Descripción Argentina

7/30/2019 Descripcin Argentina

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IntroductionArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic (Spanish: Repblica Argentina *repulika

axentina+), is a country in South America, bordered by Chile to the west and south, Bolivia

and Paraguay to the north and Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast. Argentina claims

sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) and South

Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

The country is a federation of 23 provinces and the autonomous city of Buenos Aires, its

capital and largest city. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest

among Spanish-speaking nations. Argentina is a founding member of the United Nations,

Mercosur, the Union of South American Nations, the Organization of Ibero-American States,

the World Bank Group and the World Trade Organization, and is one of the G-15 and G-20

major economies.

A recognised regional power, and middle power, Argentina is Latin America's third-largest

economy, with a "very high" rating on the Human development index. Within Latin America,Argentina has the fifth highest nominal GDP per capita and the highest in purchasing power

terms. Analysts have argued that the country has a "foundation for future growth due to its

market size, levels of foreign direct investment, and percentage of high-tech exports as share

of total manufactured goods", and it is classed by investors as middle emerging economy.

History.Pre-Columbian era.The area now known as Argentina was relatively sparsely populated until the period of

European colonization. The earliest traces of human life are dated from the Paleolithic period,

and there are further traces in the Mesolithic and Neolithic. However, large areas of the

interior and piedmont were apparently depopulated during an extensive dry period between

4000 and 2000 B.C.

The Uruguayan archaeologist Ral Camp Soler divided the indigenous peoples in Argentina

into three main groups: basic hunters and food gatherers, without development of pottery,

advanced hunters and food gatherers, and farmers with pottery. The second group could be

found in the Pampa and south of Patagonia, and the third one included the Charras and

Minuane people and the Guaranes.


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Some of the different groups included the Onas at Tierra del Fuego, the Ymana at the

archipelago between the Beagle Channel and Cape Horn, Tehuelches in the Patagonia, many

peoples at the litoral, guaycures and wichis at Chaco. The Guaranes had expanded across

large areas of South America, but settled at the northeastern provinces of Argentina. The Toba

(Komlek) nation and the Diaguita which included the Calchaqui and the Quilmes lived in the

North and the Comechingones in what is today the province of Cordoba. The Charrua (which

included the Minuane people), yaros, Bohanes and Chans (and Chan-Timb) were located in

the actual territory of Entre Ros and the Querand in Buenos Aires.

Spanish colonial eraEuropeans first arrived in the region with the 1502 voyage of Amerigo Vespucci. The Spanish

navigator Juan Daz de Sols visited the territory which is now Argentina in 1516. In 1536 Pedro

de Mendoza established a small settlement at the modern location of Buenos Aires, which was

abandoned in 1541.

A second one was established 1580 by Juan de Garay, and Crdoba in 1573 by Jernimo Luis

de Cabrera. Those regions were part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, whose capital was Lima, and

settlers arrived from that city. Unlike the other regions of South America, the colonization of

the Ro de la Plata estuary was not influenced by any gold rush, since it lacked any precious

metals to mine.

The first European explorer, Juan Daz de Sols, arrived to the Ro de la Plata in 1516. Spain

established the Viceroyalty of Peru, encompassing all its holdings in South America. Buenos

Aires was established in 1536 but was destroyed by natives. The city was established again in

1580. The colonization of modern Argentina came from 3 different directions: from Paraguay,

establishing the Governorate of the Ro de la Plata, from Peru and from Chile.

The natural ports on the Ro de la Plata estuary could not be used because all ships were

meant to be made through the port of Callao near Lima, a condition that led to contraband

becoming the normal means of commerce in cities such as Asuncin, Buenos Aires, and

Montevideo.

A battle ending with a general surrendering to another

William Carr Beresford surrenders to Santiago de Liniers during the British invasions of the Ro

de la Plata.

The Spanish raised the status of this region by establishing the Viceroyalty of the Ro de la

Plata in 1776. This viceroyalty consisted of today's Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, as well

as much of present-day Bolivia. Buenos Aires, now holding the customs of the new political

subdivision, became a flourishing port, as the revenues from the Potos, the increasing

maritime activity in terms of goods rather than precious metals, the production of cattle for

the export of leather and other products, and other political reasons, made it gradually

become one of the most important commercial centers of the region.


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The viceroyalty was, however, short-lived due to lack of internal cohesion among the many

regions of which it was constituted and lack of Spanish support. Ships from Spain became

scarce again after the Spanish defeat at the battle of Trafalgar, that gave the British maritime

supremacy. The British tried to invade Buenos Aires and Montevideo in 1806 and 1807, but

were defeated both times by Santiago de Liniers. Those victories, achieved without help from

mainland Spain, boosted the confidence of the city.

The beginning of the Peninsular War in Spain and the capture of the Spanish king Ferdinand VII

created great concern all around the viceroyalty. It was considered that, without a King, people

in America should rule themselves. This idea led to multiple attempts to remove the local

authorities at Chuquisaca, La Paz, Montevideo and Buenos Aires, all of which were short-lived.

A new successful attempt, the May Revolution, took place when it was reported that all of

Spain had been conquered, with the only exception of Cdiz and Len.

Buenos Aires became the capital of the Viceroyalty of the Ro de la Plata in 1776, with

territories from the Viceroyalty of Peru. Buenos Aires and Montevideo resisted two ill-fatedBritish invasions in 1806 and 1807. The resistance was headed both times by the French

Santiago de Liniers, who would become viceroy through popular support. The ideas of the Age

of Enlightenment and the example of the Atlantic Revolutions generated criticism to the

Absolute monarchy. The overthrow of the Spanish King Ferdinand VII during the Peninsular

War created great concern in the Americas, so many cities deposed the monarchic authorities

and appointed new ones, working under the new political ideas. This started the Spanish

American wars of independence across the continent. Buenos Aires deposed the viceroy

Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros in 1810, during the May Revolution.

Independence and civil wars.The May Revolution began the Argentine War of Independence between patriots and royalists.

The Primera Junta, the new government in Buenos Aires, sent military campaigns to Crdoba,

Upper Peru and Paraguay, and supported the rebellions at the Banda Oriental. The military

campaigns were defeated, so Buenos Aires signed an armistice with Montevideo. Paraguay

stayed Non-interventionist during the remainder of the conflict, Upper Peru defeated further

military campaigns, and the Banda Oriental would be captured by William Brown during

renewed hostilities. The national organization, either under a centralized government located

in Buenos Aires or as a federation, began the Argentine Civil Wars as well, with the conflicts of

Buenos Aires and Jos Gervasio Artigas.

The Argentine Declaration of Independence was issued by the Congress of Tucumn in 1816.

Martn Miguel de Gemes kept royalists at bay on the North, while Jos de San Martn made

the Crossing of the Andes, securing the independence of Chile. With the Chilean navy at his

disposal he then took the fight to the royalist stronghold of Lima. San Martn's military

campaigns complemented those of Simn Bolvar in Gran Colombia and led to the

independent's victory in the Spanish American wars of independence.

The 1820 Battle of Cepeda, fought between the Centralists and the Federalists, resulted in the

end of the centralized national authority. A new centralist constitution was enacted in 1826,

during the War with Brazil, and Bernardino Rivadavia was appointed the first President of


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Argentina. It was rejected by the provinces, forcing Rivadavia to resign. The new governor

Manuel Dorrego was deposed and executed by Juan Lavalle, which exacerbated the civil war.

