Uganda (2001) | Argentina (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 45 districts; Adjumani, Apac, Arua, Bugiri, Bundibugyo, Bushenyi, Busia, Gulu, Hoima, Iganga, Jinja, Kabale, Kabarole, Kalangala, Kampala, Kamuli, Kapchorwa, Kasese, Katakwi, Kibale, Kiboga, Kisoro, Kitgum, Kotido, Kumi, Lira, Luwero, Masaka, Masindi, Mbale, Mbarara, Moroto, Moyo, Mpigi, Mubende, Mukono, Nakasongola, Nebbi, Ntungamo, Pallisa, Rakai, Rukungiri, Sembabule, Soroti, Tororo | 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:
51.08% (male 6,150,038; female 6,100,880) 15-64 years: 46.78% (male 5,613,499; female 5,607,526) 65 years and over: 2.14% (male 244,216; female 269,553) (2001 est.) |
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 | coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), potatoes, corn, millet, pulses; beef, goat meat, milk, poultry | sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock |
Airports | 28 (2000 est.) | 1,359 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
4 over 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
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:
24 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 8 (2000 est.) |
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:
236,040 sq km land: 199,710 sq km water: 36,330 sq km |
total:
2,766,890 sq km land: 2,736,690 sq km water: 30,200 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Oregon | slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US |
Background | Uganda achieved independence from the UK in 1962. The dictatorial regime of Idi AMIN (1971-79) was responsible for the deaths of some 300,000 opponents; guerrilla war and human rights abuses under Milton OBOTE (1980-85) claimed another 100,000 lives. During the 1990s the government promulgated non-party presidential and legislative elections. | 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 | 47.52 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 18.41 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$959 million expenditures: $1.04 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY98/99 est.) |
revenues:
$44 billion expenditures: $48 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | Kampala | Buenos Aires |
Climate | tropical; generally rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to August); semiarid in northeast | mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 4,989 km |
Constitution | 8 October 1995; adopted by the interim, 284-member Constituent Assembly, charged with debating the draft constitution that had been proposed in May 1993; the Constituent Assembly was dissolved upon the promulgation of the constitution in October 1995 | 1 May 1853; revised August 1994 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Uganda conventional short form: Uganda |
conventional long form:
Argentine Republic conventional short form: Argentina local long form: Republica Argentina local short form: Argentina |
Currency | Ugandan shilling (UGX) | Argentine peso (ARS) |
Death rate | 17.97 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 7.58 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $3.6 billion (2000 est.) | $154 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Martin G. BRENNAN embassy: Parliament Avenue, Kampala mailing address: P. O. Box 7007, Kampala telephone: [256] (41) 259792, 259793, 259795 FAX: [256] (41) 259794 |
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 | chief of mission:
Ambassador Edith Grace SSEMPALA chancery: 5911 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011 telephone: [1] (202) 726-7100 through 7102, 0416 FAX: [1] (202) 726-1727 |
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 | the Ugandan military is deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo in support of rebel forces in that country's civil war; a resurvey of the latitudinal boundary with Tanzania in 2000 revealed a 300-meter discrepancy that both sides are currently adjudicating | 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 | $1.4 billion (2000) | IMF offer of $13.7 billion (January 2001) |
Economy - overview | Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force. Coffee is the major export crop and accounts for the bulk of export revenues. Since 1986, the government - with the support of foreign countries and international agencies - has acted to rehabilitate and stabilize the economy by undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export crops, increasing prices of petroleum products, and improving civil service wages. The policy changes are especially aimed at dampening inflation and boosting production and export earnings. In 1990-2000, the economy turned in a solid performance based on continued investment in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improved incentives for production and exports, reduced inflation, gradually improved domestic security, and the return of exiled Indian-Ugandan entrepreneurs. Ongoing Ugandan involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, corruption within the government, and slippage in the government's determination to press reforms raise doubts about the continuation of strong growth. In 2000, Uganda qualified for enhanced HIPC debt relief worth $1.3 billion and Paris Club debt relief worth $145 million. These amounts combined with the original Highly Indebted Poor Countries HIPC debt relief add up to about $2 billion. Growth for 2001 should be somewhat lower than in 2000, because of a decline in the price of coffee, Uganda's principal export. | 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 | 1.06 billion kWh (1999) | 77.111 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 174 million kWh (1999) | 1.08 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 1 million kWh (1999) | 6.5 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 1.326 billion kWh (1999) | 77.087 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
