Argentina

§1. Argentina Introduction

Background:
  Following independence from Spain in 1816, Argentina experienced periods of
  internal political conflict between conservatives and liberals and between
  civilian and military factions. After World War II, a long period of
  Peronist dictatorship was followed by a military junta that took power in
  1976. Democracy returned in 1983, and numerous elections since then have
  underscored Argentina's progress in democratic consolidation.

§2. Argentina Geography

Location:
  Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile
  and Uruguay

Geographic coordinates:
  34 00 S, 64 00 W

Map references:
  South America

Area:
  total: 2,766,890 kmē
  land: 2,736,690 kmē
  water: 30,200 kmē

Area - comparative:
  slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US

Land boundaries:
  total: 9,665 km border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile
    5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km

Coastline:
  4,989 km

Maritime claims:
  contiguous zone: 24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the
    continental margin
  exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
  territorial sea: 12 NM

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

Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Salinas Chicas -40 m (located on Peninsula Valdes)
  highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,960 m

Natural resources:
  fertile plains of the Pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese,
  petroleum, uranium

Land use:
  arable land: 9%
  permanent crops: 1%
  permanent pastures: 52%
  forests and woodland: 19%
  other: 19% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:
  17,000 kmē (1993 est.)

Natural hazards:
  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

Environment - current issues:
  environmental problems (urban and rural) typical of an industrializing
  economy such as soil degradation, desertification, air pollution, and water
  pollution
  note: Argentina is a world leader in setting voluntary greenhouse gas
    targets

Environment - international agreements:
  party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
    Resources, Antarctic Seals, 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)

§3. Argentina People

Population:
  37,384,816 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 26.54% (male 5,077,593; female 4,842,811)
  15-64 years: 63.04% (male 11,795,282; female 11,773,855)
  65 years and over: 10.42% (male 1,609,672; female 2,285,603) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate:
  1.15% (2001 est.)

Birth rate:
  18.41 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate:
  7.58 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate:
  0.64 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:
  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: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  17.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 75.26 years male: 71.88 years
  female: 78.82 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  2.44 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  0.69% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  130,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  1,800 (1999 est.)

Nationality:
  noun: Argentine(s)
  adjective: Argentine

Ethnic groups:
  white (mostly Spanish and Italian) 97%, mestizo, Amerindian, or other
  nonwhite groups 3%

Religions:
  nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%,
  Jewish 2%, other 4%

Languages:
  Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French

Literacy:
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  total population: 96.2%
  male: 96.2%
  female: 96.2% (1995 est.)

§4. Argentina Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: Argentine Republic
  conventional short form: Argentina
  local long form: Republica Argentina
  local short form: Argentina

Government type:
  republic

Capital:
  Buenos Aires

Administrative divisions:
  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, Antartica e
  Islas del Atlantico Sur; Tucuman
  note: the US does not recognize any claims to Antarctica

Independence:
  9 July 1816 (from Spain)

National holiday:
  Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)

Constitution:
  1 May 1853; revised August 1994

Legal system:
  mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory
  ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal and mandatory

Executive branch:
  chief of state: President Fernando DE LA RUA (since 10 December 1999); Vice
    President Carlos "Chacho" ALVAREZ resigned 6 October 2000 and a
    replacement has not yet been named; note - the president is both the
    chief of state and head of government
  head of government: President Fernando DE LA RUA (since 10 December 1999);
    Vice President Carlos "Chacho" ALVAREZ resigned 6 October 2000 and a
    replacement has not yet been named; note - the president is both the
    chief of state and head of government
  cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
  elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by
    popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 24 October 1999
    (next to be held NA October 2003)
  election results: Fernando DE LA RUA elected president; percent of vote -
    48.5%

