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3 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Argentina \Argentina\ n.
1. 1 a country in South America, bordering Chile and Bolivia.
Syn: the Argentine
[WordNet 1.5]
2. 1 type genus of the Argentinidae: argentines.
Syn: genus Argentina
[WordNet 1.5]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
Argentina
n 1: a republic in southern South America; second largest country
in South America [syn: {Argentine Republic}, {the
Argentine}]
2: type genus of the Argentinidae: argentines [syn: {genus
Argentina}]
From CIA World Factbook 2002 [world02]:
Argentina
Introduction Argentina
----------------------
Background: 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 authoritarian
rule and interference in subsequent
governments 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.
Geography Argentina
-------------------
Location: Southern South America, bordering
the South Atlantic Ocean, between
Chile and Uruguay
Geographic coordinates: 34 00 S, 64 00 W
Map references: South America
Area: total: 2,766,890 sq km
land: 2,736,690 sq km
water: 30,200 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly less than three-tenths the
size of the US
Land boundaries: total: 9,665 km
border countries: 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
territorial sea: 12 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the
edge of the continental margin
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
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Salinas Chicas -40 m
(located on Peninsula Valdes)
highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,960
m
Natural resources: fertile plains of the Pampas, lead,
zinc, tin, copper, iron ore,
manganese, petroleum, uranium
Land use: arable land: 9.14%
permanent crops: 0.8%
other: 90.06% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 15,610 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: San Miguel de Tucuman and Mendoza
areas in the Andes subject to
earthquakes; pamperos are violent
windstorms that can strike the
Pampas and northeast; heavy flooding
Environment - current issues: environmental problems (urban and
rural) typical of an industrializing
economy such as deforestation, soil
degradation, desertification, air
pollution, and water pollution
note: Argentina is a world leader in
setting voluntary greenhouse gas
targets
Environment - international party to: Antarctic-Environmental
agreements: Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Seals,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, 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: Marine
Life Conservation
Geography - note: second-largest country in South
America (after Brazil); strategic
location relative to sea lanes
between the South Atlantic and the
South Pacific Oceans (Strait of
Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake
Passage); Cerro Aconcagua is South
America's tallest mountain, while
the Valdes Peninsula is the lowest
point on the continent
People Argentina
----------------
Population: 37,812,817 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 26.3% (male 5,090,046;
female 4,854,761)
15-64 years: 63.2% (male 11,968,135;
female 11,937,709)
65 years and over: 10.5% (male
1,636,332; female 2,325,834) (2002
est.)
Population growth rate: 1.13% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 18.23 births/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Death rate: 7.57 deaths/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Net migration rate: 0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/
female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/
female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 17.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2002
est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 75.48 years
female: 79.03 years (2002 est.)
male: 72.1 years
Total fertility rate: 2.41 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.69% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ 130,000 (1999 est.)
AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 1,800 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Argentine(s)
adjective: Argentine
Ethnic groups: white (mostly Spanish and Italian)
97%, mestizo, Amerindian, or other
nonwhite groups 3%
Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less
than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%,
Jewish 2%, other 4%
Languages: Spanish (official), English,
Italian, German, French
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read
and write
total population: 96.2%
male: 96.2%
female: 96.2% (1995 est.)