0.98% hydro: 99.02% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel:
60.3% hydro: 30.7% nuclear: 8.75% other: 0.25% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Lake Albert 621 m highest point: Margherita Peak on Mount Stanley 5,110 m |
lowest point:
Salinas Chicas -40 m (located on Peninsula Valdes) highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,960 m |
Environment - current issues | draining of wetlands for agricultural use; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; poaching is widespread | 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:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
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 | Baganda 17%, Karamojong 12%, Basogo 8%, Iteso 8%, Langi 6%, Rwanda 6%, Bagisu 5%, Acholi 4%, Lugbara 4%, Bunyoro 3%, Batoro 3%, non-African (European, Asian, Arab) 1%, other 23% | white (mostly Spanish and Italian) 97%, mestizo, Amerindian, or other nonwhite groups 3% |
Exchange rates | Ugandan shillings per US dollar - 1,700 (February 2001), 1,830.4 (January 2001), 1,644.5 (2000), 1,454.8 (1999), 1,240.2 (1998), 1,083.0 (1997), 1,046.1 (1996) | Argentine pesos per US dollar - 1.000 (fixed rate pegged to the US dollar) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power 29 January 1986); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government head of government: President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power 29 January 1986); Prime Minister Apollo NSIBAMBI (since 5 April 1999); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government; the prime minister assists the president in the supervision of the cabinet cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among elected legislators elections: president reelected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 12 March 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); note - first popular election for president since independence in 1962 was held in 1996; prime minister appointed by the president election results: Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI elected president; percent of vote - Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI 69.3%, Kizza BESIGYE 27.8% |
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 | $500.1 million (f.o.b., 1999) | $26.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | coffee, fish and fish products, tea; electrical products, iron and steel | edible oils, fuels and energy, cereals, feed, motor vehicles |
Exports - partners | Spain, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Hungary, Kenya (1999) | Brazil 24%, EU 21%, US 11% (1999 est.) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year |
Flag description | six equal horizontal bands of black (top), yellow, red, black, yellow, and red; a white disk is superimposed at the center and depicts a red-crested crane (the national symbol) facing the hoist side | 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 - $26.2 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $476 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
43% industry: 17% services: 40% (1998 est.) |
agriculture:
6% industry: 32% services: 62% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $12,900 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 6% (2000 est.) | 0.8% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 1 00 N, 32 00 E | 34 00 S, 64 00 W |
Geography - note | landlocked | 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) |
Heliports | 1 (2000 est.) | - |
Highways | total:
27,000 km paved: 1,800 km unpaved: 25,200 km (of which about 4200 km are all-weather roads) (1990) |
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%:
3% highest 10%: 33.4% (1992) |
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 | $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1999) | $25.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | vehicles, petroleum, medical supplies; cereals | machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures, plastics |
Imports - partners | Kenya 27.5%, US 21.2%, France 19.3, UK 5%, India 4% (1999) | EU 28%, US 22%, Brazil 21% (1999 est.) |
Independence | 9 October 1962 (from UK) | 9 July 1816 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7% (1999) | 1% (2000 est.) |
Industries | sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles, cement | food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel |
Infant mortality rate | 91.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 17.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.5% (2000) | -0.9% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, EADB, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | 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) | 2 (2000) | 33 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 90 sq km (1993 est.) | 17,000 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the president and approved by the legislature); High Court (judges are appointed by the president) | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (the nine Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president with approval by the Senate) |
Labor force | 8.361 million (1993 est.) | 15 million (1999) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 82%, industry 5%, services 13% (1999 est.) | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total:
2,698 km border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 765 km, Kenya 933 km, Rwanda 169 km, Sudan 435 km, Tanzania 396 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:
25% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 9% forests and woodland: 28% other: 29% (1993 est.) |
arable land:
9% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 52% forests and woodland: 19% other: 19% (1993 est.) |
