de Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the
Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that
can strike the Pampas and northeast; heavy flooding

Environment--current issues: erosion results from inadequate flood
controls and improper land use practices; irrigated soil
degradation; desertification; air pollution in Buenos Aires and
other major cities; water pollution in urban areas; rivers becoming
polluted due to increased pesticide and fertilizer use

Environment--international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life
Conservation

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)

People

Population: 36,737,664 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 27% (male 5,124,087; female 4,932,060)
15-64 years: 62% (male 11,457,399; female 11,469,346)
65 years and over: 11% (male 1,553,158; female 2,201,614) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.29% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 19.91 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 7.64 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 18.41 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 74.76 years
male: 71.13 years
female: 78.56 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.66 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Argentine(s)
adjective: Argentine

Ethnic groups: white 85%, mestizo, Amerindian, 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:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 96