Argentina is the second largest country in South America and has a population of over 44 million people. It has a diverse geography that ranges from fertile plains to mountains. While Spanish is the dominant language, the local dialect of Rioplatense Spanish is most common. The population is predominantly descended from European immigrants, and Roman Catholicism is the majority religion. Argentina has a long history, first being colonized by Spain in the 16th century and gaining independence in the early 19th century.

1. Argentina: Part 1 Jean Lowry 50587

2. Geography… Argentina is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aries It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations Argentina is about 3900 km long from north to south, and 1400 km from east to west There are four major regions: fertile central plains of the pampas, source of Argentina’s agricultural wealth; the flat to rolling, oil-rich southern plateau of Patagonia including Tierra del Fuego; the subtropical northern flats of the Gran Chaco, and the rugged Andes mountain range along the western border with Chile

3. Geography… Cont’d The highest point above sea level is in Mendoza province at Cerro Aconcagua, also the highest point in the Southern and Western Hemisphere The lowest point is Laguna del Carbon in Santa Cruz province The geographic center of the country is in south-central La Pampa province The major rivers are Paraná(the largest), the Pilcomayo, Paraguay, Bermejo, Colorado, Rio Negro, Salado and Uruguay The Paraná and the Uruguay join to form the Rio de la Plata estuary, before reaching the Atlantic Regionally important rivers are the Atuel and Mendoza in the homonymous province, the Chubut in Patagonia, the Rio Grande in Jujuy and the San Francisco River in Salta

4. Geography… Cont’d Several lakes include Argentino and Viedma in Santa Cruz, Nahuel Huapi between Rio Negro and Neuquén, Fagnano in Tierra del Fuego, and Colhue Huapi and Musters in Chubut Lake Buenos Aries and O’Higgins/San Martin Lake are shared the Chile Mar Chiquita, Cordoba, is the largest salt water lake in the country Generally temperature climate ranges from subtropical in the north to sub polar in the far south The north characterized by very hot, humid summers with drier winters, and is subject to periodic droughts Central Argentina has hot summers with thunderstorms (western Argentina produces some of the world’s largest hail), and cool winters The southern regions have warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall, especially in mountainous zones

5. People… Argentina ranks third in South America in total population and 33rd globally Population density is of 15 persons per square kilometer of land area, well below the world average of 50 persons The median age is approximately 30 years and life expectancy at birth is 76.7 years Argentina is considered a country of immigrants Most Argentines are descended from colonial-era settlers, and 19th and 20th century immigrants from Europe 86.4% of Argentina’s population self-identify as being of European decent An estimated 8% of the population is Mestizo and 4% of Argentines are of Arab or Asian heritage

6. People… Cont’d The constitution guarantees freedom of religion but also requires the government to support Roman Catholicism economically According to the World Christian Database Argentines are: 92.1% Christian, 3.1% agnostic, 1.9% Muslim, 1.3% Jewish, 0.9% atheist, and 0.9% Buddhist and others Argentine Christians are mostly Roman Catholic with estimates for the number of Catholics varying from 70% to 90% of the population Argentina has the largest Jewish population of any country in Latin America The de facto official language of Argentina is Spanish, usually called castellano by Argentines

7. People… cont’d The most prevalent dialect is Rioplatense, whose speakers are primarily located in the Rio de la Plate basin Italian and other European immigrants influenced Lunfardo, the slang spoken in the Rio de la Plata region, permeating the vernacular vocabulary of other regions as well Argentina is highly urbanized The population is unequally distributed amongst provinces: about 60% live in the Pampa region, including 15 million people in Buenos Aires province Most European immigrants settles in the cities Many small towns founded along the expanding railway system Argentine cities were originally built in a colonial Spanish grid style and many still retain this general layout, which is known as a damero (checkerboard)

8. History… The earliest evidence of humans in Argentina dates from 11,000 BC and was found in Patagonia European explorers arrived in 1516; Spain established the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1542, encompassing all its holdings in South America Their first settlement in modern Argentina was the Fort of Sancti Spiritu established in 1527 next to the Paraná River Buenos Aires, a permanent colony, was established in 1536 but was destroyed by natives The area which encompassed much of the territory that would later become Argentina was largely a territory of Spanish immigrants and their descendants (known as criollos), mestizos, native cultures, and descendants of African slaves War for independence ensued in the former Viceroyalty, its regions divided between patriots and royalists

9. History… Cont’d The cities of present-day Argentina would align with the independents after 1811, the other regions would follow differing paths: Paraguay secede, declaring its independence from Spain 1811 and from Argentina in 1842 Upper Peru was disputed with the royalists from Peru until it declared independence as Bolivia in 1824 Internal conflicts would cause political instability within the patriots In 1813 an Assembly convened to declare independence but it could not do so due to political disputes The military campaign became the responsibility of Jose de San Martin, who led an army across the Andes in 1817 and defeated the Chilean royalists A new constitution was enacted in 1826, during the War with Brazil, when Bernardino Rivadavia was elected the first President of Argentina This constitution was soon rejected by the provinces, due to its Centralist bias, and Rivadavia resigned shortly after; The provinces then reorganized themselves as the Argentine Confederation, a loose confederation of provinces that lacked a common head of state

10. History… Cont’d After 1875 a wave of foreign investment and immigration from Europe led to the strengthening of a cohesive state, the development of modern agriculture and to a near-reinvention of Argentine society and economy Argentina’s economy developed from 1875 onwards with a surge of agricultural exports, as well European investment and immigration This boom ended 1930, after which the economy began to slowly lose ground Argentina increased in prosperity and prominence between 1880 and 1929 and emerged as one of the ten richest countries in the world, benefiting from agricultural export-led economy as well as British and French investment The Argentine Constitution of 1853 mandates a separation of powers into executive, legislative, and judicial branches at the national and provincial level Executive power resides in the President and the cabinet

11. Sources… "Argentina." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 25 July 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina>.