Argentina (2001) | Italy (2004) | |
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 |
16 regions (regioni, singular - regione) and 4 autonomous regions* (regioni autonome, singular - regione autonoma); Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia*, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardegna*, Sicilia, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige*, Umbria, Valle d'Aosta*, Veneto |
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.) |
0-14 years: 14% (male 4,181,946; female 3,935,565)
15-64 years: 66.9% (male 19,590,497; female 19,256,747) 65 years and over: 19.1% (male 4,608,479; female 6,484,243) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock | fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; beef, dairy products; fish |
Airports | 1,359 (2000 est.) | 134 (2003 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.) |
total: 96
over 3,047 m: 6 2,438 to 3,047 m: 32 1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 30 under 914 m: 12 (2004 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.) |
total: 38
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 18 under 914 m: 18 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
2,766,890 sq km land: 2,736,690 sq km water: 30,200 sq km |
total: 301,230 sq km
land: 294,020 sq km water: 7,210 sq km note: includes Sardinia and Sicily |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US | slightly larger than Arizona |
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. | Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the European Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north. |
Birth rate | 18.41 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 9.05 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$44 billion expenditures: $48 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $668 billion
expenditures: $703.1 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003) |
Capital | Buenos Aires | Rome |
Climate | mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest | predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south |
Coastline | 4,989 km | 7,600 km |
Constitution | 1 May 1853; revised August 1994 | passed 11 December 1947; effective 1 January 1948; amended many times |
Country name | conventional long form:
Argentine Republic conventional short form: Argentina local long form: Republica Argentina local short form: Argentina |
conventional long form: Italian Republic
conventional short form: Italy local long form: Repubblica Italiana local short form: Italia former: Kingdom of Italy |
Currency | Argentine peso (ARS) | euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries |
Death rate | 7.58 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.21 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $154 billion (2000 est.) | $868.5 billion NA (2003) |
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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Melvin F. SEMBLER
embassy: Via Vittorio Veneto 119/A, 00187-Rome mailing address: PSC 59, Box 100, APO AE 09624 telephone: [39] (06) 46741 FAX: [39] (06) 488-2672, 4674-2356 consulate(s) general: Florence, Milan, Naples |
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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Sergio VENTO
chancery: 3000 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 612-4400 FAX: [1] (202) 518-2151 consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco consulate(s): Detroit |
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 | none |
Economic aid - donor | - | ODA, $1 billion (2002 est.) |
Economic aid - recipient | IMF offer of $13.7 billion (January 2001) | - |
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. | Italy has a diversified industrial economy with roughly the same total and per capita output as France and the UK. This capitalistic economy remains divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed, welfare-dependent agricultural south, with 20% unemployment. Most raw materials needed by industry and more than 75% of energy requirements are imported. Over the past decade, Italy has pursued a tight fiscal policy in order to meet the requirements of the Economic and Monetary Unions and has benefited from lower interest and inflation rates. The current government has enacted numerous short-term reforms aimed at improving competitiveness and long-term growth. Italy has moved slowly, however, on implementing needed structural reforms, such as lightening the high tax burden and overhauling Italy's rigid labor market and over-generous pension system, because of the current economic slowdown and opposition from labor unions. |
Electricity - consumption | 77.111 billion kWh (1999) | 289.1 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 1.08 billion kWh (1999) | 556 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 6.5 billion kWh (1999) | 48.93 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 77.087 billion kWh (1999) | 258.8 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
60.3% hydro: 30.7% nuclear: 8.75% other: 0.25% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Salinas Chicas -40 m (located on Peninsula Valdes) highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,960 m |
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) de Courmayeur 4,748 m (a secondary peak of Mont Blanc) |
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 |
air pollution from industrial emissions such as sulfur dioxide; coastal and inland rivers polluted from industrial and agricultural effluents; acid rain damaging lakes; inadequate industrial waste treatment and disposal facilities |
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 |
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants |
Ethnic groups | white (mostly Spanish and Italian) 97%, mestizo, Amerindian, or other nonwhite groups 3% | Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south) |
Exchange rates | Argentine pesos per US dollar - 1.000 (fixed rate pegged to the US dollar) | euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999) |
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% |
chief of state: President Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI (since 13 May 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the president of the Council of Ministers) Silvio BERLUSCONI (since 10 June 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and approved by the president elections: president elected by an electoral college consisting of both houses of Parliament and 58 regional representatives for a seven-year term; election last held 13 May 1999 (next to be held NA May 2006); prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed by Parliament election results: Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI elected president; percent of electoral college vote - 70% note: a four-party government coalition includes Forza Italia, National Alliance, Northern League, and Union of Christian Democrats and Democrats of the Center |
