Argentina

Airports

total: 1,649 usable: 1,394 with permanent-surface runways: 139 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 31 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 332

Highways

total: 208,350 km paved: 57,000 km unpaved: gravel 39,500 km; improved/unimproved earth 111,850 km

Inland waterways

11,000 km navigable

Merchant marine

57 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 656,289 GRT/1,008,792 DWT, bulk 3, cargo 29, container 4, oil tanker 14, railcar carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 5, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1

Pipelines

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

Ports

Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia, La Plata, Rosario, Santa Fe

Railroads

34,172 km total (includes 209 km electrified); includes a mixture of 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1.676-meter broad gauge, 1.000-meter narrow gauge, and 0.750-meter narrow gauge

Telecommunications

extensive modern system but many families do not have telephones; 2,650,000 telephones (12,000 public telephones); telephone density 78 per 1000 persons; microwave widely used; broadcast stations - 171 AM, no FM, 231 TV, 13 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations; domestic satellite network has 40 earth stations

Branches

Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic, Argentine Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Argentine Naval Prefecture (Coast Guard only), National Aeronautical Police Force

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 8,417,880; fit for military service 6,825,795; reach military age (20) annually 292,725 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

accounts for 8% of GDP (including fishing); produces abundant food for both domestic consumption and exports; among world's top five exporters of grain and beef; principal crops - wheat, corn, sorghum, soybeans, sugar beets

Budget

revenues: $33.1 billion expenditures: $35.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.5 billion (1992)

Currency

1 nuevo peso argentino = 100 centavos

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $4.4 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $718 million

Electricity

capacity: 17,911,000 kW production: 51.305 billion kWh consumption per capita: 1,559 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

pesos per US$1 - 0.99850 (January 1994), 0.99895 (1993), 0.99064 (1992), 0.95355 (1991), 0.48759 (1990), 0.04233 (1989)

Exports

$12.7 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.) commodities: meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, hides, wool partners: US 12%, Brazil, Italy, Japan, Netherlands

External debt

$73 billion (April 1994)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

increasing use as a transshipment country for cocaine headed for the US and Europe

Imports

$16 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.) commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, fuels and lubricants, agricultural products partners: US 22%, Brazil, Germany, Bolivia, Japan, Italy, Netherlands

Industrial production

growth rate 10% (1992 est.); accounts for 31% of GDP

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

7.4% (1993 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $185 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$5,500 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

6% (1993 est.)

Overview

Argentina is rich in natural resources and has a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Nevertheless, following decades of mismanagement and statist policies, the economy in the late 1980s was plagued with huge external debts and recurring bouts of hyperinflation. Elected in 1989, in the depths of recession, President MENEM has implemented a comprehensive economic restructuring program that shows signs of putting Argentina on a path of stable, sustainable growth. Argentina's currency has traded at par with the US dollar since April 1991, and inflation has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years. Argentines have responded to the relative price stability by repatriating flight capital and investing in domestic industry. Growth slowed somewhat in 1993 but Argentina still registered an impressive 6% advance, fueled largely by inflows of foreign capital and strong domestic consumption spending. The government's major short term objective is encouraging exports, e.g., by reducing domestic costs of production. Much remains to be done in the 1990s in dismantling the old statist barriers to growth and in solidifying the recent economic gains.

Unemployment rate

10% (1993)

Area

total area: 2,766,890 sq km land area: 2,736,690 sq km comparative area: slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US

Climate

mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest

Coastline

4,989 km

Environment

current issues: erosion results from inadequate flood controls and improper land use practices; irrigated soil degradation; desertification; air pollution in Buenos Aires and other major cites; water pollution in urban areas; rivers becoming polluted due to increased pesticide and fertilizer use natural hazards: Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the Pampas and northeast; heavy flooding international agreements: party to - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling; signed, but not ratfied - Biodiversity, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation

International 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

Irrigated land

17,600 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 9,665 km, Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km

Land use

arable land: 9% permanent crops: 4% meadows and pastures: 52% forest and woodland: 22% other: 13%

Location

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

Map references

South America, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: not specified territorial sea: 200 nm; overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm

Natural resources

fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium

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)

Terrain

rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border

Administrative divisions

23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia), and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); 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, Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur; Tucuman note: the US does not recognize any claims to Antarctica or Argentina's claims to the Falkland Islands

Capital

Buenos Aires

Chamber of Deputies

elections last held NA October 1993 ( next to be held October 1995); elections are held every two years and half of the total membership is elected each time for four year terms; seats--(257 total) PJ 128, UCR 81, MODIN 7, UCD 5, other 36

Constitution

1 May 1853

Digraph

AR

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Raul Enrique GRANILLO OCAMPO chancery: 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: (202) 939-6400 through 6403 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico)

Executive branch

chief of state and head of government: President Carlos Saul MENEM (since 8 July 1989); Vice President (position vacant); election last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held summer 1995); results - Carlos Saul MENEM was elected cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president

FAX

[54] (1) 775-4205

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

Independence

9 July 1816 (from Spain)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional)

Member of

AG (observer), Australia Group, BCIE, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-6, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, AfDB, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, LORCS, MERCOSUR, MINURSO, MTCR, OAS, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNOMOZ, UNOSOM, UNPROFOR, UNTAC, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Names

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

National holiday

Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)

Other political or pressure groups

Peronist-dominated labor movement; General Confederation of Labor (CGT; 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

Political parties and leaders

Justicialist Party (PJ), Carlos Saul MENEM, Peronist umbrella political organization; Radical Civic Union (UCR),Raul ALFONSIN, moderately left-of-center party; Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), Jorge AGUADO, conservative party; Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar ALENDE, leftist party; Dignity and Independence Political Party (MODIN), Aldo RICO, right-wing party; Grand Front (Frente Grande), Carlos ALVAREZ, center-left coalition; several provincial parties

Senate

elections last held May 1989, but provincial elections in late 1991 set the stage for indirect elections by provincial senators for one-third of 48 seats in the national senate in May 1992; seats (48 total) - PJ 30, UCR 11, others 7

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador James CHEEK (since 28 May 1993) embassy: 4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires mailing address: APO AA 34034 telephone: [54] (1) 774-7611, 8811, 9911

Birth rate

19.62 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

8.63 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

white 85%, mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups 15%

Infant mortality rate

29.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

10.9 million by occupation: agriculture 12%, industry 31%, services 57% (1985 est.)

Languages

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

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 71.35 years male: 68.06 years female: 74.81 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 95% male: 96% female: 95%

Nationality

noun: Argentine(s) adjective: Argentine

Net migration rate

0.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

33,912,994 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

1.12% (1994 est.)

Religions

nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 6%

Total fertility rate

2.68 children born/woman (1994 est.)