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ARGENTINA: PART 1Jean Lowry
50587
GEOGRAPHY… Argentina is the second largest
country in South America by land area, after Brazil
It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aries
It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations
Argentina is about 3900 km long from north to south, and 1400 km from east to west
There are four major regions: fertile central plains of the pampas, source of Argentina’s agricultural wealth; the flat to rolling, oil-rich southern plateau of Patagonia including Tierra del Fuego; the subtropical northern flats of the Gran Chaco, and the rugged Andes mountain range along the western border with Chile
GEOGRAPHY… CONT’D The highest point above sea level is
in Mendoza province at Cerro Aconcagua, also the highest point in the Southern and Western Hemisphere
The lowest point is Laguna del Carbon in Santa Cruz province
The geographic center of the country is in south-central La Pampa province
The major rivers are Paraná(the largest), the Pilcomayo, Paraguay, Bermejo, Colorado, Rio Negro, Salado and Uruguay
The Paraná and the Uruguay join to form the Rio de la Plata estuary, before reaching the Atlantic
Regionally important rivers are the Atuel and Mendoza in the homonymous province, the Chubut in Patagonia, the Rio Grande in Jujuy and the San Francisco River in Salta
GEOGRAPHY… CONT’D Several lakes include Argentino and
Viedma in Santa Cruz, Nahuel Huapi between Rio Negro and Neuquén, Fagnano in Tierra del Fuego, and Colhue Huapi and Musters in Chubut
Lake Buenos Aries and O’Higgins/San Martin Lake are shared the Chile
Mar Chiquita, Cordoba, is the largest salt water lake in the country
Generally temperature climate ranges from subtropical in the north to sub polar in the far south
The north characterized by very hot, humid summers with drier winters, and is subject to periodic droughts
Central Argentina has hot summers with thunderstorms (western Argentina produces some of the world’s largest hail), and cool winters
The southern regions have warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall, especially in mountainous zones
PEOPLE… Argentina ranks third in South
America in total population and 33rd globally
Population density is of 15 persons per square kilometer of land area, well below the world average of 50 persons
The median age is approximately 30 years and life expectancy at birth is 76.7 years
Argentina is considered a country of immigrants
Most Argentines are descended from colonial-era settlers, and 19th and 20th century immigrants from Europe
86.4% of Argentina’s population self-identify as being of European decent
An estimated 8% of the population is Mestizo and 4% of Argentines are of Arab or Asian heritage
PEOPLE… CONT’D The constitution guarantees
freedom of religion but also requires the government to support Roman Catholicism economically
According to the World Christian Database Argentines are: 92.1% Christian, 3.1% agnostic, 1.9% Muslim, 1.3% Jewish, 0.9% atheist, and 0.9% Buddhist and others
Argentine Christians are mostly Roman Catholic with estimates for the number of Catholics varying from 70% to 90% of the population
Argentina has the largest Jewish population of any country in Latin America
The de facto official language of Argentina is Spanish, usually called castellano by Argentines
PEOPLE… CONT’D The most prevalent dialect is
Rioplatense, whose speakers are primarily located in the Rio de la Plate basin
Italian and other European immigrants influenced Lunfardo, the slang spoken in the Rio de la Plata region, permeating the vernacular vocabulary of other regions as well
Argentina is highly urbanized The population is unequally
distributed amongst provinces: about 60% live in the Pampa region, including 15 million people in Buenos Aires province
Most European immigrants settles in the cities
Many small towns founded along the expanding railway system
Argentine cities were originally built in a colonial Spanish grid style and many still retain this general layout, which is known as a damero (checkerboard)
HISTORY… The earliest evidence of humans in
Argentina dates from 11,000 BC and was found in Patagonia
European explorers arrived in 1516; Spain established the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1542, encompassing all its holdings in South America
Their first settlement in modern Argentina was the Fort of Sancti Spiritu established in 1527 next to the Paraná River
Buenos Aires, a permanent colony, was established in 1536 but was destroyed by natives
The area which encompassed much of the territory that would later become Argentina was largely a territory of Spanish immigrants and their descendants (known as criollos), mestizos, native cultures, and descendants of African slaves
War for independence ensued in the former Viceroyalty, its regions divided between patriots and royalists
HISTORY… CONT’D The cities of present-day Argentina would
align with the independents after 1811, the other regions would follow differing paths: Paraguay secede, declaring its independence from Spain 1811 and from Argentina in 1842
Upper Peru was disputed with the royalists from Peru until it declared independence as Bolivia in 1824
Internal conflicts would cause political instability within the patriots
In 1813 an Assembly convened to declare independence but it could not do so due to political disputes
The military campaign became the responsibility of Jose de San Martin, who led an army across the Andes in 1817 and defeated the Chilean royalists
A new constitution was enacted in 1826, during the War with Brazil, when Bernardino Rivadavia was elected the first President of Argentina
This constitution was soon rejected by the provinces, due to its Centralist bias, and Rivadavia resigned shortly after; The provinces then reorganized themselves as the Argentine Confederation, a loose confederation of provinces that lacked a common head of state
HISTORY… CONT’D After 1875 a wave of foreign investment
and immigration from Europe led to the strengthening of a cohesive state, the development of modern agriculture and to a near-reinvention of Argentine society and economy
Argentina’s economy developed from 1875 onwards with a surge of agricultural exports, as well European investment and immigration
This boom ended 1930, after which the economy began to slowly lose ground
Argentina increased in prosperity and prominence between 1880 and 1929 and emerged as one of the ten richest countries in the world, benefiting from agricultural export-led economy as well as British and French investment
The Argentine Constitution of 1853 mandates a separation of powers into executive, legislative, and judicial branches at the national and provincial level
Executive power resides in the President and the cabinet
SOURCES…
"Argentina." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 25 July 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina>.