Exports | $26.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 456,600 bbl/day (2001) |
Exports - commodities | edible oils, fuels and energy, cereals, feed, motor vehicles | engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages and tobacco; minerals and nonferrous metals |
Exports - partners | Brazil 24%, EU 21%, US 11% (1999 est.) | Germany 13.8%, France 12.3%, US 8.5%, Spain 7%, UK 6.9% (2003) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
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 | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; similar to the flag of Ireland, which is longer and is green (hoist side), white, and orange; also similar to the flag of the Cote d'Ivoire, which has the colors reversed - orange (hoist side), white, and green
note: inspired by the French flag brought to Italy by Napoleon in 1797 |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $476 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1.55 trillion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
6% industry: 32% services: 62% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 2.2%
industry: 28.9% services: 68.9% (2003 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $12,900 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $26,700 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 0.8% (2000 est.) | 0.4% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 34 00 S, 64 00 W | 42 50 N, 12 50 E |
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) | strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe |
Heliports | - | 4 (2003 est.) |
Highways | total:
215,434 km paved: 63,553 km (including 734 km of expressways) unpaved: 151,881 km (1998 est.) |
total: 479,688 km
paved: 479,688 km (including 6,621 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (1999) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 26.6% (2000) |
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 | important gateway for and consumer of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market; money laundering by organized crime and from smuggling |
Imports | $25.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 2.158 million bbl/day (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures, plastics | engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages and tobacco |
Imports - partners | EU 28%, US 22%, Brazil 21% (1999 est.) | Germany 17.9%, France 11.2%, Netherlands 5.8%, Spain 4.8%, UK 4.7%, Belgium 4.3%, US 4% (2003) |
Independence | 9 July 1816 (from Spain) | 17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed; Italy was not finally unified until 1870) |
Industrial production growth rate | 1% (2000 est.) | -0.5% (2003) |
Industries | food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel | tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics |
Infant mortality rate | 17.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 6.07 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 6.68 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.41 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | -0.9% (2000 est.) | 2.7% (2003 est.) |
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 | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CDB, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 33 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 17,000 sq km (1993 est.) | 26,980 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (the nine Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president with approval by the Senate) | Constitutional Court or Corte Costituzionale (composed of 15 judges: one-third appointed by the president, one-third elected by Parliament, one-third elected by the ordinary and administrative Supreme Courts) |
Labor force | 15 million (1999) | 24.15 million (2003 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% | agriculture 5%, industry 32%, services 63% (2001) |
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 |
total: 1,932.2 km
border countries: Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 232 km, Switzerland 740 km |
Land use | arable land:
9% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 52% forests and woodland: 19% other: 19% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 27.79%
permanent crops: 9.53% other: 62.68% (2001) |
Languages | Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French | Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area) |
Legal system | mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on civil law system; appeals treated as new trials; judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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 |
bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the Senate or Senato della Repubblica (315 seats elected by popular vote of which 232 are directly elected and 83 are elected by regional proportional representation; in addition, there are a small number of senators-for-life including former presidents of the republic; members serve five-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; 475 are directly elected, 155 by regional proportional representation; members serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 13 May 2001 (next to be held 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 13 May 2001 (next to be held May 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - House of Liberties 172 (Forza Italia 77, National Alliance 47, UDC 31, Lega Padana 17), Olive Tree 108 (Democrats of the Left 63, Daisy Alliance 35, Greens 10), Per le Autonomie 10, other 25; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - House of Liberties 337 (Forza Italia 176, National Alliance 97, UDC 36, Northern League 28), Olive Tree 214 (Democrats of the Left 135, Daisy Alliance 79), Rifondazione Communista 11, other 68 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
75.26 years male: 71.88 years female: 78.82 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 79.54 years
male: 76.61 years female: 82.66 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 96.2% male: 96.2% female: 96.2% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.6% male: 99% female: 98.3% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay | Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia |
Map references | South America | Europe |
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 |
territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
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.) |
total: 475 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 8,970,017 GRT/10,354,685 DWT