Legislative branch:
  bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate (72
  seats; formerly, three members appointed by each of the provincial
  legislatures; presently transitioning to one-third of the members being
  elected every two years to six-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies (257
  seats; one-half of the members elected every two years to four-year terms)
  elections: Senate - transition phase will begin in the 2001 elections when
    all seats will be fully contested; winners will randomly draw to
    determine whether they will serve a two-year, four-year, or full six-year
    term, beginning a rotating cycle renovating one-third of the body every
    two years; Chamber of Deputies - last held 24 October 1999 (next to be
    held NA October 2001)
  election results: Senate - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA%; seats by
    bloc or party - Peronist 40, UCR 20, Frepaso 1, other 11; Chamber of
    Deputies - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA%; seats by bloc or party
    - Alliance 124 (UCR 85, Frepaso 36, others 3), Peronist 101, AR 12, other
    20

Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (the nine Supreme Court judges are appointed
  by the president with approval by the Senate)

Political parties and leaders:
  Action for the Republic or AR [Domingo CAVALLO]; Front for a Country in
  Solidarity or Frepaso (a four-party coalition) [Carlos ALVAREZ];
  Justicialist Party or PJ [Carlos Saul MENEM] (Peronist umbrella political
  organization); Radical Civic Union or UCR [Raul ALFONSIN]; several
  provincial parties

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  Argentine Association of Pharmaceutical Labs (CILFA); Argentine Industrial
  Union (manufacturers' association); Argentine Rural Society (large
  landowners' association); business organizations; General Confederation of
  Labor or CGT (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization);
  Peronist-dominated labor movement; Roman Catholic Church; students

International organization participation:
  AfDB, Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-6, G-11, G-15, G-19,
  G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC,
  IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO,
  ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur, MINURSO, MIPONUH, MTCR, NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW,
  PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH,
  UNMIK, UNMOP, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Guillermo Enrique GONZALEZ 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

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador James D. WALSH embassy: Avenida Colombia 4300,
    1425 Buenos Aires
  mailing address: international mail: use street address; APO address: Unit
    4334, APO AA 34034
  telephone: [54] (11) 4777-4533/4534
  FAX: [54] (11) 4511-4997

Flag description:
  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

§5. Argentina Economy

Economy - overview:
  Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate
  population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified
  industrial base. However, when President Carlos MENEM took office in 1989,
  the country had piled up huge external debts, inflation had reached 200%
  per month, and output was plummeting. To combat the economic crisis, the
  government embarked on a path of trade liberalization, deregulation, and
  privatization. In 1991, it implemented radical monetary reforms which
  pegged the peso to the US dollar and limited the growth in the monetary
  base by law to the growth in reserves. Inflation fell sharply in subsequent
  years. In 1995, the Mexican peso crisis produced capital flight, the loss
  of banking system deposits, and a severe, but short-lived, recession; a
  series of reforms to bolster the domestic banking system followed. Real GDP
  growth recovered strongly, reaching 8% in 1997. In 1998, international
  financial turmoil caused by Russia's problems and increasing investor
  anxiety over Brazil produced the highest domestic interest rates in more
  than three years, halving the growth rate of the economy. Conditions
  worsened in 1999 with GDP falling by 3%. President Fernando DE LA RUA, who
  took office in December 1999, sponsored tax increases and spending cuts to
  reduce the deficit, which had ballooned to 2.5% of GDP in 1999. Growth in
  2000 was a disappointing 0.8%, as both domestic and foreign investors
  remained skeptical of the government's ability to pay debts and maintain
  its fixed exchange rate with the US dollar. One bright spot at the start of
  2001 was the IMF's offer of $13.7 billion in support.

GDP:
  purchasing power parity - $476 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  0.8% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:
  purchasing power parity - $12,900 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 6% industry: 32%
  services: 62% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line:
  37% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  -0.9% (2000 est.)

Labor force:
  15 million (1999)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%

Unemployment rate:
  15% (December 2000)

Budget:
  revenues: $44 billion
  expenditures: $48 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000
    est.)

