Argentina is a fascinating country with a rich cultural history and many important industries, making it an increasing hotspot for tourism. It is a country of diverse backgrounds and is made up of traditional rural communities and thriving cosmopolitan cities with a distinct latino flavour that permeates throughout society in language, food, clothing, customs, music and dancing. Some facts about this wonderful place to visit are shown below.
Society
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Argentina has a 2010 population of 41,343,201.
Argentina has a high literacy rate with an estimated 97.2% of people being able to read and write.
97% of Argentinians are of white ethnicity (with Spanish/Italian origin) with the remaining 3% of the population being a mixture of American-Indian, mestizo (mixed white/American-Indian) and other non-white groups.
The predominant religion in Argentina is Roman Catholicism with 92% of the population following this faith. However only 20% of people are actually practicing Roman Catholics.
Currently approximately 13.9% of the population of Argentina live below the poverty line, surviving on less than $1 per head each day.
Argentina itself is now a democratic and stable country but at its border with Brazil and Paraguay there is some unrest which has given rise to various crimes such as money laundering, smuggling, arms dealing and illegal narcotics trafficking. Unfortunately these seem to be problems that are difficult to counteract.
Culture
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Argentina is famous for its wine across the globe. Most of this wine(roughly 70% of the country's total) is produced in the region of Mendoza. Wine tours are now the most important source of tourism for this region.
Not many people know exactly how many grapes it takes to produce one bottle of wine. The answer is between 500 and 600 grapes per bottle. Each vine is productive for between 30-35 years, producing up to 100,000 grapes in its lifetime.
Buenos Aires is said to be one of the greatest places in the world for nightlife. The South American flair for living is at its peak when Argentines are out and about this buzzing city. Cosmopolitan Buenos Aires offers the visitor a plethora of different kinds of entertainment including theatre, tango shows and cinema along with vibrant clubs and bars.
Economy and Politics
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Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has been president of Argentina since December 2007. She is both the chief of state and head of government.
There was a severe economic crisis in Argentina in 2001-02 that led to violent public protests and the quick successive resignations of several presidents. During this time Argentina fell from being one of the richest South American nations to one of the poorest.
The official Argentine monetary unit is the peso, but American dollars are also used as there is a high level of inflation in Argentina which makes the peso unstable. The official rate of inflation is 7.7% but the actual rate may be double this.
Industry and Environment
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There are a number of important industries in Argentina and these are predominantly food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy and steel.
Certain areas of Argentina are rich in natural resources such as the fertile plains of the pampas. Some minerals which are found include lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium.
Argentina is an industrialising country and this brings with it certain environmental problems. These include soil degradation, deforestation, air and water pollution. Argentina, however, was a world leader in setting itself greenhouse gas targets voluntarily.
History
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Argentina became independent from Spain in 1816. From this point the country's population and culture were heavily shaped by immigrants from throughout Europe, but most particularly Italy and Spain, which provided the largest percentage of arrivals from 1860 to 1930. Buenos Aires was built by European immigrants and its resemblance to Barcelona and Rome often comes as a surprise to newcomers.
The Falkland Islands are still contested territory between Argentina and the UK. This is unsurprising as they are only 290 miles off the coast of Argentina. The Argentinians refer to these islands as the Islas Malvinas. After the problems in the early 1980s Argentina agreed in 1995 to no longer try and seek a settlement through force.
Geography
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Argentina is the second largest country in South America by both land mass and population. Only Brazil is larger. Argentina is bordered by Chile to the west, Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, and Uruguay and Brazil to the east. South of Argentina is Antartica.
The capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires which is located on the east coast on the banks of the Rio de la Plata (Silver River). This is also its largest city with a population of over 2.7 million in the city itself and more than 13 million people in the wider city locality.
Argentina offers diverse terrains with swamps and wooded areas to the north in Gran Chaco. In the mid regions of the country are the fertile Pampas plains, which offer rich soils that are ideal for agriculture. In the south is the plateau of Patagonia, a region of cool and arid grasslands with some wooded and fertile areas.
Due to its geographical position between certain fault lines, Argentina can be subject to natural disasters such as earthquakes, strong windstorms known as 'pamperos' and floods. The Mendoza region is one of the areas that is more susceptible to earthquakes. Additionally, there can also be some volcanic activity in the Andes mountains along the Chilean border. Most recently, Copahue (2997m) last erupted in the year 2000.