Argentina

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

total:

29.19 cu km/yr (17%/9%/74%)

per capita:

753 cu m/yr (2000)

• 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 (2009 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A

water contact disease:

leptospirosis (2009)

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 40 W

time difference:

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

daylight saving time:

• +1hr, begins first Sunday in October;
• ends third Saturday in March;
• note - a new policy of daylight saving time was initiated by the government on 30 December 2007

• 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 Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER (since 10 December 2007);
• Vice President Julio COBOS (since 10 December 2007);
• note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER (since 10 December 2007); Vice President Julio COBOS (since 10 December 2007)

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 28 October 2007 (next election to be held in 2011)

election results:

• Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER elected president;
• percent of vote - Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER 45%, Elisa CARRIO 23%, Roberto LAVAGNA 17%, Alberto Rodriguez SAA 8%

• Coalicion Civica (a broad coalition loosely affiliated with Elisa CARRIO);
• Front for Victory or FpV (a broad coalition, including elements of the UCR and numerous provincial parties) [Nestor KIRCHNER];
• Interbloque Federal or IF (a broad coalition of approximately 12 parties including PRO);
• Justicialist Party or PJ [Nestor KIRCHNER];
• Radical Civic Union or UCR [Gerardo MORALES];
• Republican Proposal or PRO [Mauricio MACRI] (including Federal Recreate Movement or RECREAR [Esteban BULLRICH]; 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 Confederation or CRA (small to medium landowners' association);
• Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association);
• 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);
• White and Blue CGT (dissident CGT labor confederation);
• Roman Catholic Church

other:

• business organizations;
• Peronist-dominated labor movement;
• Piquetero groups (popular protest organizations that can be either pro or anti-government);
• students

chief of mission:

Ambassador Hector Marcos TIMERMAN

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 embassy street address; APO address: US Embassy Buenos Aires, 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;
• the colors represent the clear skies and snow of the Andes;
• the sun symbol commemorates the appearance of the sun through cloudy skies on 25 May 1810 during the first mass demonstration in favor of independence;
• the sun features are those of Inti, the Inca god of the sun

agriculture:

1%

industry:

23%

services:

76% (2008 est.)

lowest 10%:

1%

highest 10%:

35% (January-March 2007)

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;
• major networks are entirely digital and the availability of telephone service is improving;
• fixed-line telephone density is gradually increasing reaching nearly 25 lines per 100 people in 2008;
• mobile telephone subscribership has been increasing rapidly and has reached a level of 115 telephones per 100 persons

domestic:

• microwave radio relay, fiber-optic cable, and a domestic satellite system with 40 earth stations serve the trunk network;
• mobile telephone use is rapidly expanding;
• broadband services are gaining ground

international:

• country code - 54;
• landing point for the Atlantis-2, UNISUR, and South America-1 optical submarine cable systems that provide links to Europe, Africa, South and Central America, and US;
• satellite earth stations - 112;
• 2 international gateways near Buenos Aires (2008)

• gas 28,138 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 41 km;
• oil 5,939 km;
• refined products 3,629 km (2008)

total:

31,409 km

country comparison to the world: 8

broad gauge:

27,301 km 1.676-m gauge (94 km electrified)

standard gauge:

2,780 km 1.435-m gauge (26 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

1,328 km 1.000-m gauge (2008)

total:

231,374 km

country comparison to the world: 22

paved:

69,412 km (includes 734 km of expressways)

unpaved:

161,962 km (2004)

total:

46

country comparison to the world: 72

by type:

bulk carrier 3, cargo 9, chemical tanker 2, container 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 24, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 1

foreign-owned:

14 (Brazil 1, Chile 7, Spain 2, UK 4)

registered in other countries:

19 (Liberia 3, Panama 8, Paraguay 5, Uruguay 3) (2008)

males age 16-49:

10,029,488

females age 16-49:

9,889,002 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

8,264,853

females age 16-49:

8,268,498 (2009 est.)

male:

341,590

female:

326,342 (2009 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 implementing a modernization plan aimed at making the ground forces lighter and more responsive (2008)

• 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)

current situation:

• Argentina is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor;
• most victims are trafficked within the country, from rural to urban areas;
• child sex tourism is a problem;
• foreign women and children, primarily from Paraguay, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic, are trafficked to Argentina for commercial sexual exploitation;
• Argentine women and girls are also trafficked to neighboring countries, Mexico, and Western Europe for sexual exploitation;
• a significant number of Bolivians, Peruvians, and Paraguayans are trafficked into the country for forced labor in sweatshops, agriculture, and as domestic servants

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - despite some progress, Argentina remains on the Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly in terms of providing adequate assistance to victims and curbing official complicity with trafficking activity, especially on the provincial and local levels;
• the Argentine Congress has demonstrated progress by enacting much-needed and first-ever federal anti-trafficking legislation (2009)

• a transshipment country for cocaine headed for Europe, heroin headed for the US, and ephedrine and pseudoephedrine headed for Mexico;
• some money-laundering activity, especially in the Tri-Border Area;
• law enforcement corruption;
• a source for precursor chemicals;
• increasing domestic consumption of drugs in urban centers, especially cocaine base and synthetic drugs (2008)