Industries:
  food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and
  petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel

Industrial production growth rate:
  1% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production:
  77.087 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
  fossil fuel: 60.3% hydro: 30.7%
  nuclear: 8.75%
  other: 0.25% (1999)

Electricity - consumption:
  77.111 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports:
  1.08 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports:
  6.5 billion kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products:
  sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea,
  wheat; livestock

Exports:
  $26.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  edible oils, fuels and energy, cereals, feed, motor vehicles

Exports - partners:
  Brazil 24%, EU 21%, US 11% (1999 est.)

Imports:
  $25.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures,
  plastics

Imports - partners:
  EU 28%, US 22%, Brazil 21% (1999 est.)

Debt - external:
  $154 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
  IMF offer of $13.7 billion (January 2001)

Currency:
  Argentine peso (ARS)

Currency code:
  ARS

Exchange rates:
  Argentine pesos per US dollar - 1.000 (fixed rate pegged to the US dollar)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Argentina Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  7.5 million (1998)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  3 million (December 1999)

Telephone system:
  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 telecommunication
    technology; fiber-optic cable trunk lines are being installed between all
    major cities; the major networks are entirely digital and the
    availability of telephone service is being improved; however, telephone
    density is presently minimal, and making telephone service universally
    available will take some time
  domestic: microwave radio relay, fiber-optic cable, and a domestic
    satellite system with 40 earth stations serve the trunk network; more
    than 110,000 pay telephones are installed and mobile telephone use is
    rapidly expanding
  international: satellite earth stations - 8 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean);
    Atlantis II and Unisur submarine cables; two international gateways near
    Buenos Aires (1999)

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 260 (including 10 inactive stations), FM NA (probably more than 1,000,
  mostly unlicensed), shortwave 6 (1998)

Radios:
  24.3 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
  42 (plus 444 repeaters) (1997)

Televisions:
  7.95 million (1997)

Internet country code:
  .ar

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
  33 (2000)

Internet users:
  900,000 (2000)

§7. Argentina Transportation

Railways:
  total: 33,744 km (167 km electrified)
  broad gauge: 20,594 km 1.676-m gauge (141 km electrified)
  standard gauge: 2,739 km 1.435-m gauge (26 km electrified)
  narrow gauge: 10,154 km 1.000-m gauge; 257 km 0.750-m gauge (2000)

Highways:
  total: 215,434 km
  paved: 63,553 km (including 734 km of expressways)
  unpaved: 151,881 km (1998 est.)

Waterways:
  10,950 km

Pipelines:
  crude oil 4,090 km; petroleum products 2,900 km; natural gas 9,918 km

Ports and harbors:
  Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia, Concepcion del Uruguay, La
  Plata, Mar del Plata, Necochea, Rio Gallegos, Rosario, Santa Fe, Ushuaia

Merchant marine:
  total: 26 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 185,355 GRT/281,475 DWT
  ships by type: cargo 9, petroleum tanker 11, railcar carrier 1,
    refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 1, short-sea passenger 2 (2000
    est.)

Airports:
  1,359 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 143 over 3,047 m: 4
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 25
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 57
  914 to 1,523 m: 48
  under 914 m: 9 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 1,216 over 3,047 m: 2
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 56
  914 to 1,523 m: 601
  under 914 m: 555 (2000 est.)

§8. Argentina Military

Military branches:
  Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic (includes Naval Aviation,
  Marines, and Coast Guard), Argentine Air Force, National Gendarmerie,
  National Aeronautical Police Force

Military manpower - military age:
  20 years of age

Military manpower - availability:
  males age 15-49: 9,404,434 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
  males age 15-49: 7,625,425 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
  males: 335,085 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $4.3 billion (FY99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  1.3% (FY99)

§9. Argentina Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  claims UK-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); claims
  UK-administered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial
  claim in Antarctica partially overlaps British and Chilean claims

Illicit drugs:
  use as a transshipment country for cocaine headed for Europe and the US;
  increasing use as a money-laundering center; domestic consumption of drugs
  in urban centers is increasing