Juan Manuel de Rosas organized the resistance against Lavalle and restored the deposed

authorities. The provinces then reorganized themselves as a loose confederation of provinces

that lacked a common head of state. They would instead delegate some important powers to

the governor of Buenos Aires Province, such as debt payment or the management of

international relations.

In 1817, Jos de San Martn crossed the Andes in a maneuver considered a major milestone in

Argentine history.

Juan Manuel de Rosas ruled from 1829 to 1832, and from 1835 to 1852. During his first term

he convened the Federal pact and defeated the Unitarian League. After 1835 he received the

"Sum of public power". He faced several a French blockade from 1838 to 1840, the War of the

Confederation in the north, an Anglo-French blockade from 1845 to 1850, and the Corrientes

province revolt. Rosas remained undefeated during this series of conflicts and preventedfurther loss of national territory. His refusal to enact a national constitution, pursuant to the

Federal pact, led to Entre Ros governor Justo Jos de Urquiza to turn against Rosas and

sanction the Constitution of Argentina of 1853. Rejecting it, Buenos Aires seceded from the

Confederation and became the State of Buenos Aires. The war between both lasted nearly a

decade, and ended with the victory of Buenos Aires at the battle of Pavn.

Buenos Aires rejoined the Confederation, and Bartolom Mitre was elected the first president

of the unified country in 1862. He began military campaigns against both the remaining

federals in Argentina, the whites from Uruguay, and Paraguay. The War of the Triple Alliance,

in alliance with Uruguay and Brazil, left over 300,000 dead and devastated Paraguay. Unable toinfluence the election of later presidents, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Nicols Avellaneda

followed him. Albeit unitarians, they were not from Buenos Aires, and had conflicts with him.

Mitre attempted twice to secede Buenos Aires from the country once more, but failed.

Avellaneda federalized Buenos Aires, after defeating a final failed attempt to secede it.

Since the colonial times, huge territories were under the control of indigenous peoples. All

governments since then attempted in some way to stay in good terms, kill them, or push them

to ever farther frontiers. The final conflict was the Conquest of the Desert, waged by Julio

Argentino Roca in the 1870s. With this military operation, Argentina seized the control of the

Patagonia.

Rise of PeronismThe bases of modern Argentina were established by the Generation of '80, a political

movement that opposed Mitre and sought to industrialize the country. A wave of European

immigration led to the strengthening of a cohesive state, the development of modern

agriculture and to a near-reinvention of Argentine society and economy. The country emerged

as one of the ten richest countries in the world, benefiting from an agricultural export-led

economy as well as British and French investment. Driven by immigration and decreasing

mortality the Argentine population grew fivefold and the economy 15-fold. However, the

National Autonomist Party (PAN) could not meet its original goals of industrialization, and the


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country stayed as a pre-industrial society. President Jurez Celman faced an economic crisis

that generated popular discontent and the Revolution of the Park in 1890, led by the Civic

Union. With the resignation of Mitre, the Civic Union became the Radical Civic Union (UCR).

Although the Coup d'tat failed, Celman resigned from the presidency, starting the decline of

the PAN. Conservative lites dominated Argentine politics until 1912, when President Roque

Senz Pea enacted universal male suffrage and the secret ballot. This allowed the UCR to win

the country's first free elections in 1916. President Hiplito Yrigoyen enacted social and

economic reforms and extended assistance to family farmers and small businesses. Argentina

stayed neutral during World War I.

The second administration of Yrigoyen faced a huge economic crisis, influenced by the

international Great Depression. The military made a coup d'tat and ousted him from power,

which began the Infamous Decade. Jos Flix Uriburu led the military rule for two years.

Agustn Pedro Justo was elected with electoral fraud, and signed the Roca-Runciman Treaty.

Roberto Mara Ortiz and Ramn Castillo stayed neutral during World War II. Britain supported

the Argentine neutrality, but after the attack on Pearl Harbor the United States requested all

of South America to join the Allied Nations. Castillo was finally deposed by the Revolution of

'43, a new military coup that wanted to end the electoral fraud of the last decade. Argentina

declared war to the Axis Powers a month before the end of World War II in Europe. The

minister of welfare of the military, Juan Pern, became highly popular among workers. He was

fired and jailed, but a massive demonstration forced his liberation. Pern ran for the

presidency in 1946, and won by 53.1%.

Juan Pern created a political movement known as Peronism. Taking advantage of the import

substitution industrialization and the European devastation left by the immediate aftermath of

World War II, he nationalized strategic industries and services, improved wages and working

conditions, paid the full external debt and achieved nearly full employment. The economy,

however, began to decline in 1950. His wife Eva Pern was highly popular and played a central

political role, mostly through the Eva Pern Foundation, where she developed an

unprecedented social assistance to the most vulnerable sectors of society in Argentina. Also

provided assistance to countries of South America and she brought food and clothing to

Europe, during the European Tour of Eva in 1947. The Female Peronist Party, as women's

suffrage was granted in 1947. However, her declining health did not allow her to run for the

vice-presidency in 1951, and she died of cancer the following year. The military began to plot

against Pern in 1955, and bombed the Plaza de Mayo in an ill-fated attempt to kill him. A fewmonths later, Pern resigned during a new military coup, which established the Revolucin

Libertadora. Pern left the country, and finally settled in Spain.

The Dirty WarPedro Eugenio Aramburu proscribed Peronism and banned all manifestations of it. Peronism,

however, did not disappear, as Peronists kept being organized in informal associations. The

1949 amendment of the Constitution was repealed, restoring the one of 1853; but the

elections for the Constituent Assembly obtained a majority of blank votes because of the

Peronist proscription. Arturo Frondizi from the UCR became popular by opposing the military

rule, and got elected in the following elections. The military, however, was reluctant to allow

Peronism to influence the new government, and allowed him to take power on condition he


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stayed aligned with them. The military frequently interfered on behalf of conservative,

agrarian interests however, and the results were mixed. His policies encouraged investment to

make the country self-sufficient in energy and industry, helping reverse a chronic trade deficit

for Argentina. His efforts to stay on good terms with both Peronists and the military, without

fully supporting either one, earned him the distrust and rejection of both. Frondizi lifted the

Peronist proscription, leading to a Peronist victory in several provinces, rejected by the

military. A new coup ousted him from power, but a swift reaction by Jos Mara Guido

(president of the Senate) applied the laws related to power vacuums and became president

instead of the military. The elections were repealed and Peronism proscribed again. Arturo Illia

was elected in 1963 but, despite prosperity, his attempts to include Peronists in the political

process resulted in the armed forces retaking power in a coup in 1966. The Argentine

Revolution, the new military government, sought to rule in Argentina indefinitely.

The new military Junta appointed Juan Carlos Ongana as president. He closed the Congress,

banned all political parties and dismantled all student unions and many worker unions. Popular

discontent led to two massive protests, the Cordobazo in Crdoba and the Rosariazo in

Rosario. Ongana was replaced by Roberto M. Levingston, and shortly after there was a huge

political commotion with the kidnapping and execution of the former de facto president

Aramburu. The crime was committed by the Montoneros, who, along with the People's

Revolutionary Army (ERP), began Guerrilla warfare against the military, the Dirty War.

