Argentina

Argentine RepublicRepublica Argentina

republicIndependence 9 July 1816 (from Spain)

Argentina as the 1993 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 79 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
Area2,766,890 km2
LocationEastern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean between Chile and
1993

Every edition of Argentina

Populationas each edition published it
33.53 million July 1993 est. · 32.29m in 1990
Population growth% a year
1.13% 1993 est. · 0.26% in 2025
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 29 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
71.19 years 1993 est. · 78.8 yrs in 2025
Fertility ratechildren per woman
2.72 children per woman 1993 est. · 2.8 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
30 deaths per 1,000 live births 1993 est. · 32 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$3,400 1992 est. · $26,500 in 2025
GDP real growth% a year
7% 1992 est. · -1.7% in 2025

Geography

Eastern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean between Chile and | Uruguay

14 fields

Land useshare of 2,766,890 km2

arable land 9%permanent crops 4%meadows and pastures 52%forest and woodland 22%other 13%irrigated 17,600 km2 (1989 est.)
Area
2,766,890km2
land area: 2,736,690 km2comparative area: slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US
Coastline
4,989km
contiguous zone: 24 nmcontinental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitationexclusive economic zone: not specifiedterritorial sea: 200 nm; overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm
Land boundaries
9,665km
total · Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km

Location

Eastern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean between Chile and Uruguay

Map references

South America, Standard Time Zones of the World

International 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, petroleum, uranium

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
33,533,256
(July 1993 est.)growth rate: 1.13% (1993 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1993 est.)

Birth
19.75Death
8.64Net migration
0.22

Male · female(1993 est.)

TotalMale · femaleLife expectancy years71.19
67.91 · 74.65
TotalMale · femaleLiteracy95%
96% · 95%
MaleFemaleLiteracy age 15 and over can read and write (1990)

Religions

nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20% practicing)Protestant 2%Jewish 2%other 6%
Labor force
10.9million
by occupation: agriculture 12%, industry 31%, services 57% (1985 est.)

Infant mortality rate

30 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate

2.72 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Nationality

noun:
Argentine(s)
adjective:
Argentine

Ethnic divisions

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

Languages

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

Government

Republic

21 fields

Names

conventional long form:
Argentine Republic
conventional short form:
Argentina
local long form:
Republica Argentina
local short form:
Argentina

Type

republic

Capital

Buenos Aires

Administrative divisions

  • 23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia), and 1 federal district*, (distrito federal);
  • Corrientes, Distrito Federal*, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La, Rioja, Mendoza, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego (Territorio Nacional de la 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)

Political parties and leaders

  • Justicialist Party (JP), Carlos Saul MENEM, Peronist umbrella political organization;
  • Radical Civic Union (UCR), Mario LOSADA, moderately left-of-center party;
  • Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), Jorge AGUADO, conservative party;
  • Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar ALENDE, leftist party;
  • Dignity and Independence Political Party (MODIN), Aldo RICO, right-wing party;
  • several provincial parties

Other political or pressure groups

  • Peronist-dominated labor movement;
  • General Confederation of Labor (CGT; 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

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Elections

Chamber of Deputies:
last held in three phases during late 1991 for half of 254 seats; seats (254 total) - JP 122, UCR 85, UCD 10, other 37 (1993)
President:
last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held NA May 1995); results - Carlos Saul MENEM was elected
Senate:
  • last held May 1989, but provincial elections in late 1991 set the stage for indirect elections by provincial senators for one-third of 46 seats in the national senate in May 1992;
  • seats (46 total) - JP 27, UCR 14, others 5

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)

Leaders

Chief of State and Head of Government: President Carlos Saul MENEM (since 8 July 1989); Vice President (position vacant)

Member of

AG (observer), Australian Group, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-6, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, AfDB, 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, MERCOSUR, MINURSO, OAS, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNOMOZ, UNPROFOR, UNTAC, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission:
Ambassador Carlos ORTIZ DE ROZAS
chancery:
1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone:
(202) 939-6400 through 6403
consulates general:
Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico)
consulates:
Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission:
Ambassador James CHEEK (since 28 May 1993)
embassy:
4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires
mailing address:
APO AA 34034
telephone:
[54] (1) 774-7611 or 8811, 9911
FAX:
[54] (1) 775-4205

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

19 fields
GDP per capita, PPP
$3,400
(1992 est.)
Real growth rate
7%
(1992 est.)industrial production growth: growth rate 10% (1992 est.); accounts for 26% of GDP

Budget

Revenues
$33.1 billionExpenditures
$35.8 billion
expenditures, including capital expenditures of $3.5 billion (1992)

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 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. Much remains to be done in the 1990s in dismantling the old statist barriers to growth and in solidifying the recent economic gains.

National product

GDP - exchange rate conversion - $112 billion (1992 est.)

Exports

$12.3 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)

commodities:
meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, hides, wool
partners:
US 12%, Brazil, Italy, Japan, Netherlands

Imports

$14.0 billion (c.i.f., 1992 est.)

commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, fuels and lubricants, agricultural products
partners:
US 22%, Brazil, Germany, Bolivia, Japan, Italy, Netherlands

External debt

$54 billion (June 1992)

Electricity

17,911,000 kW capacity; 51,305 million kWh produced, 1,559 kWh per capita (1992)

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

Illicit drugs

increasing use as a transshipment country for cocaine headed for the US and Europe

Economic aid

  • US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.0 billion;
  • Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $4.4 billion;
  • Communist countries (1970-89), $718 million

Currency

1 peso = 100 centavos

Exchange rates

pesos per US$1 - 0.99000 (January1993), 0.99064 (1992), 0.95355 (1991), 0.48759 (1990), 0.04233 (1989), 0.00088 (1988)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

8 fields

Merchant marine, 60 ships by typeone square, one ship

cargo 30refrigerated cargo 5container 4railcar carrier 1oil tanker 14chemical tanker 1bulk 4roll-on/roll-off 160 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,695,420 GRT/1,073,904 DWT

Networkskm

Highways
208,350Railroads
34,172Inland waterways
11,000
Highways: ; 47,550 km paved, 39,500 km gravel, 101,000 km improved earth, 20,300 km unimproved earth · Railroads: (includes 209 km electrified); includes a mixture of 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1.676-meter broad gauge, 1.000-meter narrow gauge, and 0.750-meter narrow gauge

Railroads

  • 34,172 km total (includes 209 km electrified);
  • includes a mixture of 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1.676-meter broad gauge, 1.000-meter narrow gauge, and 0.750-meter narrow 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

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

Ports

Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia, La Plata, Rosario, Santa Fe

Airports

total:
1,700
usable:
1,451
with permanet-surface runways:
137
with runways over 3,659 m:
1
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
31
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
326

Telecommunications

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

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 age 15-49 8,267,316;
  • fit for military service 6,702,303;
  • reach military age (20) annually 284,641 (1993 est.)

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP

Central Intelligence Agency. “Argentina.” The World Factbook 1993. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/argentina/1993.

How to cite ← 1992 edition 1994 edition →