Argentina (2003) | World (2002) | |
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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 - Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur, Tucuman
note: the US does not recognize any claims to Antarctica |
268 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 26.2% (male 5,185,548; female 4,955,551)
15-64 years: 63.4% (male 12,274,625; female 12,282,772) 65 years and over: 10.4% (male 1,659,641; female 2,382,670) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years: 29.2% (male 932,581,592; female 885,688,851)
15-64 years: 63.7% (male 2,009,997,089; female 1,964,938,201) 65 years and over: 7.1% (male 193,549,180; female 247,067,032) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock | - |
Airports | 1,342 (2002) | - |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 145
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 26 1,524 to 2,437 m: 62 914 to 1,523 m: 44 under 914 m: 9 (2002) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1,197
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 50 914 to 1,523 m: 572 under 914 m: 571 (2002) |
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Area | total: 2,766,890 sq km
land: 2,736,690 sq km water: 30,200 sq km |
total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US | land area about 16 times the size of the US |
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 authoritarian rule and interference in subsequent governments 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. | Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). |
Birth rate | 17.47 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 21.16 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $44 billion
expenditures: $48 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
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Capital | Buenos Aires | - |
Climate | mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest | two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones form a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates |
Coastline | 4,989 km | 356,000 km |
Constitution | 1 May 1853; revised August 1994 | - |
Country name | conventional long form: Argentine Republic
conventional short form: Argentina local long form: Republica Argentina local short form: Argentina |
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Currency | Argentine peso (ARS) | - |
Death rate | 7.58 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $155 billion (2001 est.) | $2 trillion for less developed countries (2001 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador James D. WALSH; note - Lino GUTIERREZ is designated to replace Ambassador WALSH
embassy: Avenida Colombia 4300, C1425GMN Buenos Aires mailing address: international mail: use street address; APO address: Unit 4334, APO AA 34034 telephone: [54] (11) 5777-4533 FAX: [54] (11) 5777-4240 |
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Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Jose Octavio BORDON
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 |
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Disputes - international | claims UK-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in its constitution, but in 1995 ceded the right to settle the dispute by force; Beagle Channel islands dispute resolved through Papal mediation in 1984, but armed incidents persist since 1992 oil discovery; territorial claim in Antarctica partially overlaps UK and Chilean claims (see Antarctic disputes); unruly region at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay borders is locus of money laundering, smuggling, arms and drug trafficking, and harbors Islamist militants; uncontested dispute between Brazil and Uruguay over Braziliera Island in the Quarai/Cuareim leaves the tripoint with Argentina in question | - |
Economic aid - recipient | $10 billion (2001 est.) | official development assistance (ODA) $50 billion (2001 est.) |
Economy - overview | Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Over the past decade, however, the country has suffered recurring economic problems of inflation, external debt, capital flight, and budget deficits. Growth in 2000 was a negative 0.8%, as both domestic and foreign investors remained skeptical of the government's ability to pay debts and maintain the peso's fixed exchange rate with the US dollar. The economic situation worsened in 2001 with the widening of spreads on Argentine bonds, massive withdrawals from the banks, and a further decline in consumer and investor confidence. Government efforts to achieve a "zero deficit," to stabilize the banking system, and to restore economic growth proved inadequate in the face of the mounting economic problems. The peso's peg to the dollar was abandoned in January 2002, and the peso was floated in February; the exchange rate plunged and inflation picked up rapidly, but by mid-2002 the economy had stabilized, albeit at a lower level. Strong demand for the peso compelled the Central Bank to intervene in foreign exchange markets to curb its appreciation in early 2003. Led by record exports, the economy began to recover with output up 5.5% in 2003, unemployment falling, and inflation sliced to 4.2% at year-end. | Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) fell from 4.8% in 2000 to 2.2% in 2001. The causes: slowdowns in the US economy (21% of GWP) and in the 15 EU economies (20% of GWP); continued stagnation in the Japanese economy (7.3% of GWP); and spillover effects in the less developed regions of the world. China, the second largest economy in the world (12% of GWP), proved an exception, continuing its rapid annual growth, officially announced as 7.3% but estimated by many observers as perhaps two percentage points lower. Russia (2.6% of GWP), with 5.2% growth, continued to make uneven progress, its GDP per capita still only one-third that of the leading industrial nations. The other 14 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations were strong performers, in the 5% range of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that eat up gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Indonesia, and in Canada. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuate a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2001, see the individual country entries.) |
