INFORMATION
OF INTEREST
The name Argentina Comes
from the Latin argentum which means silver. The origin
of the name goes back to the voyages made by the first
Spanish "conquistadores" (conquerors) to the
Río de la Plata. The shipwrecked survivors of
the expedition mounted by Juan Díaz de Solís
discovered Indians in the region who presented them
with silver objects. The news about the legendary Sierra
del Plata, a mountain rich in silver, reached Spain
around 1524. From this date the Portuguese named the
river of Solís, the Silver River (Río
de la Plata). Two years later the Spanish used the same
name. The National Constitution adopted in 1853 included
the name "República Argentina" (Republic
of Argentina) among the official names to designate
the government and the country's territory.
Location, area and frontiers
Located in South America and thus in the southern
hemisphere, Argentina has an area of almost 3.8 million
square kilometres, from which 2.8 belongs to the continent
- approximately 54% are plains (grasslands and savannas),
23% are plateaus, and the other 23% are mountains -
and the remainder in the Antarctic. Its length of 3.800
Km goes from latitude 22º to 55º. Its frontier
with Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chile has
a perimeter of 9.376 Km and the coast, on the Atlantic
Ocean, is 4.725 Km long.
Geography The fundamental
characteristic of Argentina is the enormous contrast
between the immense eastern plains and the imposing
mountain range of the Andes to the west. This is the
frontier with Chile and it has the highest peak in the
Western hemisphere: the Aconcagua, 6.959 metres high.
In its passage from Jujuy to Tierra del Fuego the range
presents marvellous contrasts, the plateaux of the Northwest,
the lake region, the forests and the glaciers of the
Patagonia. To the north, Chaco is a forested area
which follows the rivers Bermejo, Salado and Pilcomayo.
Between the Paraná and Uruguay, the Mesopotamia
of Argentina (the provinces of Entre Ríos, Corrientes
and Misiones) is formed by low hills where pools and
marshlands show the ancient courses of these great rivers.
There are fissures - in the middle of the subtropical
rain forest - which provide such spectacular phenomena
known as the Iguazú Falls. La Pampa, in
the centre of Argentina, is the largest and best known
area of plains. It has a large amount of agriculture
and livestock and includes the province of Buenos Aires,
the northeast of La Pampa, the south of Córdoba
and south of Santa Fe. Its landscape is broken to the
south by the small mountains of Tandil and La Ventana
and to the west by the Córdoba mountain ranges.
Towards the south, from the Andes to the sea, are the
sterile and stony plateaux of Patagonia, swept by the
wind most time of the year. The Atlantic coast, lined
with high cliffs, forms massive indentations like the
Valdés Peninsula, with its spectacular and unique
colonies of marine animals.
Climate The country's territory
offers a wide variety of climates that range from the
subtropical at the North, to sub-Antarctic in southern
Patagonia. A temperate climate predominates, particularly
in the rich and humid Pampas plains. From November to
March, the media temperature is 23° C and, from
June to September is 12° C.
Population The current population
of Argentina is more than 36 million people of which
almost half live in the Federal Capital and the province
of Buenos Aires. These figures give us a population
density of 13 inhabitants per square kilometre.
95% of the Argentine People are principally descendants
of Italians and Spaniards. With the massive European
immigration the white and Indian half castes became
slowly diluted until today these people only amount
to 4.5% of the population. The pure indigenous population,
the Mapuches, Collas, Tobas, Matacos and Chiriguanos,
amount to 0.5% of the population.
Language Spanish is the
official language of the Argentine Republic. In Buenos
Aires "lunfardo" is used as a city slang.
Religion There is complete
religious freedom in Argentina although the official
religion is Roman Catholic. There are also other religions
such as Protestant, Jewish, Moslem, Greek Orthodox,
Russian Orthodox among others.
Currency The official Argentine
currency is the Peso. There are notes of 2, 5, 10, 20,
50, and 100 pesos and coins of 1 peso and 1, 5, 10,
25, and 50 cents.
Constitution and Government Argentina consists of 23 provinces plus a federal district,
Buenos Aires. The Constitution establishes a republic
under a representative, federal system, and separate
branches of power: the executive, the legislative and
the judicial. The executive power is exercised by
the Nation's President and Vice-president, elected for
a term of four years and can be re-elected for a single
additional term. The legislative power is bicameral:
the Senate (composed of three senators from each province
and from the City of Buenos Aires) and the Chamber of
Deputies (composed of representatives elected directly
and in proportion to the population in each district).
The judicial power "is vested in the supreme Court
and in lower courts". In conformity with the
National Constitution, each province adopts its own
Constitution to rule its acts of government. The
current Constitution dates from 1853. Nevertheless,
it has undergone changes in 1860, 1898, 1957 and 1994.
The last one - August 1994 - allows the re-election
of the President of the Nation for one more term.
Two historic dates May 25th.,
1810. The First "Gobierno Patrio" or Home
Government Assembly was constituted. July 9th.,
1816. Proclamation of Independence by the "Provincias
Unidas del Río de la Plata".
National emblems The flag has three horizontal stripes: the middle one
white with the golden sun and the two outside ones of
sky blue. The national flower is the ceibo and the national
stone the manganese spar (rodocrosita) or "the
rose of the Inca".
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