- Communications
Ports: Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (USSR), Prudhoe Bay (US)
Telecommunications: no submarine cables
Note: sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest
Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Asia) are important waterways
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Country: Argentina
- Geography
Total area: 2,766,890 km2; land area: 2,736,690 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than four times the size of Texas
Land boundaries: 9,665 km total; Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km,
Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km
Coastline: 4,989 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Territorial sea: 200 nm (overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm)
Disputes: short section of the boundary with Uruguay is in dispute; short section of the boundary with Chile is indefinite; claims British-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); claims British-administered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica
Climate: mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest
Terrain: rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border
Natural resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, crude oil, uranium
Land use: 9% arable land; 4% permanent crops; 52% meadows and pastures; 22% forest and woodland; 13% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: Tucuman and Mendoza areas 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
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: 32,290,966 (July 1990), growth rate 1.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 20 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 32 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 67 years male, 74 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.8 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Argentine(s); adjective—Argentine
Ethnic divisions: 85% white, 15% mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups
Religion: 90% nominally Roman Catholic (less than 20% practicing), 2%
Protestant, 2% Jewish, 6% other
Language: Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French
Literacy: 94%
Labor force: 10,900,000; 12% agriculture, 31% industry, 57% services (1985 est.)
Organized labor: 3,000,000; 28% of labor force
- Government
Long-form name: Argentine Republic
Type: republic
Capital: Buenos Aires (tentative plans to move to Viedma by 1990 indefinitely postponed)
Administrative divisions: 22 provinces (provincias, singular—provincia),
1 national territory* (territorio nacional), and 1 district** (distrito);
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 and Antartida e Islas del
Atlantico Sur*, Tucuman
Independence: 9 July 1816 (from Spain)
Constitution: 1 May 1853
Legal system: mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: National Day, 25 May (1810)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camera de Diputados)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government—President Carlos Saul MENEM (since 8 July 1989); Vice President Eduardo DUHALDE (since 8 July 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Justicialist Party (JP), Antonio Cafiero, Peronist umbrella political organization; Radical Civic Union (UCR), Raul Alfonsin, moderately left of center; Union of the Democratic Center (UCEDE), Alvaro Alsogaray, conservative party; Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar Alende, leftist party; several provincial parties
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President—last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held May 1995); results—Carlos Saul Menem was elected;
Chamber of Deputies—last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held May 1991); results—JP 47%, UCR 30%, UDC 7%, other 16%; seats—(254 total); JP 122, UCR 93, UDC 11, other 28
Communists: some 70,000 members in various party organizations, including a small nucleus of activists
Other political or pressure groups: Peronist-dominated labor movement, General Confederation of Labor (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization), Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association), Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association), business organizations, students, the Roman Catholic Church, the Armed Forces
Member of: CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT, Group of Eight, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC,
ICAO, IDA, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, ISO, ITU, IWC—International Whaling Commission,
IWC—International Wheat Council, LAIA, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU,
WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO, WSG
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Guido Jose Maria DI TELLA; Chancery at 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone 202) 939–6400 through 6403; there are Argentine Consulates General in Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Consulates in Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles; US—Ambassador Terence A. TODMAN; Embassy at 4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires (mailing address is APO Miami 34034); telephone p54o (1) 774–7611 or 8811, 9911
Flag: 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
- Economy Overview: Argentina is rich in natural resources, and has a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Nevertheless, the economy has encountered major problems in recent years, leading to a recession in 1988–89. Economic growth slowed to 2.0% in 1987 and to - 1.8% in 1988; a sharp decline of - 5.5% has been estimated for 1989. A widening public-sector