Electricity - consumption | 92.12 billion kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - exports | 5.662 billion kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - imports | 7.417 billion kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production | 97.17 billion kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 52.2%
hydro: 40.8% nuclear: 6.7% other: 0.2% (2001) |
fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Salinas Chicas -40 m (located on Peninsula Valdes)
highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,960 m |
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
Environment - current issues | environmental problems (urban and rural) typical of an industrializing economy such as deforestation, soil degradation, desertification, air pollution, and water pollution
note: Argentina is a world leader in setting voluntary greenhouse gas targets |
large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion |
Environment - international agreements | party to: 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, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation |
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Ethnic groups | white (mostly Spanish and Italian) 97%, mestizo, Amerindian, or other nonwhite groups 3% | - |
Exchange rates | Argentine pesos per US dollar - 3.06 (2002), 1 (2001), 1 (2000), 1 (1999), 1 (1998) | - |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Nestor KIRCHNER (since 25 May 2003); note - declared winner of a runoff election by default after Carlos Saul MENEM withdrew his candidacy on the eve of the election; Vice President Daniel SCIOLI (since 25 May 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Nestor KIRCHNER (since 25 May 2003); note - declared winner of a runoff election by default after Carlos Saul MENEM withdrew his candidacy on the eve of the election; Vice President Daniel SCIOLI (since 25 May 2003); 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; the last election held was the presidential primary election of 27 April 2003 (next election to be held NA 2007); a runoff election slated for 25 May 2003 between the two candidates receiving the highest votes in the primary was awarded to KIRCHNER by default after MENEM withdrew his candidacy on the eve of the election election results: results of the presidential primary of 27 April 2003: Carlos Saul MENEM 24.3%, Nestor KIRCHNER 22%, Ricardo Lopez MURPHY 16.4%, Adolfo Rodriguez SAA 14.4%, Elisa CARRIO 14.2%, other 8.7%; the subsequent runoff election slated for 25 May 2003 was awarded to KIRCHNER by default after MENEM withdrew his candidacy on the eve of the election |
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Exports | NA (2001) | $6.3 trillion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | edible oils, fuels and energy, cereals, feed, motor vehicles | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Exports - partners | Brazil 23.6%, US 10.9%, Chile 9.7%, Spain 4.3% (2002) | in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries |
Fiscal 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 | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $403.8 billion (2002 est.) | GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $47 trillion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 5%
industry: 28% services: 66% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 4%
industry: 32% services: 64% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $10,500 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,600 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | -10.9% (2002 est.) | 2.2% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 34 00 S, 64 00 W | - |
Geography - note | second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage); Cerro Aconcagua is South America's tallest mountain, while the Valdes Peninsula is the lowest point on the continent | the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13-billion-year age estimated for the universe |
Highways | total: 215,471 km
paved: 63,348 km (including 734 km of expressways) unpaved: 152,123 km (1999) |
total: NA km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | used as a transshipment country for cocaine headed for Europe and the US; some money-laundering activity, especially in the Tri-Border Area; domestic consumption of drugs in urban centers is increasing | - |
Imports | NA (2001) | $6.3 trillion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures, plastics | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Imports - partners | Brazil 42%, US 12.8%, Germany 4.4% (2002) | in value, about 75% of imports into the developed countries |
Independence | 9 July 1816 (from Spain) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 1% (2000 est.) | 6% (2000 est.) |
Industries | food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel | dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems |
Infant mortality rate | total: 16.16 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 18.14 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
51.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 41% (2002, yearend) | developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically (2001 est.); national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in several Third World countries |
International organization participation | AfDB, Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, ECLAC, FAO, G-6, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur, MINURSO, MIPONUH, MONUC, MTCR, NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOVIC, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 33 (2000) | 10,350 (2000 est.) |
Irrigated land | 15,610 sq km (1998 est.) | 2,714,320 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) | - |
Labor force | 15 million (1999) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
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 |
the land boundaries in the world total 250,472 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) |
Land use | arable land: 9.14%
permanent crops: 0.8% other: 90.06% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 10.58%
