Argentina
,Xinhua
Updated: 2004-11-11 11:02

Argentine Republic

National flag of Argentina

National name: República Argentina.

President: Eduardo Duhalde (2002)

Area: 1,068,296 sq mi (2,766,890 sq km)

Population (2003 est.): 38,740,807 (growth rate: 1.0%); birth rate: 17.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 16.2/1000; density per sq mi: 36

Capital and largest city (2000 est.): Buenos Aires, 13,250,000 (metro. area)

Other large cities (1999 est.): Córdoba, 1,200,000; Rosario, 950,000; Mar del Plata, 900,000; Mendoza, 400,000

Monetary unit: Peso

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

Ethnicity/race: European 97% (mostly of Spanish and Italian descent), 3% other (mostly Indian or mestizo)

Religions: Roman Catholic 92%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%

Map of Argentina

Literacy rate: 96% (1991)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2001 est.): $453 billion; per capita $12,000. Real growth rate: –4.6%. Inflation: 4%. Unemployment: 25% (yearend 2001). Arable land: 9%. Agriculture: sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock. Labor force: 15 million (1999); agriculture n.a., industry n.a., services n.a. Industries: food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel. Natural resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium. Exports: $26.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.): edible oils, fuels and energy, cereals, feed, motor vehicles. Imports: $23.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.): machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures, plastics. Major trading partners: Brazil, U.S., Chile, Spain, Germany, China.

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 7.5 million (1998); mobile cellular: 3 million (Dec. 1999). Radio broadcast stations: AM 260 (including 10 inactive stations), FM n.a. (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 Service Providers (ISPs): 33 (2000). Internet users: 3.88 million (2001).

Transportation: Railways: total: 33,744 km (141 km electrified) (2000est.). Highways: total: 215,434 km; paved: 63,553 km (including 734 km of expressways); unpaved: 151,881 km (1998 est.). Waterways: 10,950 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. Airports: 1,369 (2001).

International disputes: 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.