

Type

republic

Capital

Buenos Aires (tentative plans to move to Viedma by 1990 indefinitely postponed)

Administrative divisions

  • 22 provinces (provincias, singular--provincia), 1 national territory* (territorio nacional), and 1 district** (distrito);
  • 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 national territory is in the process of becoming a province;
  • the US does not recognize claims to Antarctica

Independence

9 July 1816 (from Spain)

Constitution

1 May 1853

National holiday

Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)

Executive branch

president, vice president, Cabinet

Legislative branch

bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados)

Judicial branch

  • Supreme Court (Corte Suprema) Chief of State and Head of Government--President Carlos Saul MENEM (since 8 July 1989);
  • Vice President Eduardo DUHALDE (since 8 July 1989) Justicialist Party (JP), Carlos Saul MENEM, Peronist umbrella political organization;
  • Radical Civic Union (UCR), Raul ALFONSIN, moderately left of center;
  • Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), Alvaro ALSOGARAY, conservative party;
  • Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar ALENDE, leftist party;
  • several provincial parties

Suffrage

  • universal at age 18 President--last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held May 1995);
  • results--Carlos Saul MENEM was elected;
  • Chamber of Deputies--last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held October 1991);
  • results--JP 47%, UCR 30%, UCD 7%, other 16%;
  • seats--(254 total);
  • JP 122, UCR 93, UCD 11, other 28

Communists

some 70,000 members in various party organizations, including a small nucleus of activists

Other political or pressure groups

Peronist-dominated labor movement, General Confederation of Labor (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization), Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association), Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association), business organizations, students, the Roman Catholic Church, the Armed Forces

Member of

AfDB, AG (observer), CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-6, G-11, G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, LORCS, NAM, OAS, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation

  • Ambassador Ortiz de ROZAS;
  • Chancery at 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20009;
  • telephone (202) 939-6400 through 6403;
  • there are Argentine Consulates General in Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Consulates in Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles;
  • US--Ambassador Terence A. TODMAN;
  • Embassy at 4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires (mailing address is APO Miami 34034);
  • telephone [54] (1) 774-7611 or 8811, 9911

Flag

  • three equal horizontal bands of light blue (top), white, and light blue;
  • centered in the white band is a radiant yellow sun with a human face known as the Sun of May

Economy

Argentina is rich in natural resources and has a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base.

16 fields
Unemployment rate
8.6%
(May 1990)
External debt
$60billion
(December 1990)

Budget

Revenues
$12.2 billionExpenditures
$17.3 billion
expenditures, including capital expenditures of $2.8 billion (1989)

Overview

Argentina is rich in natural resources and has a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Nevertheless, following decades of mismanagement and statist policies, the economy has encountered major problems in recent years, leading to escalating inflation and a recession in 1988-90.

A widening public-sector deficit and a multidigit inflation rate have dominated the economy over the past three years; retail prices rose nearly 5,000% in 1989 and another 1,345% in 1990. Since 1978, Argentina's external debt has nearly doubled to $60 billion, creating severe debt-servicing difficulties and hurting the country's creditworthiness with international lenders.

GNP

$82.7 billion, per capita $2,560; real growth rate - 3.5% (1990 est.)

Exports

  • $12.4 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
  • commodities--meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, hides, wool;
  • partners--US 12%, USSR, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands

Imports

  • $4.1 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
  • commodities--machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, fuels and lubricants, agricultural products;
  • partners--US 22%, Brazil, FRG, Bolivia, Japan, Italy, Netherlands

Industrial production

growth rate 5% (1991 est.); accounts for 30% of GDP

Electricity

16,749,000 kW capacity; 45,580 million kWh produced, 1,410 kWh per capita (1990)

Industries

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

Agriculture

  • accounts for 15% of GNP (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;
  • 1987 fish catch estimated at 500,000 tons

Economic aid

  • US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.0 billion;
  • Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $4.0 billion;
  • Communist countries (1970-89), $718 million

Currency

austral (plural--australes); 1 austral (2) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates

australes (2) per US$1--9,900 (April 1991), 4,707 (1990), 423 (1989), 8.7526 (1988), 2.1443 (1987), 0.9430 (1986), 0.6018 (1985)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

9 fields

Airports, 1,763 total, 1,575 usable

permanent-surface runways
135runways over 3,659 m
1runways 2,440-3,659 m
31runways 1,220-2,439 m
336

Networkskm

Highways
208,350Railroads
34,172Inland waterways
11,000Pipelines
4,090
Highways: ; 47,550 km paved, 39,500 km gravel, 101,000 km improved earth, 20,300 km unimproved earth · Railroads: (includes 169 km electrified); includes a mixture of 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1.676-meter broad gauge, 1.000-meter gauge, and 0.750-meter gauge · Pipelines: ; 2,900 km refined products; 9,918 km natural gas

Railroads

  • 34,172 km total (includes 169 km electrified);
  • includes a mixture of 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1.676-meter broad gauge, 1.000-meter gauge, and 0.750-meter gauge

Highways

208,350 km total; 47,550 km paved, 39,500 km gravel, 101,000 km improved earth, 20,300 km unimproved earth

Pipelines

  • 4,090 km crude oil;
  • 2,900 km refined products;
  • 9,918 km natural gas

Ports

Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Necochea, Rio Gallegos, Rosario, Santa Fe

Merchant marine

  • 129 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,663,884 GRT/2,689,645 DWT;
  • includes 42 cargo, 7 refrigerated cargo, 6 container, 1 railcar carrier, 47 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 4 liquefied gas, 18 bulk;
  • additionally, 2 naval tankers and 1 military transport are sometimes used commercially

Civil air

54 major transport aircraft

Telecommunications

  • extensive modern system;
  • 2,650,000 telephones (12,000 public telephones);
  • radio relay widely used;
  • stations--171 AM, no FM, 231 TV, 13 shortwave;
  • 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations;
  • domestic satellite network has 40 stations

Defense Forces

Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic, Argentine Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Argentine Naval Prefecture (Coast Guard only), National Aeronautical Police Force

3 fields
Defense expenditures
$700million
1% of GNP (1990)

Branches

Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic, Argentine Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Argentine Naval Prefecture (Coast Guard only), National Aeronautical Police Force

Manpower availability

  • males 15-49, 7,992,140;
  • 6,478,730 fit for military service;
  • 285,047 reach military age (20) annually

Central Intelligence Agency. “Argentina.” The World Factbook 1991. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/argentina/1991.

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