by type: bulk 39, cargo 40, chemical tanker 106, combination ore/oil 2, container 23, liquefied gas 43, livestock carrier 2, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger 13, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 74, refrigerated cargo 4, roll on/roll off 62, short-sea/passenger 31, specialized tanker 11, vehicle carrier 23 foreign-owned: Denmark 4, France 3, Greece 5, Japan 1, Isle of Man 1, Monaco 22, Netherlands 4, Panama 2, Switzerland 2, Taiwan 10, United Kingdom 5, United States 13 registered in other countries: 144 (2004 est.) |
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 | Army, Navy, Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana, AMI), Carabinieri |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $4.3 billion (FY99) | $28,182.8 million (2003) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.3% (FY99) | 1.9% (2003) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
9,404,434 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 14,408,392 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
7,625,425 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 12,279,516 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 20 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
335,085 (2001 est.) |
males: 285,601 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Revolution Day, 25 May (1810) | Republic Day, 2 June (1946) |
Nationality | noun:
Argentine(s) adjective: Argentine |
noun: Italian(s)
adjective: Italian |
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 | regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice |
Natural resources | fertile plains of the Pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium | coal, mercury, zinc, potash, marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorospar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land |
Net migration rate | 0.64 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 2.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 4,090 km; petroleum products 2,900 km; natural gas 9,918 km | gas 17,335 km; oil 1,136 km (2004) |
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 | Center-Left Olive Tree Coalition [Francesco RUTELLI] - Democrats of the Left, Daisy Alliance (including Italian Popular Party, Italian Renewal, Union of Democrats for Europe, The Democrats), Sunflower Alliance (including Green Federation, Italian Democratic Socialists), Italian Communist Party; Center-Right Freedom House Coalition [Silvio BERLUSCONI] (formerly House of Liberties and Freedom Alliance) - Forza Italia, National Alliance, The Whiteflower Alliance (includes Christian Democratic Center, United Christian Democrats), Northern League; Democrats of the Left or DS [Piero FASSINO]; Forza Italia or FI [Silvio BERLUSCONI]; Green Federation [Alfonso Pecoraro SCANIO]; Italian Communist Party or PdCI [Armando COSSUTTA]; Italian Renewal or RI [Lamberto DINI]; merged with PPI and I Democratici to form La Margherita (or The Daisy Alliance); Italian Social Democrats or SDI [Enrico BOSELLI]; Lega Padana [Roberto BERNARDELLI]; National Alliance or AN [Gianfranco FINI]; Northern League or NL [Umberto BOSSI]; Socialist Movement-Tricolor Flame or MS-Fiamma [Luca ROMAGNOLI]; South Tyrol People's Party or SVP (German speakers) [Elmar Pichler ROLLE]; Sunflower Alliance (includes Green Federation, Italian Social Democrats); The Daisy Alliance (includes Italian Popular Party, Italian Renewal, Union of Democrats for Europe, The Democrats) [Francesco RUTELLI]; The Democrats [Arturo PARISI]; The Radicals (formerly Pannella Reformers and Autonomous List) [Marco PANNELLA]; Union of Democrats for Europe or UDEUR [Clemente MASTELLA]; Union of Christian and Center Democrats or UDC [Marco FOLLINI] |
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 | Italian manufacturers and merchants associations (Confindustria, Confcommercio); organized farm groups (Confcoltivatori, Confagricoltura); Roman Catholic Church; three major trade union confederations (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro or CGIL [Guglielmo EPIFANI] which is left wing, Confederazione Italiana dei Sindacati Lavoratori or CISL [Savino PEZZOTTA], which is Roman Catholic centrist, and Unione Italiana del Lavoro or UIL [Luigi ANGELETTI] which is lay centrist) |
Population | 37,384,816 (July 2001 est.) | 58,057,477 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 37% (1999 est.) | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.15% (2001 est.) | 0.09% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia, Concepcion del Uruguay, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Necochea, Rio Gallegos, Rosario, Santa Fe, Ushuaia | Augusta (Sicily), Bagnoli, Bari, Brindisi, Gela (Sicily), Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Milazzo (Sicily), Naples, Porto Foxi, Porto Torres (Sardinia), Salerno, Savona, Taranto, Trieste, Venice |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 260 (including 10 inactive stations), FM NA (probably more than 1,000, mostly unlicensed), shortwave 6 (1998) | AM about 100, FM about 4,600, shortwave 9 (1998) |
Radios | 24.3 million (1997) | - |
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) |
total: 19,507 km (11,651 km electrified)
standard gauge: 18,070 km 1.435-m gauge (11,375 km electrified) narrow gauge: 123 km 1.000-m gauge (88 km electrified); 1,314 km 0.950-m gauge (188 km electrified) (2003) |
Religions | nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4% | predominately Roman Catholic with mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community |
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.) |
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and mandatory | 18 years of age; universal (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25) |
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) |
general assessment: modern, well developed, fast; fully automated telephone, telex, and data services
domestic: high-capacity cable and microwave radio relay trunks international: country code - 39; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (with a total of 5 antennas - 3 for Atlantic Ocean and 2 for Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and NA Eutelsat; 21 submarine cables |
Telephones - main lines in use | 7.5 million (1998) | 26.596 million (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 3 million (December 1999) | 55.918 million (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 42 (plus 444 repeaters) (1997) | 358 (plus 4,728 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border | mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands |
Total fertility rate | 2.44 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.27 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 15% (December 2000) | 8.6% (2003 est.) |
Waterways | 10,950 km | 2,400 km
note: used for commercial traffic; of limited overall value compared to road and rail (2004) |