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Communications

Airports [time series]

total: 1,700 usable: 1,451 with permanet-surface runways: 137 with runways over 3,659 m: 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 31 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 326

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]

60 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,695,420 GRT/1,073,904 DWT; includes 30 cargo, 5 refrigerated cargo, 4 container, 1 railcar carrier, 14 oil tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 4 bulk, 1 roll-on/roll-off

Pipelines [time series]

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

Ports [time series]

Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia, La Plata, Rosario, Santa Fe

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

34,172 km total (includes 209 km electrified); includes a mixture of 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1.676-meter broad gauge, 1.000-meter narrow gauge, and 0.750-meter narrow gauge

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

extensive modern system; 2,650,000 telephones (12,000 public telephones); microwave widely used; broadcast stations - 171 AM, no FM, 231 TV, 13 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations; domestic satellite network has 40 earth 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]

exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability [time series]

males age 15-49 8,267,316; fit for military service 6,702,303; reach military age (20) annually 284,641 (1993 est.)

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for 8% of GDP (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

Budget [time series]

revenues $33.1 billion; expenditures $35.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.5 billion (1992)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

1 peso = 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 (1970-89), $4.4 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $718 million

Electricity [time series]

17,911,000 kW capacity; 51,305 million kWh produced, 1,559 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates [time series]

pesos per US$1 - 0.99000 (January1993), 0.99064 (1992), 0.95355 (1991), 0.48759 (1990), 0.04233 (1989), 0.00088 (1988)

Exports [time series]

$12.3 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, hides, wool partners: US 12%, Brazil, Italy, Japan, Netherlands

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$54 billion (June 1992)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Illicit drugs [time series]

increasing use as a transshipment country for cocaine headed for the US and Europe

Imports [time series]

$14.0 billion (c.i.f., 1992 est.) commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, fuels and lubricants, agricultural products partners: US 22%, Brazil, Germany, Bolivia, Japan, Italy, Netherlands

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

growth rate 10% (1992 est.); accounts for 26% of GDP

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

17.7% (1992)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (National product) [time series]

GDP - exchange rate conversion - $112 billion (1992 est.)

Real GDP per capita (National product per capita) [time series]

$3,400 (1992 est.)

Real GDP growth rate (National product real growth rate) [time series]

7% (1992 est.)

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 in the late 1980s was plagued with huge external debts and recurring bouts of hyperinflation. Elected in 1989, in the depths of recession, President MENEM has implemented a comprehensive economic restructuring program that shows signs of putting Argentina on a path of stable, sustainable growth. Argentina's currency has traded at par with the US dollar since April 1991, and inflation has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years. Argentines have responded to the relative price stability by repatriating flight capital and investing in domestic industry. Much remains to be done in the 1990s in dismantling the old statist barriers to growth and in solidifying the recent economic gains.

Unemployment rate [time series]

6.9% (1992)

Geography

Area [time series]

total area: 2,766,890 km2 land area: 2,736,690 km2 comparative area: slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US

Climate [time series]

mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest

Coastline [time series]

4,989 km

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

Disputes - international (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

Irrigated land [time series]

17,600 km2 (1989 est.)

Land boundaries [time series]

total 9,665 km, 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%

Location [time series]

Eastern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean between Chile and Uruguay

Map references [time series]

South America, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims [time series]

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

Natural resources [time series]

fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, 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

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia), and 1 federal district*, (distrito federal); Corrientes, Distrito Federal*, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La, Rioja, Mendoza, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego (Territorio Nacional de la 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

Constitution [time series]

1 May 1853

Digraph [time series]

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

chief of mission: Ambassador Carlos ORTIZ DE ROZAS chancery: 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: (202) 939-6400 through 6403 consulates general: Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico) consulates: Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

Chamber of Deputies: last held in three phases during late 1991 for half of 254 seats; seats (254 total) - JP 122, UCR 85, UCD 10, other 37 (1993) President: last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held NA May 1995); results - Carlos Saul MENEM was elected Senate: last held May 1989, but provincial elections in late 1991 set the stage for indirect elections by provincial senators for one-third of 46 seats in the national senate in May 1992; seats (46 total) - JP 27, UCR 14, others 5

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)

Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]

Chief of State and Head of Government: President Carlos Saul MENEM (since 8 July 1989); Vice President (position vacant)

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)

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

AG (observer), Australian Group, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-6, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, AfDB, 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, MERCOSUR, MINURSO, OAS, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNOMOZ, UNPROFOR, UNTAC, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Country name (Names) [time series]

conventional long form: Argentine Republic conventional short form: Argentina local long form: Republica Argentina local short form: Argentina

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 (CGT; 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

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

Justicialist Party (JP), Carlos Saul MENEM, Peronist umbrella political organization; Radical Civic Union (UCR), Mario LOSADA, moderately left-of-center party; Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), Jorge AGUADO, conservative party; Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar ALENDE, leftist party; Dignity and Independence Political Party (MODIN), Aldo RICO, right-wing party; several provincial parties

Suffrage [time series]

18 years of age; universal

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic

Diplomatic representation from the US (US diplomatic representation) [time series]

chief of mission: Ambassador James CHEEK (since 28 May 1993) embassy: 4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires mailing address: APO AA 34034 telephone: [54] (1) 774-7611 or 8811, 9911 FAX: [54] (1) 775-4205

People

Birth rate [time series]

19.75 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate [time series]

8.64 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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

Infant mortality rate [time series]

30 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force [time series]

10.9 million by occupation: agriculture 12%, industry 31%, services 57% (1985 est.)

Languages [time series]

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

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

total population: 71.19 years male: 67.91 years female: 74.65 years (1993 est.)

Literacy [time series]

age 15 and over can read and write (1990) total population: 95% male: 96% female: 95%

Nationality [time series]

noun: Argentine(s) adjective: Argentine

Net migration rate [time series]

0.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population [time series]

33,533,256 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate [time series]

1.13% (1993 est.)

Religions [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

2.72 children born/woman (1993 est.)