Levingston was then replaced by Alejandro Agustn Lanusse, who began negotiations to return

to democracy and end the proscription of Peronism. Initially, he sought to allow Peronism but

not the return of Juan Pern himself (who was living in Spain) with an agreement stipulating

presidential candidates reside in Argentina as of 25 August. Thus, the Peronist candidate was

not Pern but Hctor Jos Cmpora, who won the elections by the 49.59%.

Arturo Umberto Illia, President of Argentina from 1963 to 1966.

The return of Peronism to power saw violent disputes between its internal factions: right-wing

union leaders and left-wing youth from montoneros. The return of Pern to the country

generated an armed conflict, the Ezeiza massacre. Overwhelmed by political violence,

Cmpora and his vice-president resigned, promoting new elections so Pern could become

president. Pern was elected, with his wife Isabel as vice-president, but before taking office

the Montoneros murdered the union leader Jos Ignacio Rucci, with close ties to Pern. Pern

expelled them from Plaza de Mayo and from the party, and they became once again a

clandestine organization. Jos Lpez Rega organized the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance

(AAA) to fight against them and the ERP. Pern died shortly after, and his wife took office. The

AAA maintained operations against the guerrillas, which increased their power. The Operativo

Independencia stopped an attempt to capture and secede territories of Tucumn. A decree

ordered the military to "annihilate the subversion". The military made another coup d'tat, in

March 1976.

The National Reorganization Process closed the Congress, removed the members of the

Supreme Court, and banned political parties, unions, student unions, etc. It also intensified

measures against ERP and Montoneros, who had kidnapped and murdered people almost

weekly since 1970. The military resorted to the forced disappearance of suspected members of


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the guerrillas, and began to prevail in the war. The losses of Montoneros by the end of 1976

were near 2000. The Junta tried to increase its popularity with the Beagle conflict and the 1978

FIFA World Cup. As of 1977, the ERP was completely defeated. Montoneros was severely

weakened, but launched a massive counterattack in 1979. It was defeated, ending the guerrilla

threat, but the military Junta stayed in government. Leopoldo Galtieri launched the Falklands

War (Spanish: Guerra de Malvinas), attempting to annex the islands, but within two months

Argentina was defeated by the United Kingdom which considered the islands to be part of its

own overseas territory. Galtieri left the government because of the military defeat, and

Reynaldo Bignone began to organize the transition to democratic rule, with the free elections

in 1983.

Contemporary eraIn the 1983 electoral campaign Alfonsn called to national unity, restoration of democratic rule

and prosecution of the responsibles of the dirty war. He established the National Commission

on the Disappearance of Persons (CONADEP) to investigate the forced disappearances. TheCONADEP generated a report detailing 340 centers of illegal detentions and 8961 forced

disappearances. The 1985 Trial of the Juntas sentenced all the heads of government of those

years. Alfonsn aimed then to the military of lower ranks, but the discontent among the

military and the risk of a new coup increased. To please them, he issued the full stop law,

which established a deadline for new trials. This did not work as intended, and the

Carapintadas mutinied, forcing the law of Due Obedience that exempted the military that

followed orders from superior ranks. This lowered the public support to the government, as

well as an economic crisis that led to an hyperinflation. The Peronist Carlos Menem won the

1989 elections, but huge riots caused by the economic crisis forced Alfonsn to resign, handing

government to Menem.

Carlos Menem led a change in Peronism, which declined its usual politics and embraced

neoliberalism instead. A fixed exchange rate established in 1991, the dismantling of

protectionist barriers, business regulations and several privatizations normalized the economy

for a time. His victories at the 1991 and 1993 elections led to the 1994 amendment of the

Argentine Constitution, which allowed him to run for a second term. He was reelected, but the

economy began to decline in 1996, with higher unemployment and recession. He lost the 1997

elections, and the UCR returned to the presidency in the 1999 elections.

President Fernando de la Ra sought to change the political style of Menem, but kept hiseconomic plan regardless of the growing recession. He appointed Domingo Cavallo, who had

already been minister of economy during the presidency of Menem. The social discontent led

to the appearance of piqueteros and huge blank votes in the 2001 legislative elections. A huge

capital flight was responded to with a freezing of bank accounts, generating further discontent.

Several riots in the country led the president to establish a state of emergency, received with

more popular protests. The huge riots in December finally forced De la Ra to resign. Cristina

Fernndez de Kirchner, incumbent President of Argentina.

Eduardo Duhalde was appointed president by the Legislative Assembly, and derogated the

fixed exchange rate established by Menem. The economic crisis began to end by the late 2002,under the management of the minister of Economy Roberto Lavagna. The death of two


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piqueteros caused a political scandal that forced Duhalde to call to elections earlier. Carlos

Menem got the majority of the votes, followed by Nstor Kirchner. Kirchner was largely

unknown by the people, but would maintain Lavagna as minister. However, Menem declined

to run for the required ballotage, which made Kirchner the new president.

Following the economic policies laid by Duhalde and Lavagna, Kirchner ended the economiccrisis, getting fiscal and trade surpluses. However, he distanced from Duhalde once getting to

power. He promoted as well the reopening of judicial actions against the crimes of the Dirty

War. During his administration, Argentina restructured its defaulted debt with a steep discount

(about 66%) on most bonds, paid off debts with the International Monetary Fund and

nationalized some previously privatized enterprises. He did not run for a reelection, promoting

instead the candidacy of his wife Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner.

The presidency of Cristina Kirchner began with a conflict with the agricultural sector, caused by

an attempt to increase the taxes over exports. The conflict was taken to the Congress, and

vice-president Julio Cobos gave an unexpected tie-breaking vote against the bill. Thegovernment waged several controversies with the press, limiting the freedom of speech.

Nstor Kirchner died in 2010, and Cristina Fernndez was reelected in 2011.

Same-sex marriage in Argentina has been legal since July 22, 2010. A bill for legalization was

approved on May 5, 2010, by the Chamber of Deputies, and on July 15, 2010, by the Senate.

President Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner signed it on July 21. On July 22, the law was published

in the Official Gazette. Argentina became the first country in Latin America and the second in

the Americas to allow same-sex marriage nationwide. It was the tenth country to allow same-

sex marriage.

PoliticsArgentina is a constitutional republic and representative democracy. The government is

regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the Constitution of Argentina, which

serves as the country's supreme legal document. The seat of government is the city of Buenos

Aires, such location is regulated by the Congress. Suffrage is universal, equal, secret and

mandatory.

The national government is composed of three branches:

Legislative: The bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies,

makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse, and has the

power of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government.

Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative bills

before they become law, and appoints the members of the Cabinet and other officers, who

administer and enforce federal laws and policies.

Judicial: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by thepresident with Senate approval, interpret laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional.


