as 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

*Argentina, Geography

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)

*Argentina, People

Population:
33,533,256 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.13% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
19.75 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
8.64 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
0.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
30 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
71.19 years
male:
67.91 years
female:
74.65 years (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%
Religions:
nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%,
Jewish 2%, other 6%
Languages:
Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population:
95%
male:
96%
female:
95%
Labor force:
10.9 million
by occupation:
agriculture 12%, industry 31%, services 57% (1985 est.)

*Argentina, Government

Names:
conventional long form:
Argentine Republic
conventional short form:
Argentina
local long form:
Republica Argentina
local short form:
Argentina
Digraph:
AR
Type:
republic
Capital:
Buenos Aires
Administrative divisions:
23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia), and 1 federal district*, (distrito federal);
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 (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
Legal system:
mixture