permanent crops: 1% other: 88.42% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French | Chinese, Mandarin 14.37%, Hindi 6.02%, English 5.61%, Spanish 5.59%, Bengali 3.4%, Portuguese 2.63%, Russian 2.75%, Japanese 2.06%, German, Standard 1.64%, Korean 1.28%, French 1.27% (2000 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only |
Legal system | mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court |
Legislative branch | bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate (72 seats; members are elected by direct vote; presently one-third of the members being elected every two years to a six-year term) and the Chamber of Deputies (257 seats; members are elected by direct vote; one-half of the members elected every two years to a four-year term)
elections: Senate - last held 14 October 2001 (next to be held intermittently by province before December 2003); Chamber of Deputies - last held 14 October 2001 (next to be held intermittently by province before December 2003) election results: Senate - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA%; seats by bloc or party - PJ 40, UCR 24, provincial parties 6, Frepaso 1, ARI 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA%; seats by bloc or party - PJ 113, UCR 74, provincial parties 27, Frepaso 17, ARI 17, AR 9 |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.48 years
male: 71.72 years female: 79.44 years (2003 est.) |
total population: 63.94 years
male: 62.28 years female: 65.67 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.1% male: 97.1% female: 97.1% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 77% male: 83% female: 71% (1995 est.) |
Location | Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay | - |
Map references | South America | Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World |
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 |
a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims: contiguous zone - 24 NM; continental shelf - 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation, or 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin; exclusive fishing zone - 200 NM; exclusive economic zone - 200 NM; territorial sea - 12 NM; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked |
Merchant marine | total: 23 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 141,851 GRT/208,821 DWT
ships by type: cargo 9, petroleum tanker 8, railcar carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 1, short-sea passenger 1, specialized tanker 1, includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: United Arab Emirates 1, Uruguay 1 (2002 est.) |
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Military branches | Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic (includes naval aviation and Marines), Coast Guard, Argentine Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Aeronautical Police Force | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $4.3 billion (FY99) | aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.3% (FY00) | roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 9,780,063 (2003 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 7,942,837 (2003 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 20 years of age (2003 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 331,011 (2003 est.) | - |
National holiday | Revolution Day, 25 May (1810) | - |
Nationality | noun: Argentine(s)
adjective: Argentine |
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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 | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) |
Natural resources | fertile plains of the Pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium | the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address |
Net migration rate | 0.62 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | - |
Pipelines | gas 26,797 km; liquid petroleum gas 41 km; oil 3,668 km; refined products 2,945 km; unknown (oil/water) 13 km (2003) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Action for the Republic or AR [Domingo CAVALLO]; Alternative for a Republic of Equals or ARI [Elisa CARRIO]; Front for a Country in Solidarity or Frepaso (a four-party coalition) [Dario Pedro ALESSANDRO]; Justicialist Party or PJ [Carlos Saul MENEM] (Peronist umbrella political organization); Radical Civic Union or UCR [Angel ROZAS]; Federal Recreate Movement [Ricardo LOPEZ MURPHY]; several provincial parties | - |
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 | - |
Population | 38,740,807 (July 2003 est.) | 6,233,821,945 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 37% (2001 est.) | - |
Population growth rate | 1.05% (2003 est.) | 1.23% (2002 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 | Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 260 (including 10 inactive stations), FM NA (probably more than 1,000, mostly unlicensed), shortwave 6 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA |
Radios | - | NA |
Railways | total: 34,463 km (168 km electrified)
broad gauge: 20,736 km 1.676-m gauge (142 km electrified) standard gauge: 3,115 km 1.435-m gauge (26 km electrified) narrow gauge: 10,375 km 1.000-m gauge; 237 km 0.750-m gauge (2002) |
total: 1,201,337 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line
broad gauge: 251,153 km standard gauge: 710,754 km narrow gauge: 239,430 km |
Religions | nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4% | Christians 32.88% (of which Roman Catholics 17.39%, Protestants 5.62%, Orthodox 3.54%, Anglicans 1.31%), Muslims 19.54%, Hindus 13.34%, Buddhists 5.92%, Sikhs 0.38%, Jews 0.24%, other religions 12.6%, non-religious 12.63%, atheists 2.47% (2000 est.) |
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: 0.97 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and mandatory | - |
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 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: NA
domestic: NA international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 7.5 million (1998) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 3 million (December 1999) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 42 (plus 444 repeaters) (1997) | NA |
Terrain | rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean |
Total fertility rate | 2.28 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 2.7 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 21.5% (37377) | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2001 est.) |
Waterways | 10,950 km | - |