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The Chamber of Deputies has 257 voting members, each representing a province for a four-

year term. Seats are apportioned among the provinces by population every tenth year. As of

2012, ten provinces have just five deputies, while the Buenos Aires Province, the most

populous province, has 70. The Senate has 72 members with each province having threesenators, elected at-large to six-year terms; one third of Senate seats are up for election every

other year. A third of the candidates presented by the parties must be women. The president

serves a four-year term and may be elected to the office no more than twice in a row. The

president is elected by direct vote. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the

legislature. The Supreme Court has seven members appointed by the President in consultation

with the Senate. The judges of all the other courts are appointed by the Council of Magistrates

of the Nation, a secretariat composed of representatives of judges, lawyers, the Congress and

the executive.

The provincial governments must be representative republics and may not contradict thenational constitution and national laws, but beyond that, each province is allowed to have its

own constitution and organize their local government as desired. For example, some

provinces have bicameral provincial legislatures, while others have unicameral ones. Buenos

Aires is not a province but a federal district, but its local organization has similarities with the

provinces: it has a local constitution, an elected mayor and representatives to the Senate and

the Chamber of deputies. The national government reserved control of the Argentine Federal

Police (the federally administered city force), the Port of Buenos Aires, and other faculties,

however.

On 1 November 2012, the voting age was lowered from 18 to 16. Voting is compulsory forArgentineans between 18 and 70, but voluntary for 16 and 17-year-olds under the new law.

Foreign relationsArgentina is a full member of the Mercosur block together with Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Since 2002 Argentina has emphasized the role of Latin American integration and the bloc,

which has some supranational legislative functions, as its first international priority. Argentina

is a founding signatory and permanent consulting member of the Antarctic Treaty System and

the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat is based in Buenos Aires. Argentina is also a full member of the

Union of South American Nations. The former president of Argentina Nstor Kirchner was the

first Secretary General of this organization. Argentina is part of the G-20 as well.

Argentina claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas), and South

Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which are administered by the United Kingdom as

British Overseas Territories, as well as almost 1,000,000 square kilometres (390,000 sq mi) in

Antarctica, between 25W and 74W and south of 60S. The Antarctic claim overlaps claims by

Chile and the United Kingdom, though all claims to Antarctica fall under the provisions of the

Antarctic Treaty of 1961. Since 1904, a scientific post has been maintained in Antarctica by

mutual agreement.

President Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner with Former President of Brazil, Lula da Silva.


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The armed forces of Argentina comprise an army, navy and air force, and number about

70,000 active duty personnel, one third fewer than levels before the return to democracy in

1983. The President is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, with the Defense Ministry

exercising day-to-day control. There are also two other forces; the Naval Prefecture (which

patrols Argentine territorial waters) and the National Gendarmerie (which patrols the border

regions); both arms are controlled by the Interior Ministry but maintain liaison with the

Defense Ministry. The age for enlistment in the volunteer military is from 16 to 23 years old.

Mercosur economic and political agreement emphasized the role of South American

integration.

Historically, Argentina's military has been one of the best equipped in the region (for example,

developing its own jet fighters as early as the 1950s); but recently it has faced sharper

expenditure cutbacks than most other Latin American armed forces. Real military expenditures

declined steadily after 1981 and though there have been recent increases, the defense budget

is now around US$3 billion. The armed forces are currently participating in majorpeacekeeping operations in Haiti, Cyprus, Western Sahara and the Middle East.

Within the term of President Nstor Kirchner, from 2003 onwards, Argentina suspended its

policy of automatic alignment with the United States and moved closer to other Latin

American countries. Argentina no longer supports the UN Commission on Human Rights

resolution criticizing the "human rights situation in Cuba" and calling upon the Government of

Cuba to "adhere to international human rights norms", but has chosen instead to abstain. In

the 2006 United Nations Security Council election, Argentina supported, like all Mercosur

countries, the candidacy of Venezuela (a Mercosur member) over Guatemala for a non-

permanent seat in the Security Council.

The Mercosur has become a central part of the Argentine foreign policy, with the goal of

forming a Latin American trade block. Argentina has chosen to form a block with Brazil when it

comes to external negotiations, though the economic asymmetries between South America's

two largest countries have produced tension at times.

Between 4 and 5 November 2005, the city of Mar del Plata hosted the Fourth Summit of the

Americas. Although the themes were unemployment and poverty, most of the discussion was

focused on the FTAA. The summit was a failure in this regard, but marked a clear split between

the countries of the Mercosur, plus Venezuela, and the supporters of the FTAA, led by the

United States, Mexico and Canada. FTAA negotiations have effectively stalled until at least the

conclusion of the 2006 Doha round global trade talks.

In 2005, Argentina assumed again (see history here) the two-year non-permanent position on

the UN Security Council.

As of 2007, during Kirchner's almost four years in power, Argentina entered into 294 bilateral

agreements, including 39 with Venezuela, 37 with Chile, 30 with Bolivia, 21 with Brazil, 12 with

the People's Republic of China, 10 with Germany, 9 with the United States and Italy, and 7 withCuba, Paraguay, Spain and Russia.


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MilitaryThe Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, in Spanish Fuerzas Armadas de la Repblica

Argentina, are controlled by the Commander-in-Chief (the President) and a civilian Minister of

Defense. In addition to the army, navy and air force, there are two forces controlled by the

Interior Ministry: the Argentine National Gendarmerie, a gendarmerie used to guard bordersand places of strategic importance; and the Naval Prefecture, a coast guard used to protect

internal major rivers and maritime territory.

Traditionally, Argentina maintains close defense cooperation and military-supply relationships

with the United States, and to a lesser extent, with Israel, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy.

The Argentine military, as has been the tendency in other Latin American countries, were

considerably more influential in former times. Starting in 1930 and throughout the 20th

century, democratic governments were more often than not interrupted by military coups (see

History of Argentina). The terrible consequences of the last dictatorship destroyed the military

image as the moral reserve of the nation and opened the way to transform them to intotoday's armed forces.

Granaderos, the cavalry unit that, among other feats, followed San Martn across the Andes in

1817 to liberate Chile and Peru. The modern Argentine Military Forces are fully committed to

international peacekeeping under United Nations mandates, humanitarian aid on emergencies

relief and support the country's continuous presence at Antarctica.

Democratic governments since 1983 straightened the military budget and did not approve any

large scale equipment purchases. Argentina military spending is one of the lowest of South

America and as of 2010, its 0.9% of GDP only exceeds Suriname.

Since 2000s, the Argentine defense industry was relaunched after the politics of privatization

carried out during the 1990s by Carlos Menem administration virtually eliminated all.

While Mercosur is only an economic entity so far, the strengthening of confidence among the

member countries has been beneficial to the peace in the region, exercising a useful role in

supporting democracy. The Mercosur served, for example, to discourage the Paraguayan

military from an attempted coup in early 2000.

On 2007 an agreement for cooperation in peace operations was signed with France.

Argentina created with Chile a combined force for future United Nations mandates. Named

Cruz del Sur (English: Crux), the new force began assembly in 2008 with headquarters

alternately on each country every year.

On 2009, UNASUR, the South America countries union, created the CDS ( Spanish: Consejo de

Defensa Sudamericano (South American Defence council) in order to promote cooperation and

transparency between their armed forces.

On 2011 they perform with Chile the PARACACH (Patrulla de Rescate Antrtica Combinada

Argentina-Chile, Argentine Chilean Antarctic Combined Search And Rescue Patrol) with support

of the German Space Agency which provided satellite imagery.


