Saint Martin (2007) | Argentina (2001) | |
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 |
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.) |
Agriculture - products | - | sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock |
Airports | 1 | 1,359 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 |
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.) |
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.) |
Area | total: 54.4 sq km
land: 54.4 sq km water: NEGL |
total:
2,766,890 sq km land: 2,736,690 sq km water: 30,200 sq km |
Area - comparative | more than one-third the size of Washington, DC | slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US |
Background | Although sighted by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1493 and claimed for Spain, it was the Dutch who occupied the island in 1631 and set about exploiting its salt deposits. The Spanish retook the island in 1633, but continued to be harassed by the Dutch. The Spanish finally relinquished St. Martin to the French and Dutch, who divided it amongst themselves in 1648. The cultivation of sugar cane introduced slavery to the island in the late 18th century; the practice was not abolished until 1848. The island became a free port in 1939; the tourism industry was dramatically expanded during the 1970s and 1980s. In 2003, the populace of St. Martin voted to secede from Guadeloupe and in 2007, the northern portion of the island became a French overseas collectivity. | 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. |
Birth rate | - | 18.41 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues:
$44 billion expenditures: $48 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | name: Marigot
geographical coordinates: 18 04 N, 63 05 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight savings: +1 hour |
Buenos Aires |
Climate | temperature averages 80-85 degrees all year long; low humidity, gentle trade winds, brief, intense rain showers; July-Novemeber is the hurricane season | mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest |
Coastline | 58.9 km (for entire island) | 4,989 km |
Constitution | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution) | 1 May 1853; revised August 1994 |
Country name | conventional long form: Overseas Collectivity of Saint Martin
conventional short form: Saint Martin local long form: Collectivity d'outre mer de Saint-Martin local short form: Saint-Martin |
conventional long form:
Argentine Republic conventional short form: Argentina local long form: Republica Argentina local short form: Argentina |
Currency | - | Argentine peso (ARS) |
Death rate | - | 7.58 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $154 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas collectivity of France) | 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 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas collectivity of France) | 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 |
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 |
Economic aid - recipient | - | IMF offer of $13.7 billion (January 2001) |
Economy - overview | The economy of Saint Martin centers around tourism with 85% of the labor force engaged in this sector. Over one million visitors come to the island each year with most arriving through the Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten. No significant agriculture and limited local fishing means that almost all food must be imported. Energy resources and manufactured goods are also imported, primarily from Mexico and the United States. Saint Martin is reported to have the highest per capita income in the Caribbean. | 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. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 77.111 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | - | 1.08 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | - | 6.5 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | - | 77.087 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
60.3% hydro: 30.7% nuclear: 8.75% other: 0.25% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pic du Paradis 424 m |
lowest point:
Salinas Chicas -40 m (located on Peninsula Valdes) highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,960 m |
Environment - current issues | fresh water supply is dependent on desalinization of sea water | 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 |
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 |
Ethnic groups | creole (mulatto), black, Guadeloupe Mestizo (French-East Asia), white, East Indian | white (mostly Spanish and Italian) 97%, mestizo, Amerindian, or other nonwhite groups 3% |
Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002) | Argentine pesos per US dollar - 1.000 (fixed rate pegged to the US dollar) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Nicolas SARKOZY (since 16 May 2007), represented by Prefect Dominique LACROIX (since 21 March 2007)
head of government: President of the Territorial Council Louis-Constant FLEMING (since 16 July 2007) cabinet: Executive Council; note - there is also an advisory economic, social, and cultural council election: French president elected by popular vote to a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of the Territorial Council is elected by the members of the Council for a five-year term election results: Louis-Constant FLEMING unanimously elected president by the Territorial Council on 16 July 2007 |
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% |
Exports | - | $26.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | - | edible oils, fuels and energy, cereals, feed, motor vehicles |
Exports - partners | - | Brazil 24%, EU 21%, US 11% (1999 est.) |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
Flag description | the flag of France is used | 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 - $476 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 1%
industry: 15% services: 84% (2000) |
agriculture:
6% industry: 32% services: 62% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $12,900 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 0.8% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 18 05 N, 63 57 W | 34 00 S, 64 00 W |
Geography - note | the island of Saint Martin is the smallest landmass in the World shared by two independent states, the French territory of Saint Martin and the Dutch territory of Sint Maarten | 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) |
Highways | - | total:
215,434 km paved: 63,553 km (including 734 km of expressways) unpaved: 151,881 km (1998 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
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 |
Imports | - | $25.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | crude petroleum, food, manufactured items | machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures, plastics |
Imports - partners | US, Mexico (2006) | EU 28%, US 22%, Brazil 21% (1999 est.) |
Independence | none (overseas collectivity of France) | 9 July 1816 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 1% (2000 est.) |
Industries | tourism, light industry and manufacturing, heavy industry | food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel |
Infant mortality rate | - | 17.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | -0.9% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | UPU | 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 |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 33 (2000) |
Irrigated land | - | 17,000 sq km (1993 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) |
Labor force - by occupation | 85% directly or indirectly employed in tourist industry | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total: 15 km
border countries: Netherlands Antilles (Sint Maarten) 15 km |
total:
9,665 km border countries: 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: 1% permanent pastures: 52% forests and woodland: 19% other: 19% (1993 est.) |
Languages | French (official language), English, Dutch, French Patois, Spanish, Papiamento (dialect of Netherlands Antilles) | Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French |
Legal system | the laws of France, where applicable, apply | mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral Territorial Council (23 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 1 and 8 July 2007 (next to be held July 2012) election results: percent of seats by party - UPP 49%, RRR 42.2%, Reussir Saint-Martin 8.9%; seats by party - UPP 16, RRR 6, Reussir Saint-Martin 1 |
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 |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population:
75.26 years male: 71.88 years female: 78.82 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 96.2% male: 96.2% female: 96.2% (1995 est.) |
Location | island 300 km southeast of Puerto Rico | Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | South America |
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 |
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.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of France | - |
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 |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $4.3 billion (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.3% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
9,404,434 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
7,625,425 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 20 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
335,085 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789); note - local holiday is Schoalcher Day (Slavery Abolition Day) 12 July (1848) | Revolution Day, 25 May (1810) |
Nationality | - | noun:
Argentine(s) adjective: Argentine |
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 |
Natural resources | salt | fertile plains of the Pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium |
Net migration rate | - | 0.64 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 4,090 km; petroleum products 2,900 km; natural gas 9,918 km |
Political parties and leaders | Union Pour le Progres or UPP [Louis Constant FLEMING]; Rassemblement Responsabilite Reussite or RRR [Alain RICHARDSON]; Reussir Saint-Martin [Jean-Luc HAMLET] | 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 |
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 | 33,102 (October 2004 census) | 37,384,816 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | 37% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | - | 1.15% (2001 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 |
Radio broadcast stations | FM 3 (2007) | AM 260 (including 10 inactive stations), FM NA (probably more than 1,000, mostly unlicensed), shortwave 6 (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) |
Religions | Roman Catholic, Jehovah's Witness, Protestant, Hindu | nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4% |
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.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age, universal | 18 years of age; universal and mandatory |
Telephone system | general assessment: fully integrated access
domestic: direct dial capability with both fixed and wireless systems international: country code - 590; undersea fiber-optic cable provides voice and data connectivity to Puerto Rico and Gudaloupe |
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) |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 7.5 million (1998) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 3 million (December 1999) |
Television broadcast stations | - | 42 (plus 444 repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | - | rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border |
Total fertility rate | - | 2.44 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Transportation - note | nearest airport for international flights is Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) located in Sint Maarten | - |
Unemployment rate | - | 15% (December 2000) |
Waterways | - | 10,950 km |