The 1991 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

#_Ports: Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (USSR), Prudhoe Bay (US)

      _#_Telecommunications: no submarine cables

      _#Note: sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Asia) are important waterways % @Argentina *Geography #_Total area: 2,766,890 km2; land area: 2,736,690 km2

      _#_Comparative area: slightly more than four times the size of Texas

      _#_Land boundaries: 9,665 km total; Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km

      _#_Coastline: 4,989 km

      _#_Maritime claims:

      Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation;

      Territorial sea: 200 nm (overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm)

      _#_Disputes: short section of the boundary with Uruguay is in dispute; short section of the boundary with Chile is indefinite; claims British-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); claims British-administered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica

      _#_Climate: mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest

      _#_Terrain: rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border

      _#_Natural resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, crude oil, uranium

      _#_Land use: arable land 9%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and pastures 52%; forest and woodland 22%; other 13%; includes irrigated 1%

      _#_Environment: Tucuman and Mendoza areas in Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike Pampas and northeast; irrigated soil degradation; desertification; air and water pollution in Buenos Aires

      _#_Note: second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)

      _*People #_Population: 32,663,983 (July 1991), growth rate 1.1% (1991)

      _#_Birth rate: 20 births/1,000 population (1991)

      _#_Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

      _#_Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)

      _#_Infant mortality rate: 31 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

      _#_Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 74 years female (1991)

      _#_Total fertility rate: 2.7 children born/woman (1991)

      _#_Nationality: noun—Argentine(s); adjective—Argentine

      _#_Ethnic divisions: white 85%; mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups 15%

      _#_Religion: nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 6%

      _#_Language: Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French

      _#_Literacy: 95% (male 96%, female 95%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

      _#_Labor force: 10,900,000; agriculture 12%, industry 31%, services 57% (1985 est.)

      _#_Organized labor: 3,000,000; 28% of labor force

      _*Government #_Long-form name: Argentine Republic

      _#_Type: republic

      _#_Capital: Buenos Aires (tentative plans to move to Viedma by 1990 indefinitely postponed)

      _#_Administrative divisions: 22 provinces (provincias, singular—provincia), 1 national territory* (territorio nacional), and 1 district** (distrito); Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes, Distrito Federal**, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego, Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur*, Tucuman; note—the national territory is in the process of becoming a province; the US does not recognize claims to Antarctica

      _#_Independence: 9 July 1816 (from Spain)

      _#_Constitution: 1 May 1853

      _#_Legal system: mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

      _#_National holiday: Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)

      _#_Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet

      _#_Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados)

      _#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)

      _#_Leaders:

      Chief of State and Head of Government—President Carlos Saul MENEM (since 8 July 1989); Vice President Eduardo DUHALDE (since 8 July 1989)

      _#_Political parties and leaders:

       Justicialist Party (JP), Carlos Saul MENEM, Peronist umbrella political

       organization;

       Radical Civic Union (UCR), Raul ALFONSIN, moderately left of center;

       Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), Alvaro ALSOGARAY, conservative

       party;

       Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar ALENDE, leftist party;

       several provincial parties

      _#_Suffrage: universal at age 18

      _#_Elections:

      President—last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held May 1995); results—Carlos Saul MENEM was elected;

      Chamber of Deputies—last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held October 1991); results—JP 47%, UCR 30%, UCD 7%, other 16%; seats—(254 total); JP 122, UCR 93, UCD 11, other 28

      _#_Communists: some 70,000 members in various party organizations, including a small nucleus of activists

      _#_Other political or pressure groups: Peronist-dominated labor movement, General Confederation of Labor (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization), Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association), Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association), business organizations, students, the Roman Catholic Church, the Armed Forces

      _#_Member of: AfDB, AG (observer), CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-6, G-11,

       G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD,

       IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU,

       LAES, LAIA, LORCS, NAM, OAS, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD,

       UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

      _#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Ortiz de ROZAS; Chancery at 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone [phone] through 6403; there are Argentine Consulates General in Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Consulates in Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles;

      US—Ambassador Terence A. TODMAN; Embassy at 4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires (mailing address is APO Miami 34034); telephone [54] (1) 774–7611 or 8811, 9911

      _#_Flag: 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

      _*Economy #_Overview: Argentina is rich in natural resources and has a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Nevertheless, following decades of mismanagement and statist policies, the economy has encountered major problems in recent years, leading to escalating inflation and a recession in 1988–90. A widening public-sector deficit and a multidigit inflation rate have dominated the economy over the past three years; retail prices rose nearly