Argentina

• mostly temperate;
• arid in southeast;
• subantarctic in southwest

• 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

party to:

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, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

Marine Life Conservation

• second-largest country in South America (after Brazil);
• strategic location relative to sea lanes between the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage);
• diverse geophysical landscapes range 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

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.7 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

noun:

Argentine(s)

adjective:

Argentine

conventional long form:

Argentine Republic

conventional short form:

Argentina

local long form:

Republica Argentina

local short form:

Argentina

name:

Buenos Aires

geographic coordinates:

34 36 S, 58 27 W

time difference:

UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 autonomous city* (distrito federal);
• Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Capital Federal*, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes, 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

chief of state:

• President Nestor KIRCHNER (since 25 May 2003);
• Vice President Daniel SCIOLI (since 25 May 2003);
• note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:

• President Nestor KIRCHNER (since 25 May 2003);
• Vice President Daniel SCIOLI (since 25 May 2003);
• note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the president

elections:

• president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second term);
• election last held 27 April 2003 (next election to be held in 2007)

election results:

• results of the presidential election of 27 April 2003: Carlos Saul MENEM 24.3%, Nestor KIRCHNER 22%, Ricardo Lopez MURPHY 16.4%, Adolfo Rodriguez SAA 14.4%, Elisa CARRIO 14.2%, other 8.7%;
• the subsequent runoff election slated for 25 May 2003 was awarded to KIRCHNER by default after MENEM withdrew his candidacy on the eve of the election

• Alternative for a Republic of Equals or ARI [Elisa CARRIO];
• Front for Victory or FV [Nestor KIRCHNER];
• Interbloque Federal or IF (a broad coalition of approximately 12 parties including RECREAR);
• Justicialist Front or FJ [Eduardo DUHALDE];
• Justicialist Party or PJ (Peronist umbrella political organization);
• Radical Civic Union or UCR [Roberto IGLESIAS];
• Republican Initiative Alliance or PRO (including Federal Recreate Movement or RECREAR [Ricardo LOPEZ MURPHY] and Commitment for Change or CPC [Mauricio MACRI]);
• Socialist Party or PS [Ruben GIUSTINIANI];
• Union For All [Patricia BULLRICH];
• several provincial parties

• Argentine Association of Pharmaceutical Labs (CILFA);
• Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association);
• Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association);
• business organizations;
• Central of Argentine Workers or CTA (a radical union for employed and unemployed workers);
• General Confederation of Labor or CGT (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization);
• Peronist-dominated labor movement;
• Piquetero groups (popular protest organizations that can be either pro or anti-government);
• Roman Catholic Church;
• students

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jose Octavio BORDON

chancery:

1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 238-6400

FAX:

[1] (202) 332-3171

consulate(s) general:

Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Earl Anthony WAYNE

embassy:

Avenida Colombia 4300, C1425GMN Buenos Aires

mailing address:

international mail: use street address; APO address: Unit 4334, APO AA 34034

telephone:

[54] (11) 5777-4533

FAX:

[54] (11) 5777-4240

• 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

agriculture:

NA%

industry:

NA%

services:

NA%

lowest 10%:

NA

highest 10%:

NA

general assessment:

• by opening the telecommunications market to competition and foreign investment with the "Telecommunications Liberalization Plan of 1998," Argentina encouraged the growth of modern telecommunications technology;
• fiber-optic cable trunk lines are being installed between all major cities;
• the major networks are entirely digital and the availability of telephone service is improving;
• however, telephone density is presently minimal, and making telephone service universally available will take time

domestic:

• microwave radio relay, fiber-optic cable, and a domestic satellite system with 40 earth stations serve the trunk network;
• more than 110,000 pay telephones are installed and mobile telephone use is rapidly expanding

international:

• country code - 54;
• satellite earth stations - 112;
• Atlantis II and Unisur submarine cables;
• two international gateways near Buenos Aires (2005)

• gas 29,804 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 41 km;
• oil 10,373 km;
• refined products 8,540 km;
• unknown (oil/water) 13 km (2006)

total:

31,902 km

broad gauge:

20,858 km 1.676-m gauge (141 km electrified)

standard gauge:

2,885 km 1.435-m gauge (26 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

7,922 km 1.000-m gauge; 237 km 0.750-m gauge (2005)

total:

229,144 km

paved:

68,809 km (including 734 km of expressways)

unpaved:

160,335 km (2004)

total:

41 ships (1000 GRT or over) 435,969 GRT/707,767 DWT

by type:

bulk carrier 2, cargo 10, chemical tanker 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 21, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 1

foreign-owned:

11 (Chile 6, UK 4, Uruguay 1)

registered in other countries:

24 (Bolivia 1, Chile 1, Liberia 7, Panama 9, Paraguay 3, Uruguay 3) (2006)

males age 18-49:

8,981,886

females age 18-49:

8,883,756 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

7,316,038

females age 18-49:

7,442,589 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

344,575

females age 18-49:

334,649 (2005 est.)

• the Argentine military is a well-organized force constrained by the country's prolonged economic hardship;
• the country has recently experienced a strong recovery, and the military is now implementing "Plan 2000," aimed at making the ground forces lighter and more responsive (2005)

• Argentina continues to assert its claims to the UK-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and 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 (see Antarctic disputes);
• 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 Island in the Quarai/Cuareim River leaves the tripoint with Argentina in question;
• action by the joint boundary commission, established by Chile and Argentina in 2001, for mapping and demarcating the disputed boundary in the Andean Southern Ice Field (Campo de Hielo Sur) remains pending

current situation:

• Argentina is primarily a destination country for women and children trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation with most victims trafficked internally, from rural to urban areas, for exploitation in prostitution;
• foreign women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation come primarily from Paraguay, but also from Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Chile;
• Bolivians are trafficked for forced labor;
• Argentine women and girls are also trafficked to neighboring countries for sexual exploitation

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Argentina failed to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking particularly in the key area of prosecutions;
• government efforts to improve interagency anti-trafficking coordination did not achieve significant progress in moving cases against traffickers through the judicial system;
• the government made progress in other areas, by submitting anti-trafficking legislation to Congress in August 2005 and sensitizing provincial and municipal government officials to the trafficking problem

• used as a transshipment country for cocaine headed for Europe;
• some money-laundering activity, especially in the Tri-Border Area;
• domestic consumption of drugs in urban centers is increasing