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Political divisionsArgentina is composed of twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The

administrative divisions of the Provinces are the departments, and the municipalities, except

for Buenos Aires Province, which is divided into partidos. The City of Buenos Aires is divided

into communes. The provinces are organized as a federation, each one with a localconstitution. They hold all the power that is not specifically delegated to the national

government.

During the Argentine War of Independence the main cities and their surrounding countrysides

became provinces, though the intervention of their cabildos. The anarchy of the year XX

completed this process, shaping the original thirteen provinces. Jujuy seceded from Salta in

1834, and the thirteen provinces became fourteen. After seceding for a decade, Buenos Aires

accepted the Constitution of Argentina of 1853 in 1860. Buenos Aires was made a federal

territory in 1880.

A 1862 law determined that the territories under control of Argentina but outside the frontiers

of the provinces would be called national territories. This allowed in 1884 to establish the

governorates of Misiones, Formosa, Chaco, La Pampa, Neuqun, Ro Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz

and Tierra del Fuego. The agreement about a frontier dispute with Chile in 1900 created the

national territory of Los Andes, whose territories were incorporated into Jujuy, Salta and

Catamarca in 1943. La Pampa and Chaco became provinces in 1951. Misiones did so in 1953,

and Formosa, Neuqun, Ro Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz in 1955. The last national territory,

Tierra del Fuego, became a province in 1990.

GeographyArgentina is situated in southern South America, with the Andes on the west and the South

Atlantic Ocean to the east and south. Argentina has a total surface area (excluding the

Antarctic claim and areas controlled by the United Kingdom) of 2,780,400 km2 (1,073,500 sq

mi); of this, 43,710 km2 (16,880 sq mi), or 1.57%, is water. Argentina has six main regions. The

Pampas are fertile lowlands located in the center and east. The Mesopotamia is a lowland

enclosed by the Paran and Uruguay rivers, and the Gran Chaco is between the mesopotamia

and the Andes. Cuyo is at the east side of the Andes, and the Argentine Northwest is at the

North of it. The Patagonia is a large plateau to the south.

The highest point above sea level is in the Mendoza province at Cerro Aconcagua (6,959 m

(22,831 ft)), also the highest point in the Southern and Western Hemisphere. The lowest point

is Laguna del Carbn in Santa Cruz province, 105 m (344 ft) below sea level. This is also the

lowest point in South America. The easternmost continental point is northeast of Bernardo de

Irigoyen, Misiones, the westernmost in the Perito Moreno National Park in Santa Cruz

province. The northernmost point is at the confluence of the Grande de San Juan and Mojinete

rivers in Jujuy province, and the southernmost is Cape San Po in Tierra del Fuego.

The major rivers are the Paran (the largest), the Pilcomayo, Paraguay, Bermejo, Colorado, Ro

Negro, Salado and the Uruguay. The Paran and the Uruguay join to form the Ro de la Plata

estuary, before reaching the Atlantic. Regionally important rivers are the Atuel and Mendoza


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in the homonymous province, the Chubut in Patagonia, the Ro Grande in Jujuy and the San

Francisco River in Salta.

The 4,725 km (2,936 mi) long Atlantic coast varies between areas of sand dunes and cliffs. The

continental platform, the Patagonian Shelf, is unusually wide; this shallow area of the Atlantic

is called the Argentine Sea. The two major ocean currents affecting the coast are the warmBrazil Current and the cold Falkland Current. Because of the unevenness of the coastal

landmass, the two currents alternate in their influence on climate and do not allow

temperatures to fall evenly with higher latitude. The southern coast of Tierra del Fuego forms

the north shore of the Beagle Channel.

ClimateThe generally temperate climate ranges from subtropical in the north to subpolar in the far

south. The north is characterized by very hot, humid summers with mild drier winters, and is

subject to periodic drought. Central Argentina has a temperate climate, with hot summers

with thunderstorms, and cool winters; and higher moisture at the east. The southern regions

have warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall, especially in mountainous zones.

Major wind currents include the cool Pampero Winds blowing on the flat plains of Patagonia

and the Pampas; following the cold front, warm currents blow from the north in middle and

late winter, creating mild conditions. The Zonda, a hot dry wind, affects west-central

Argentina. Squeezed of all moisture during the 6,000 m (19,685 ft) descent from the Andes,

Zonda winds can blow for hours with gusts up to 120 km/h (75 mph), fueling wildfires and

causing damage; when the Zonda blows (JuneNovember), snowstorms and blizzard (viento

blanco) conditions usually affect higher elevations. The Sudestada usually moderates cold

temperatures but brings very heavy rains, rough seas and coastal flooding. It is most common

in late autumn and winter along the central coast and in the Ro de la Plata estuary.

TourismAs of 2011, Argentina is the most visited country in South America and the fourth most visited

in the Americas. According to official figures from the World Tourism Organization, in 2010 the

country received more than 5,300,000 foreign tourists, which meant about 4,930 million

dollars of income from divisas. The World Economic Forum estimated that, in 2006 tourismgenerated around US$25 billion in economic turnover, and employed 1.8 million. Domestic

tourism amounted to over 80% of this and tourism from abroad contributed US$ 4.3 billion,

becoming the third largest source of foreign exchange in 2004. Around 4.6 million foreign

visitors arrived in 2007, yielding a positive balance vis--vis the number of Argentines traveling

abroad. Buenos Aires is in the midst of a tourism boom, according to the World Travel &

Tourism Council, it reveals strong growth for Argentina Travel and Tourism in 2007 and in

coming years, and the prestigious travel and tourism publication; Travel + Leisure Magazine, a

monthly publication leader in the world-wide market of travel magazines, travelers voted

Buenos Aires the second most desirable city to visit after Florence, Italy. Buenos Aires,

regarded as the "Paris of South America," offers elegant architecture, exquisite cuisine, alegendary nightlife, and fashionable shopping. The most popular tourist sites are found in the


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historic city core, comprising Montserrat and San Telmo. The city was originally constructed

around the Plaza de Mayo, the administrative center of the Spanish Colony. To the east of the

square is the Casa Rosada, the official seat of the executive branch of the government of

Argentina. To the north, the Catedral Metropolitana which has stood in the same location

since colonial times, and the Banco de la Nacin Argentina building, a parcel of land originally

owned by Juan de Garay. Other important colonial institutions were Cabildo, to the west,

which was renovated during the construction of Avenida de Mayo and Julio A. Roca. To the

south is the Congreso de la Nacin (National Congress), which currently houses the Academia

Nacional de la Historia (National Academy of History). Lastly, to the northwest, is City Hall.

Avenida de Mayo links the Casa Rosada with the Argentine National Congress. On this avenue

there are several buildings of cultural, architectural and historical importance, such as Casa de

la Cultura, the Palacio Barolo and Caf Tortoni. Underneath the avenue, the first subte (metro)

line Lnea A (SBA).svg in South America, was opened in 1913. The avenue ends at Plaza del

Congreso, which features a number of monuments and sculptures, including one of Auguste

Rodin's few surviving original casts of "The Thinker."

Cerro Catedral, Bariloche, the largest ski center in Latin America.

