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        
(202) 939-6400 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 5,000% in 1989 and another               
1,345% in 1990. Since 1978, Argentina's external debt has nearly doubled        
to $60 billion, creating severe debt-servicing difficulties and hurting         
the country's creditworthiness with international lenders.                      
                                                                                
GNP: $82.7 billion, per capita $2,560; real growth rate - 3.5%                  
(1990 est.)                                                                     
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1,350% (1990)                                 
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: 8.6% (May 1990)                                              
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $12.2 billion; expenditures $17.3 billion,                     
including capital expenditures of $2.8 billion (1989)                           
                                                                                
Exports: $12.4 billion (f.o.b., 1990);                                          
                                                                                
commodities--meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, hides, wool;                           
                                                                                
partners--US 12%, USSR, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands                       
                                                                                
Imports: $4.1 billion (c.i.f., 1990);                                           
                                                                                
commodities--machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, fuels and              
lubricants, agricultural products;                                              
                                                                                
partners--US 22%, Brazil, FRG, Bolivia, Japan, Italy, Netherlands               
                                                                                
External debt: $60 billion (December 1990)                                      
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate 5% (1991 est.); accounts for                 
30% of GDP                                                                      
                                                                                
Electricity: 16,749,000 kW capacity; 45,580 million kWh produced,               
1,410 kWh per capita (1990)                                                     
                                                                                
Industries: food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables,                 
textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel             
                                                                                
Agriculture: accounts for 15% of GNP (including fishing); produces              
abundant food for both domestic consumption and exports; among world's          
top five exporters of grain and beef; principal crops--wheat, corn,             
sorghum, soybeans, sugar beets; 1987 fish catch estimated at 500,000 tons       
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.0                   
billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-88), $4.0 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $718 million            
                                                                                
Currency: austral (plural--australes); 1 austral (A) = 100                      
centavos                                                                        
                                                                                
Exchange rates: australes (A) per US$1--9,900 (April 1991),                     
4,707 (1990), 423 (1989), 8.7526 (1988), 2.1443 (1987), 0.9430 (1986),          
0.6018 (1985)                                                                   
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 34,172 km total (includes 169 km electrified); includes              
a mixture of 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1.676-meter broad gauge,               
1.000-meter gauge, and 0.750-meter gauge                                        
                                                                                
Highways: 208,350 km total; 47,550 km paved, 39,500 km gravel,                  
101,000 km improved earth, 20,300 km unimproved earth                           
                                                                                
Inland waterways: 11,000 km navigable                                           
                                                                                
Pipelines: 4,090 km crude oil; 2,900 km refined products; 9,918 km              
natural gas                                                                     
                                                                                
Ports: Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Necochea, Rio Gallegos, Rosario,             
Santa Fe                                                                        
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 129 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,663,884               
GRT/2,689,645 DWT; includes 42 cargo, 7 refrigerated cargo, 6 container,        
1 railcar carrier, 47 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker,             
4 chemical tanker, 4 liquefied gas, 18 bulk; additionally, 2 naval              
tankers and 1 military transport are sometimes used commercially                
                                                                                
Civil air: 54 major transport aircraft                                          
                                                                                
Airports: 1,763 total, 1,575 usable; 135 with permanent-surface                 
runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 31 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 336        
with runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                      
                                                                                
Telecommunications: extensive modern system; 2,650,000 telephones               
(12,000 public telephones); radio relay widely used; stations--171 AM,          
no FM, 231 TV, 13 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations;          
domestic satellite network has 40 stations                                      
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic, Argentine             
Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Argentine Naval Prefecture (Coast Guard        
only), National Aeronautical Police Force                                       
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 7,992,140; 6,478,730 fit for                
military service; 285,047 reach military age (20) annually                      
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $700 million, 1% of GNP (1990)                            
                                                                                
