View Intelligence Dossier Back to 1991 CSV Excel Print All Years

Communications

Airports [time series]

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

Civil air [time series]

54 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

208,350 km total; 47,550 km paved, 39,500 km gravel, 101,000 km improved earth, 20,300 km unimproved earth

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

11,000 km navigable

Merchant marine [time series]

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

Pipelines [time series]

4,090 km crude oil; 2,900 km refined products; 9,918 km natural gas

Ports [time series]

Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Necochea, Rio Gallegos, Rosario, Santa Fe

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

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

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic, Argentine Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Argentine Naval Prefecture (Coast Guard only), National Aeronautical Police Force

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

$700 million, 1% of GNP (1990)

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, 7,992,140; 6,478,730 fit for military service; 285,047 reach military age (20) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

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

Budget [time series]

revenues $12.2 billion; expenditures $17.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.8 billion (1989)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

austral (plural--australes); 1 austral (2) = 100 centavos

Economic aid [time series]

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

Electricity [time series]

16,749,000 kW capacity; 45,580 million kWh produced, 1,410 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates [time series]

australes (2) per US$1--9,900 (April 1991), 4,707 (1990), 423 (1989), 8.7526 (1988), 2.1443 (1987), 0.9430 (1986), 0.6018 (1985)

Exports [time series]

$12.4 billion (f.o.b., 1990); commodities--meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, hides, wool; partners--US 12%, USSR, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$60 billion (December 1990)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

GNP [time series]

$82.7 billion, per capita $2,560; real growth rate - 3.5% (1990 est.)

Imports [time series]

$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

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 5% (1991 est.); accounts for 30% of GDP

Industries [time series]

food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

1,350% (1990)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

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.

Unemployment rate [time series]

8.6% (May 1990)

Geography

Climate [time series]

mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest

Coastline [time series]

4,989 km Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation; Territorial sea: 200 nm (overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm)

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly more than four times the size of Texas

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

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

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

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

Land boundaries [time series]

9,665 km total; Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km

Land use [time series]

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

Natural resources [time series]

fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, crude oil, uranium

Note [time series]

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)

Terrain [time series]

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

Area (Total area) [time series]

2,766,890 km2; land area: 2,736,690 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

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

Capital [time series]

Buenos Aires (tentative plans to move to Viedma by 1990 indefinitely postponed)

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

some 70,000 members in various party organizations, including a small nucleus of activists

Constitution [time series]

1 May 1853

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

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

Executive branch [time series]

president, vice president, Cabinet

Flag [time series]

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

Independence [time series]

9 July 1816 (from Spain)

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court (Corte Suprema) Chief of State and Head of Government--President Carlos Saul MENEM (since 8 July 1989); Vice President Eduardo DUHALDE (since 8 July 1989) 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

Legal system [time series]

mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch [time series]

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

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Argentine Republic

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

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

National holiday [time series]

Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

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

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 18 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

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic

People

Birth rate [time series]

20 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate [time series]

9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

white 85%; mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups 15%

Infant mortality rate [time series]

31 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force [time series]

10,900,000; agriculture 12%, industry 31%, services 57% (1985 est.)

Languages (Language) [time series]

Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

68 years male, 74 years female (1991)

Literacy [time series]

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

Nationality [time series]

noun--Argentine(s); adjective--Argentine

Net migration rate [time series]

NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor [time series]

3,000,000; 28% of labor force

Population [time series]

32,663,983 (July 1991), growth rate 1.1% (1991)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

2.7 children born/woman (1991)