The Manzana de las Luces ("Illuminated Block") area features the San Ignacio church, the

Colegio Nacional Buenos Aires, and the old city council building (1894 to 1931). This area

features tunnels and catacombs, which crossed underneath the Plaza de Mayo during colonial

times. In the neighbourhood of San Telmo, Plaza Dorrego hosts an antiques fair on Sundays,

complete with tango shows. They also have tango shows daily at the famous plaza. On

weekends they involve many tourists to learn how to dance. Frequent tours and activities are

also available at the Church of Nuestra Seora de Bethlehem, the San Pedro Telmo Parish andthe Antonio Ballv Penintetiary Museum. The National Historical Museum in Parque Lezama is

a few blocks south. The Ayres Porteos Hostel is a very famous hostel as it is also a tourist

attraction, it is decorated and painted by artists from La Boca and possesses a unique

collection of local paintings among its walls.

The borough of Recoleta is home to a number of places of interest, including the Museo

Nacional de Bellas Artes, the Biblioteca Nacional, the Centro Cultural Recoleta, the Faculty of

Law of the Universidad de Buenos Aires, the Baslica Nuestra Seora de Pilar, the Palais de

Glace, the Caf La Biela and the Cementerio de la Recoleta, where Eva Pern's crypt can be

visited, among those of many other Argentine historical and cultural figures.

BiodiversitySubtropical plants dominate the Gran Chaco in the north, with the Dalbergia genus of trees

well represented by Brazilian Rosewood and the quebracho tree; also predominant are white

and black algarrobo trees (prosopis alba and prosopis nigra). Savannah-like areas exist in the

drier regions nearer the Andes. In central Argentina the humid pampas are a true tallgrass

prairie ecosystem. The original pampa had virtually no trees; the only tree-like plant native to

the pampa is the evergreen Omb. The pampa is one of the most agriculturally productive on

Earth; however, this is also responsible for decimating much of the original ecosystem, to

make way for commercial agriculture. The western pampas receive less rainfall, this dry pampa


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is a plain of short grasses or steppe. The national government maintains 4 natural monuments

and 33 national parks.

Most of Patagonia lies within the rain shadow of the Andes, so the flora, shrubby bushes and

plants, is suited to dry conditions. The soil is hard and rocky, making large-scale farming

impossible except along river valleys. Coniferous forests in far western Patagonia and on theisland of Tierra del Fuego, include alerce, ciprs de la cordillera, ciprs de las guaitecas,

huililahun, lleuque, mao hembra and pehun, while broadleaf trees include several species

of Nothofagus such as coihue, lenga and ire. Other introduced trees present in forestry

plantations include spruce, cypress and pine. Common plants are the copihue and colihue.

In Cuyo, semiarid thorny bushes and other xerophile plants abound. Along the many rivers

grasses and trees grow in significant numbers. The area presents optimal conditions for the

large scale growth of grape vines. In northwest Argentina there are many species of cactus.

A Puma from the Northwest.

Prominent animals from the subtropical north include big cats like the jaguar, puma, and

ocelot; primates (howler monkey); large reptiles (crocodiles), the Argentine Black and White

Tegu and a species of caiman. Other animals include the tapir, peccary, capybara, bush dog,

and various species of turtle and tortoise. There are a wide variety of birds, notably

hummingbirds, flamingos, toucans, and swallows.

The central grasslands are populated by the giant anteater, armadillo, pampas cat, maned

wolf, mara, cavias, and the rhea (and), a large flightless bird. Hawks, falcons, herons, and

tinamous (perdiz, Argentine "false partridges") inhabit the region. There are also pampas deer

and pampas foxes. Some of these species extend into Patagonia.

The western mountains are home to different animals. These include the llama, guanaco,

vicua, among the most recognizable species of South America. Also in this region are the fox,

viscacha, Andean Mountain Cat, kodkod, and the largest flying bird in the New World, the

Andean Condor.

Southern Argentina is home to the cougar, huemul, pud (the world's smallest deer), and

introduced, non-native wild boar. The coast of Patagonia is rich in animal life: elephant seals,

fur seals, sea lions and species of penguin. The far south is populated by cormorants.

The territorial waters of Argentina have mammals such as dolphins, orcas, and whales like the

southern right whale, a major tourist draw for naturalists. Sea fish include sardines, Argentine

hakes, dolphinfish, salmon, and sharks; also present are squid and King crab (centolla) in Tierra

del Fuego. Rivers and streams in Argentina have many species of trout and the South American

golden dorado fish. Well known snake species inhabiting Argentina include boa constrictors

and a very venomous pit viper named the yarar. The Hornero was elected the National Bird

after a survey in 1928.


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Economy and infrastructureThe economy of Argentina is Latin America's third-largest, with a high quality of life and GDP

per capita. An upper middle-income economy.

The country benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector and a diversified industrial base. Historically, however, Argentina's

economic performance has been very uneven, in which high economic growth alternated with

severe recessions, particularly during the late twentieth century, and income maldistribution

and poverty increased. Early in the twentieth century it was one of the richest countries in the

world and the richest in the Southern hemisphere, though it is now an upper-middle income

country.

Argentina is considered an emerging market by the FTSE Global Equity Index, and is one of the

G-20 major economies.

High inflation has been a weakness of the Argentine economy for decades. Officially hovering

around 9% since 2006, inflation has been privately estimated at over 30%,becoming a

contentious issue again. The government has manipulated inflation statistics. The urban

income poverty rate has dropped below the numbers of the 2001 economic crisis Income

distribution, having improved since 2002, is still considerably unequal. Argentina began a

period of fiscal austerity in 2012.

Argentina ranks 100th out of 178 countries in the Transparency International's Corruption

Perceptions Index for 2011. Reported problems include government corruption, lack of judicial

independence, huge taxes and tariffs, and regulatory interference that undermines efficiencyand productivity growth. The Kirchner administration responded to the Global financial crisis

of 20082009 with a record public-works program, new tax cuts and subsidies, and the

transfer of private pensions to the social security system. Private pension plans, which

required growing subsidies to cover, were nationalized to shed a budgetary drain as well as to

finance high government spending and debt obligations.

Argentina has, after its neighbour Chile, the second-highest Human Development Index, and

the highest GDP per capita in purchasing power terms in Latin America.[citation needed]

Argentina is one of the G-20 major economies, with the world's 27th largest nominal GDP, and

the 19th largest by purchasing power. The country is classified as upper-middle income or asecondary emerging market by the World Bank.

Industry

Manufacturing is the largest single sector in the nation's economy (19% of GDP), and is well-

integrated into Argentine agriculture, with half the nation's industrial exports being

agricultural in nature. Based on food processing and textiles during its early development in

the first half of the 20th century, industrial production has become highly diversified in

Argentina. Leading sectors by production value are: Food processingand beverages; motor

vehicles and auto parts; refinery products,

andbiodiesel; chemicals and pharmaceuticals; steel and aluminum; industrial and farmmachinery; electronics and home appliances. These latter include over three million big ticket
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_processinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beveragehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_parthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_refinerieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodieselhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemicalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmaceuticalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm_machineryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm_machineryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_appliancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_appliancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm_machineryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm_machineryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmaceuticalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemicalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodieselhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_refinerieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_parthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beveragehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_processinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing


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items, as well as an array of electronics, kitchen appliances and cellular phones, among

others. The country's auto industry produced 829,000 motor vehicles in 2011, and exported

507,000 (mainly to Brazil, which in turn exported a somewhat larger number to

Argentina). Beverages are another significant sector, and Argentina has long been among the

top five wine producing countries in the world; beer overtook wine production in 2000, and

today leads by nearly two billion liters a year to one.