Languages | English (official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital and may be taught in school), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic | Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French |
Legal system | in 1995, the government restored the legal system to one based on English common law and customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly (276 members - 214 directly elected by popular vote, 62 nominated by legally established special interest groups and approved by the president - women 39, army 10, disabled 5, youth 5, labor 3; members serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 27 June 1996 (next to be held May or June 2001); election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; note - election campaigning by party was not permitted |
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:
43.37 years male: 42.59 years female: 44.17 years (2001 est.) |
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: 61.8% male: 73.7% female: 50.2% (1995 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 96.2% male: 96.2% female: 96.2% (1995 est.) |
Location | Eastern Africa, west of Kenya | Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay |
Map references | Africa | South America |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | 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:
3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,091 GRT/8,229 DWT ships by type: roll on/roll off note: these ships are in cargo and passenger service on Uganda's inland waterways (2000 est.) |
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 branches | Army, Air Wing, Marine Unit | 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 | $95 million (FY98/99) | $4.3 billion (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.9% (FY98/99) | 1.3% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
5,118,755 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49:
9,404,434 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
2,778,457 (2001 est.) |
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 | Independence Day, 9 October (1962) | Revolution Day, 25 May (1810) |
Nationality | noun:
Ugandan(s) adjective: Ugandan |
noun:
Argentine(s) adjective: Argentine |
Natural hazards | NA | 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 | copper, cobalt, hydropower, limestone, salt, arable land | fertile plains of the Pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium |
Net migration rate | -0.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note: according to the UNHCR, by the end of 1999, Uganda was host to 218,000 refugees from a number of neighboring countries, including: Sudan 200,600, Rwanda 8,000, and Democratic Republic of the Congo 8,000 |
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 | only one political organization, the National Resistance Movement or NRM [President MUSEVENI, chairman] is allowed to operate unfettered; note - the president maintains that the NRM is not a political party, but a movement which claims the loyalty of all Ugandans
note: the new constitution requires the suspension of political parties while the Movement system is in governanace; of the political parties that exist but are prohibited from sponsoring candidates, the most important are the Ugandan People's Congress or UPC [Milton OBOTE]; Democratic Party or DP [Paul SSEMOGERERE]; Conservative Party or CP [Joshua S. MAYANJA-NKANGI]; Justice Forum [Muhammad Kibirige MAYANJA]; and National Democrats Forum [Chapaa KARUHANGA] |
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 | NA | 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 | 23,985,712
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
37,384,816 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 55% (1993 est.) | 37% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.93% (2001 est.) | 1.15% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Entebbe, Jinja, Port Bell | Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia, Concepcion del Uruguay, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Necochea, Rio Gallegos, Rosario, Santa Fe, Ushuaia |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 19, FM 4, shortwave 5 (1998) | AM 260 (including 10 inactive stations), FM NA (probably more than 1,000, mostly unlicensed), shortwave 6 (1998) |
Radios | 2.6 million (1997) | 24.3 million (1997) |
Railways | total:
1,241 km narrow gauge: 1,241 km 1.000-m gauge note: a program to rehabilitate the railroad is underway (1995) |
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 33%, Protestant 33%, Muslim 16%, indigenous beliefs 18% | nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
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:
seriously inadequate; two cellular systems have been introduced, but a sharp increase in the number of main lines is essential; e-mail and Internet services are available domestic: intercity traffic by wire, microwave radio relay, and radiotelephone communication stations, fixed and mobile cellular systems for short range traffic international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat; analog links to Kenya and Tanzania |
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 | 50,074; however, 80,868 main lines were installed (1998) | 7.5 million (1998) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 9,000 (1998) | 3 million (December 1999) |
Television broadcast stations | 8 (plus one low-power repeater) (1999) | 42 (plus 444 repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly plateau with rim of mountains | rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border |
Total fertility rate | 6.88 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.44 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 15% (December 2000) |
Waterways | Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, Lake George, Lake Edward, Victoria Nile, Albert Nile | 10,950 km |