Government Argentina
--------------------
Country name: conventional long form: Argentine
Republic
conventional short form: Argentina
local short form: Argentina
local long form: Republica Argentina
Government type: republic
Capital: Buenos Aires
Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (provincias, singular -
provincia), and 1 autonomous city*
(distrito federal); Buenos Aires,
Buenos Aires Capital Federal*,
Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba,
Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa,
Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza,
Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta,
San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz,
Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero,
Tierra del Fuego - Antartida e Islas
del Atlantico Sur, Tucuman
note: the US does not recognize any
claims to Antarctica
Independence: 9 July 1816 (from Spain)
National holiday: Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)
Constitution: 1 May 1853; revised August 1994
Legal system: mixture of US and West European
legal systems; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and
mandatory
Executive branch: chief of state: President Eduardo
Alberto DUHALDE (since 2 January
2002); note - selected by National
Congress in aftermath of resignation
of former President DE LA RUA on 20
December 2001 and resignations of
others who briefly held the office
following DE LA RUA's departure;
Vice President Carlos "Chacho"
ALVAREZ resigned 6 October 2000 and
the post remains vacant; note - the
president is both the chief of state
and head of government
head of government: President
Eduardo Alberto DUHALDE (since 2
January 2002); note - selected by
National Congress in aftermath of
resignation of former President DE
LA RUA on 20 December 2001 and
resignations of others who briefly
held the office following DE LA
RUA's departure; Vice President
Carlos "Chacho" ALVAREZ resigned 6
October 2000 and the post remains
vacant; note - the president is both
the chief of state and head of
government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the
president
election results: Fernando DE LA RUA
elected president; percent of vote -
48.5% ; Vice President Carlos
"Chacho" ALVAREZ resigned 6 October
2000 and a replacement was not
named; DE LA RUA resigned 20
December 2001; following a series of
interim presidents, Eduardo Alberto
DUHALDE was selected president by
the National Congress on 1 January
2002
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)
Legislative branch: 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)
election results: Senate - percent
of vote by bloc or party - NA%;
seats by bloc or party -
Justicialist (Peronist) 40, UCR 24,
provincial parties 6, Frepaso 1, ARI
1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of
vote by bloc or party - NA%; seats
by bloc or party - Justicialist
(Peronist) 113, UCR 74, provincial
parties 27, Frepaso 17, ARI 17, AR 9
elections: Senate - last held 14
October 2001 (next to be held NA
October 2003); Chamber of Deputies -
last held 14 October 2001 (next to
be held NA October 2003)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (the
nine Supreme Court judges are
appointed by the president with
approval by the Senate)
Political parties and leaders: Action for the Republic or AR
[Domingo CAVALLO]; Alternative for a
Republic of Equals or ARI [Elisa
CARRIO]; Front for a Country in
Solidarity or Frepaso (a four-party
coalition) [Dario Pedro ALESSANDRO];
Justicialist Party or PJ [Carlos
Saul MENEM] (Peronist umbrella
political organization); Radical
Civic Union or UCR [Angel ROZAS];
several provincial parties
Political pressure groups and Argentine Association of
leaders: 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
International organization AfDB, Australia Group, BCIE, BIS,
participation: CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-6, G-15, G-19, G-
24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC,
IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, 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, UNMOVIC, UNTSO, UNU, UPU,
WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO,
WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Diego
Ramiro GUELAR
chancery: 1600 New Hampshire Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20009
consulate(s) general: Atlanta,
Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles,
Miami, New York
FAX: [1] (202) 332-3171
telephone: [1] (202) 238-6400
Diplomatic representation from the chief of mission: Ambassador James
US: D. WALSH
embassy: Avenida Colombia 4300,
C1425GMN Buenos Aires
mailing address: international mail:
use street address; APO address:
Unit 4334, APO AA 34034
telephone: [54] (11) 5777-4533
FAX: [54] (11) 5511-4240
Flag description: 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 Argentina
-----------------
Economy - overview: 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
negative 0.5%, as both domestic and
foreign investors remained skeptical
of the government's ability to pay
debts and maintain the peso's fixed
exchange rate with the US dollar.
The economic situation worsened
still further in 2001 with the
widening of spreads on Argentine
bonds, massive withdrawals from the
banks, and a further decline in
consumer and investor confidence.
Government efforts to achieve a
"zero deficit", to stabilize the
banking system, and to restore
economic growth proved inadequate in
the face of the mounting economic
problems. At the start of 2002,
newly elected president Eduardo
DUHALDE met with IMF officials to
secure an additional $20 billion
loan, but immediate action seemed
unlikely. The peso's peg to the
dollar was abandoned in January
2002, and the peso was floated from
the dollar in February; inflation
picked up rapidly.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $453
billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: -4.6% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $12,000
(2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 6%
industry: 28%
services: 66% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line: 37% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: NA%
percentage share: highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 15 million (1999)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture NA%, industry NA%,
services NA%
Unemployment rate: 25% (yearend 2001)
Budget: revenues: $44 billion
expenditures: $48 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (2000
est.)