Other manufactured goods

include: glass and cement; plastics and tires; lumber products; textiles; tobacco

products;recording and print media; furniture; apparel and leather. Most manufacturing is

organized around 280 industrial parks, with another 190 slated to open during 2012. Nearly

half the industries are based in the Greater Buenos Airesarea, although Crdoba, Rosario,

and Ushuaia are also significant industrial centers; the latter city became the nation's leading

center ofelectronics production during the 1980s. The production ofcomputers, laptops,

and servers grew by 160% in 2011, to nearly 3.4 million units, and covered two-thirds of local

demand. Another important rubric historically dominated by imports farm machinery will

likewise mainly be manufactured domestically by 2014.

Construction permits nationwide covered nearly 19 million m (205 million ft) in 2008. The

construction sector accounts for over 5% of GDP, and two-thirds of the construction was for

residential buildings.

Argentine electric output totaled over 122 billion Kwh in 2009. This was generated in large part

through well developed natural gas and hydroelectric resources. Nuclear energy is also of high

importance, and the country is one of the largest producers and exporters, alongside Canada

and Russia ofcobalt-60, a radioactive isotope widely used in cancer therapy.

Science and technology

Argentina has three Nobel Prize laureates in sciences. Argentine research has led to the

treatment ofheart diseases and several forms of cancer. Domingo Liotta designed and

developed the first artificial heart successfully implanted in a human being in 1969. Ren

Favaloro developed the techniques and performed the world's first ever coronarybypass

surgery.

Bernardo Houssay, the first Latin American awarded with a Nobel Prize in the Sciences,

discovered the role ofpituitary hormones in regulating glucose in animals; Csar Milsteindid

extensive research in antibodies; Luis Leloir discovered how organisms store energy converting

glucose into glycogen and the compounds which are fundamental

in metabolizing carbohydrates. A team led by Alberto Taquini and Eduardo Braun-Menndez discovered angiotensin in 1939, and was the first to describe the enzymatic nature

of the renin-angiotensin system and its role in hypertension. The Leloir

Institute ofbiotechnology is among the most prestigious in its field in Latin America.

Dr. Luis Agote devised the first safe method ofblood transfusion, Enrique Finochietto designed

operating table tools such as the surgical scissors that bear his name ("Finochietto scissors")

and a surgical rib-spreader.

Argentina's nuclear program is highly advanced, having resulted in a research reactor in 1957

and Latin America's first on-line commercial reactor in 1974. Argentina developed its nuclear

program without being overly dependent on foreign technology. Nuclear facilities with

Argentine technology have been built in Peru, Algeria, Australia andEgypt. In 1983, the country

admitted having the capability of producing weapon-gradeuranium, a major step needed to
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assemblenuclear weapons; since then, however, Argentina has pledged to use nuclear power

only for peaceful purposes. As a member of the Board of Governors of the International

Atomic Energy Agency, Argentina has been a strong voice in support of nuclear non-

proliferation efforts and is highly committed to global nuclear security.[146]

In other areas, Juan Vucetich, a Croatian immigrant, was the father of

modernfingerprinting (dactiloscopy). Juan Maldacena, an Argentine-American scientist, is a

leading figure in string theory. Argentine built satellites include LUSAT-1 (1990), Vctor-1

(1996), PEHUENSAT-1 (2007), and those developed byCONAE, the Argentine space agency, of

the SAC series. The Pierre Auger Observatory near Malarge, Mendoza, is the world's

foremost cosmic ray observatory.

Despite its modest budget and numerous setbacks, academics and the sciences in Argentina

have enjoyed an international respect since the turn of the 1900s, when Dr. Luis Agote devised

the first safe and effective means ofblood transfusion as well as Ren Favaloro, who was a

pioneer in the improvement of the coronary artery bypass surgery. Argentina has three Nobel

Prize winners in the sciences: Bernardo Houssay in Physiology or Medicine in 1947,LuisFederico Leloir in Chemistry in 1970, and Csar Milstein in Physiology or Medicine in 1984.

Argentine scientists are still on the cutting edge in fields such

as nanotechnology, physics, computer sciences, molecular biology, oncology, ecology,

and cardiology, where Dr. Domingo Liotta created the first artificial heart in 1969,

revolutionizing the heart transplant field.

They have also contributed to bioscience in efforts like the Human Genome Project, where

Argentine scientists have successfully mapped the genome of a living being, a world

first. Argentina has its own satellite programme, nuclear power station designs (4th

generation) and public nuclear energy company INVAP, which provides several countries with

nuclear reactors.Other projects are focusing on IT, nanotechnology, biotechnology, helicopters, farming

machinery and military defensive systems. Space research has also become increasingly active

in Argentina. Established in 1991, theCONAE has since launched two satellites successfully

and, in June 2009, secured an agreement with theEuropean Space Agency on for the

installation of a 35-m diameter antenna and other mission support facilities at thePierre Auger

Observatory. The facility will contribute to numerous ESA space probes, as well as CONAE's

own, domestic research projects. Chosen from 20 potential sites and one of only three such

ESA installations in the world, the new antenna will create a triangulation which will allow the

ESA to ensure mission coverage around the clock.

Four out of five Argentine adults have completed grade school, over a third have completedtheir secondary education and one in nine Argentine adults have college degrees. Likewise,

Argentina has the highest rate of university students in Latin America, besides having more

within the southern hemisphere with professors and institutions awarded prestigious prizes

and fellowships from philanthropic institutions like the John S. Guggenheim

Foundation awards or the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, to name a few. Official sources

recently reported roughly 1,500,000 college students within the Argentine University

System; this represents the highest rate relative to its total population of academic

students in Latin America and exceeds the ratio in many developed countries.
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Education

The education in Argentina known as the Latin American docta has had a convoluted

history. There was no effective education plan until President Domingo Sarmiento(18681874)

placed emphasis on bringing Argentina up-to-date with practices in developed countries.

Sarmiento encouraged the immigration and settling of European educators and built schoolsand public libraries throughout the country, in a programme that finally doubled the

enrollment of students during his term; in Argentina, Teacher's Day (on September 11)

commemorates his death. The first national laws mandating universal, compulsory, free and

secular education (Law 1420 of Common Education) were sanctioned in 1884 during the

administration of President Julio Roca. The non-religious character of this system, which

forbade parochial schools from issuing official degrees directly but only through a public

university, harmed the relations between the Argentine State and the Catholic Church, leading

to resistance from the local clergy and a heated conflict with the Holy See (through the

Papal Nuncio).

Following the university reform of 1918, Argentine education, especially at university level,became more independent of the government, as well as the influential Catholic Church. The

church began to re-emerge in country's secular education system during the

administration Juan Pern, when in 1947, catechism was reintroduced in public schools, and

parochial institutions began again receiving subsidies. A sudden reversal in the policy in 1954

helped lead to Pern's violent overthrow, after which his earlier, pro-clerical policies were

reinstated by General Pedro Aramburu. Aramburu's Law 6403 of 1955, which advanced private

education generally, and parochial, or more often, Catholic-run schools (those staffed with lay

techers), in particular, helped lead to the establishment of the Argentine Catholic University.

