The 1994 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin

       interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen

       Cordillera, and Lomonsov Ridge); maximum depth is 4,665 meters in the

       Fram Basin

       Natural resources:

       sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil

       and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales)

       Environment:

       current issues:

       endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile

       ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or

       damage

       natural hazards:

       ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island;

       icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme

       northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually icelocked from

       October to June

       international agreements:

       NA

       Note:

       major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the

       Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); ships subject to superstructure

       icing from October to May; strategic location between North America

       and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and

       western Russia, floating research stations operated by the US and

       Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50

       centimeters over the frozen ocean and lasts about 10 months

      @Arctic Ocean, Government

      Digraph:

       XQ

      @Arctic Ocean, Economy

      Overview:

       Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources,

       including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.

      @Arctic Ocean, Communications

      Ports:

       Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), 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 (Eurasia) are important

       seasonal waterways

      @Argentina, Geography

      Location:

       Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean between

       Chile and Uruguay

       Map references:

       South America, Standard Time Zones of the World

       Area:

       total area:

       2,766,890 sq km

       land area:

       2,736,690 sq km

       comparative area:

       slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US

       Land boundaries:

       total 9,665 km, Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km,

       Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km

       Coastline:

       4,989 km

       Maritime claims:

       contiguous zone:

       24 nm

       continental shelf:

       200-m depth or to depth of exploitation

       exclusive economic zone:

       not specified

       territorial sea:

       200 nm; overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm

       International 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, petroleum, uranium

       Land use:

       arable land:

       9%

       permanent crops:

       4%

       meadows and pastures:

       52%

       forest and woodland:

       22%

       other:

       13%

       Irrigated land:

       17,600 sq km (1989 est.)

       Environment:

       current issues:

       erosion results from inadequate flood controls and improper land use

       practices; irrigated soil degradation; desertification; air pollution

       in Buenos Aires and other major cites; water pollution in urban areas;

       rivers becoming polluted due to increased pesticide and fertilizer use

       natural hazards:

       Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes;

       pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the Pampas and

       northeast; heavy flooding

       international agreements:

       party to - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Climate

       Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous

       Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship

       Pollution, Whaling; signed, but not ratfied - Biodiversity, Law of the

       Sea, Marine Life Conservation

       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)

      @Argentina, People

      Population: 33,912,994 (July 1994 est.) Population growth rate: 1.12% (1994 est.) Birth rate: 19.62 births/1,000 population (1994 est.) Death rate: 8.63 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.) Net migration rate: 0.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.) Infant mortality rate: 29.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.35 years male: 68.06 years female: 74.81 years (1994 est.) Total fertility rate: 2.68 children born/woman (1994 est.) Nationality: noun: Argentine(s) adjective: Argentine Ethnic divisions: white 85%, mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups 15% Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20%