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 in some areas

volcanism:

• Argentina experiences volcanic activity in the Andes Mountains along the Chilean border;
• Copahue (elev. 2,997 m, 9,833 ft) last erupted in 2000;
• other historically active volcanoes include
  • Llullaillaco,
  • Maipo,
  • Planchon-Peteroa,
  • San Jose,
  • Tromen,
  • Tupungatito,
  • and Viedma

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:

1.052 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 (2010 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:

none scheduled for 2010

• 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 (Tierra del Fuego), 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; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

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 on 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%

• Civic and Social Accord or ACyS (a broad center-left alliance-including the CC, UCR, and Socialist parties-created ahead of the 2009 legislative elections);
• Civic Coalition or CC (a broad coalition loosely affiliated with Elisa CARRIO);
• Dissident Peronists or PJ Disidente (a sector of the Justicialist Party opposed to the Kirchners);
• Front for Victory or FpV (a broad coalition, including elements of the UCR and numerous provincial parties) [Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER];
• Interbloque Federal or IF (a broad coalition of approximately 12 parties including PRO);
• Justicialist Party or PJ [Daniel SCIOLI];
• Radical Civic Union or UCR [Ernesto SANZ];
• 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] (associated with the Civic Coalition); numerous 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 (vacant)

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 Vilma MARTINEZ

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

name:

"Himno Nacional Argentino" (Argentine National Anthem)

lyrics/music:

Vicente LOPEZ y PLANES/Jose Blas PARERA

note: adopted 1813; Vicente LOPEZ was inspired to write the anthem after watching a play about the 1810 May Revolution against Spain

agriculture:

5%

industry:

23%

services:

72% (2009 est.)

lowest 10%:

1.2%

highest 10%:

32.6% (2009)

general assessment:

• the "Telecommunications Liberalization Plan of 1998" opened the telecommunications market to competition and foreign investment encouraging 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

domestic:

• microwave radio relay, fiber-optic cable, and a domestic satellite system with 40 earth stations serve the trunk network;
• fixed-line teledensity is increasing gradually and mobile-cellular subscribership is increasing rapidly;
• broadband Internet services are gaining ground

international:

• country code - 54;
• landing point for the Atlantis-2, UNISUR, South America-1, and South American Crossing/Latin American Nautilus 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 (2009)

• government owns a TV station and a radio network;
• more than 2 dozen TV stations and hundreds of privately-owned radio stations;
• high rate of cable TV subscription usage (2007)

• gas 28,248 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 41 km;
• oil 5,977 km;
• refined products 3,636 km (2009)

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:

43

country comparison to the world: 74

by type:

bulk carrier 3, cargo 7, chemical tanker 4, container 1, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 23, refrigerated cargo 2

foreign-owned:

12 (Brazil 1, Chile 6, Spain 3, UK 2)

registered in other countries:

17 (Liberia 3, Panama 7, Paraguay 5, Uruguay 2) (2010)

males age 16-49:

9,934,765

females age 16-49:

9,868,008 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

8,366,206

females age 16-49:

8,344,321 (2010 est.)

male:

340,570

female:

323,953 (2010 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)

• 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)