The program of deregulation and privatization pursued by President Carlos Menem in reaction

to the country's socio-economic crisis of 1989 led to the decentralization of the Argentinesecondary school system, whereby, from 1992 onwards, the schools' administration and

funding became a provincial responsibility. The policy's weakness, however, lay in that

federal revenue sharing did not increase accordingly, particularly given the decision to shift

two primary school years to the secondary system.

Real government spending on education increased steadily from the return of democratic rule

in 1983 (with the exception of the crises in 1989 and 2002) and, in 2007, totaled over US$14

billion. Argentina built a national public education system in comparison to other nations,

placing the country high in the global rankings ofliteracy. Today Argentina has a literacy rate of

97,4%, and 16.2% over age 15 have completed secondary school studies or higher.

School attendance is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 17. The Argentine school system

consists of an elementary or lower school level lasting six or seven years, and a secondary or

high school level lasting between five to six years. In the 1990s, the system was split into

different types of high school instruction, called Educacion Secundaria and the Polimodal.

Some provinces adopted the Polimodal while others did not. A project in the executive branch

to repeal this measure and return to a more traditional secondary level system was approved

in 2006.

There are forty-seven national public universities across the country, as well as forty-six private

ones. TheUniversity of Buenos Aires, Universidad Nacional de Crdoba, Universidad Nacional

de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, and the National Technological University are
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among the most important. Public universities faced cutbacks in spending during the 1980s

and 1990s, which led to a decline in overall quality.

Transport

Transport in Argentina is mainly based on a complex network of routes, crossed by relatively

inexpensive long-distance buses and by cargo trucks. The country also has a number ofnational and international airports. The importance of the long-distance train is minor today,

though in the past it was widely used. Fluvial transport is mostly used for cargo. Within the

urban areas, the main transportation system is uy the bus or colectivo; bus lines transport

millions of people every day in the larger cities and their metropolitan areas. Buenos Aires

additionally has an underground, the only one in the country, and Greater Buenos Aires is

serviced by a system ofsuburban trains.

A majority of people employ public transport rather than personal cars to move around in the

cities, especially in common business hours, since parking can be both difficult and expensive.

Cycling is not very common in big cities, as there are few bicycle-paths, making it difficult to

move with them other than in recreational areas.

Since Argentina is almost 4,000 kilometres long and more than 1,000 km wide, long distance

transportation is of great importance. Several toll expressways spread out from Buenos Aires,

serving nearly half the nation's population. The majority of Argentine roads, however, are two-

lane national and provincial routes and, though they are spread throughout the country, less

than a third of Argentina's 230,000 km (145,000 mi) of roads are currently paved.

Though, by 1929, Argentina was already home to over 400,000 vehicles (more than half the

total in Latin America, at the time), virtually all long-distance travel was done on the nation's

vast railways. Argentina, then, lacked a road-building program until 1932, when the National

Highway Directorate was established. Paid for at first with an excise tax on gasoline, thebureau could claim some important accomplishments, like the 1951 opening of the

200 km Santa Fe-Rosario expressway, Latin America's first.

Argentina is home to around 9.2 million registered cars, trucks and buses; on a per capita

basis, it has long had Latin America's widest accessibility to motor vehicles. Left-lane drivers

until 1945, Argentine motorists have since been driving on the right-hand side. The Vehicle

registration plates of Argentina are based on a three letters-three numbers per car (with the

exception of some trucks) system.

Expressways have been recently doubled in length (to nearly) and now link most (though not

all) important cities. The most important of these is probably the Panamerican National Route

9 Buenos AiresRosarioCrdoba freeway. The longest continuous highways are NationalRoute 40, a 5000-km stretch along the Andes range and the 3000-km sea-side trunk

road National Route 3, running from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia.

Argentine long distance buses are fast, affordable and comfortable; they have become the

primary means of long-distance travel since railway privatizations in the early 1990s greatly

downsized Argentina's formerly ubiquitous passenger rail service. Competing providers differ

little on their time-honoured formula, offering three different services regarding the number

of stops and type of seats: the Regular, Semi-cama (semi-bed), and Cama (bed),

with Cama being similar to an airline's business class. Some services have also on-board dining,

while others stop at restaurants by the road. Long and middle-distance buses cover almost all

paved-accessible cities, towns and villages.
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Health care

Health care is provided through a combination of employer and labor union-sponsored plans

(Obras Sociales), government insurance plans, public hospitals and clinics and through private

health insurance plans. Health care cooperatives number over 300 (of which 200 are related

to labor unions) and provide health care for half the population; the national INSSJP (popularlyknown as PAMI) covers nearly all of the five million senior citizens.

There are more than 153,000 hospital beds, 121,000 physicians and 37,000 dentists (ratios

comparable to developed nations). The relatively high access to medical care has historically

resulted in mortality patterns and trends similar to developed nations': from 1953 to 2005,

deaths from cardiovascular disease increased from 20% to 23% of the total, those

from tumors from 14% to 20%,respiratory problems from 7% to 14%, digestive maladies (non-

infectious) from 7% to 11%, strokes a steady 7%, injuries, 6%, andinfectious diseases, 4%.

Causes related to senility led to many of the rest. Infant deaths have fallen from 19% of all

deaths in 1953 to 3% in 2005.

The availability of health care has also reduced infant mortality from 70 per 1000 live births in1948to 12.1 in 2009 and raisedlife expectancy at birth from 60 years to 76. Though these

figures compare favorably with global averages, they fall short of levels in developed nations

and in 2006, Argentina ranked fourth in Latin America.

Demographics

In the 2001 census [INDEC], Argentina had a population of 36,260,130, and preliminary

results from the 2010 census were of 40,091,359 inhabitants. Argentina ranks third in

South America in total population and 33rd globally. Population density is of 15 persons

per square kilometer of land area, well below the world average of 50 persons. Thepopulation growth rate in 2010 was an estimated 1.03% annually, with a birth rate of 17.7

live births per 1,000 inhabitants and a mortality rate of 7.4 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants.

The net migration rate has ranged from zero to four immigrants per 1,000 inhabitants.

The proportion of people under 15 is 25.6%, somewhat below the world average of 28%,

and the proportion of people 65 and older is relatively high at 10.8%. In Latin America this

is second only to Uruguay and well above the world average, which is currently 7%.

Argentina has one of Latin America's lowestpopulation growth rates, recently about 1% a

year, as well as a comparatively low infant mortality rate. Its birth rate of 2.3 children per

woman is still nearly twice as high as that in Spain or Italy, compared here as they have

similar religious practices and proportions. The median age is approximately 30 years

and life expectancy at birth is 77.14 years.

Ethnography

Argentina is considered a country of immigrants. Most Argentines are descended colonial-era

settlers, and 19th and 20th century immigrants from Europe. During the 18th and 19th

centuries especially, Argentina was second only to the US in the numbers of European

immigrants received and, at those times, the national population doubled every two decades.

The majority of these European immigrants came from Italy and Spain, and 86.4% of

Argentina's population self-identify as being ofEuropean descent. An estimated 8% of the

population is Mestizo and 4% of Argentines

Descripción Argentina

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