Industries: food processing, motor vehicles,
consumer durables, textiles,
chemicals and petrochemicals,
printing, metallurgy, steel
Industrial production growth rate: 1% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production: 82.802 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 51.81%
hydro: 40.67%
other: 0.29% (2000)
nuclear: 7.23%
Electricity - consumption: 80.806 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 3.7 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 7.5 billion kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans,
grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea,
wheat; livestock
Exports: $26.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities: edible oils, fuels and energy,
cereals, feed, motor vehicles
Exports - partners: Brazil 26.5%, US 11.8%, Chile 10.6%,
Spain 3.5% (2000)
Imports: $23.8 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, motor
vehicles, chemicals, metal
manufactures, plastics
Imports - partners: Brazil 25.1%, US 18.7%, Germany 5%,
China 4.6% (2000)
Debt - external: $155 billion (2001 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $10 billion (2001 est.)
Currency: Argentine peso (ARS)
Currency code: ARS
Exchange rates: Argentine pesos per US dollar -
1.33325 (January 2002), 1.000 (1997-
2001); note - fixed rate pegged to
the US dollar was abandoned in
January 2002; peso now floats
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Argentina
------------------------
Telephones - main lines in use: 7.5 million (1998)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 3 million (December 1999)
Telephone system: 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)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 260 (including 10 inactive
stations), FM NA (probably more than
1,000, mostly unlicensed), shortwave
6 (1998)
Radios: 24.3 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 42 (plus 444 repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 7.95 million (1997)
Internet country code: .ar
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 33 (2000)
Internet users: 3.88 million (2001)
Transportation Argentina
------------------------
Railways: total: 33,744 km (167 km
electrified)
broad gauge: 20,594 km 1.676-m gauge
(141 km electrified)
standard gauge: 2,739 km 1.435-
m gauge (26 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 10,154 km 1.000-
m gauge; 257 km 0.750-m gauge (2000
est.)
Highways: total: 215,434 km
paved: 63,553 km (including 734 km
of expressways)
unpaved: 151,881 km (1998 est.)
Waterways: 10,950 km
Pipelines: crude oil 4,090 km; petroleum
products 2,900 km; natural gas 9,918
km
Ports and harbors: Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Comodoro
Rivadavia, Concepcion del Uruguay,
La Plata, Mar del Plata, Necochea,
Rio Gallegos, Rosario, Santa Fe,
Ushuaia
Merchant marine: total: 24 ships (1,000 GRT or over)
totaling 147,505 GRT/222,500 DWT
ships by type: cargo 9, petroleum
tanker 10, railcar carrier 1,
refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll
off 1, short-sea passenger 1,
includes some foreign-owned ships
registered here as a flag of
convenience: United Arab Emirates 1,
Uruguay 1 (2002 est.)
Airports: 1,369 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 144
over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 26
1,524 to 2,437 m: 60
914 to 1,523 m: 45
under 914 m: 9 (2001)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 1,225
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 53
914 to 1,523 m: 598
under 914 m: 570 (2001)
Military Argentina
------------------
Military branches: Argentine Army, Navy of the
Argentine Republic (includes naval
aviation and Marines), Coast Guard,
Argentine Air Force, National
Gendarmerie, National Aeronautical
Police Force
Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 9,521,633 (2002
est.)
Military manpower - fit for military males age 15-49: 7,721,219 (2002
service: est.)
Military manpower - reaching males: 335,085 (2002 est.)
military age annually:
Military expenditures - dollar $4.3 billion (FY99)
figure:
Military expenditures - percent of 1.3% (FY00)
GDP:
Transnational Issues Argentina
------------------------------
Disputes - international: claims UK-administered Falkland
Islands (Islas Malvinas); claims UK-
administered South Georgia and the
South Sandwich Islands; territorial
claim in Antarctica partially
overlaps British and Chilean claims
Illicit drugs: used 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
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