^Though not declared officialde jure, the Spanish language is the only one used in the wording of laws, decrees, resolutions, official documents and public acts thus making it thede facto official language.
The description of the region by the wordArgentina has been found on aVenetian map in 1536.[27]
In English, the nameArgentina comes from theSpanish language; however, the naming itself is not Spanish, butItalian.Argentina (masculineargentino) means in Italian '(made) of silver, silver coloured', derived from the Latinargentum for silver. In Italian, the adjective or theproper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is saidl'Argentina.[citation needed]
The nameArgentina was probably first given by the Venetian and Genoese navigators, such asGiovanni Caboto. In Spanish and Portuguese, the words for 'silver' are respectivelyplata andprata and '(made) of silver' isplateado andprateado, althoughargento for 'silver' andargentado for 'covered in silver' exist in Spanish.Argentina was first associated with thesilver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of theLa Plata Basin.[28]
The1826 constitution included the first use of the name "Argentine Republic" in legal documents.[30] The name "Argentine Confederation" was also commonly used and was formalised in theArgentine Constitution of 1853.[31] In 1860 a presidential decree settled the country's name as "Argentine Republic",[32] and that year's constitutional amendment ruled all the names since 1810 as legally valid.[33][F]
InEnglish, the country was traditionally called "the Argentine", mimicking the typicalSpanish usagela Argentina[34] and perhaps resulting from a mistaken shortening of the longer name "Argentine Republic". "The Argentine" fell out of fashion during the mid-to-late 20th century, and now the country is referred to as "Argentina".[citation needed]
Evidence suggests that humans inhabited parts of what is now Argentina as early as 21,000 years ago. In 2015, fossilised bones of a large, extinct armored mammal calledNeosclerocalyptus were unearthed nearBuenos Aires. These bones bore cut marks indicative of butchering with stone tools, implying human activity during theLast Glacial Maximum.[35][36] Further south, thePiedra Museo site inSanta Cruz Province has yielded human remains and artifacts dating back approximately 11,000 years. Discoveries at this site include spearheads associated with extinct megafauna such asMylodon andHippidion, highlighting the advanced hunting practices of early inhabitants.[37][38] Another significant site is theCueva de las Manos (Cave of the Hands), also located inSanta Cruz. This cave features stenciled handprints and hunting scenes created between 7,300 BC and 700 AD, offering insights into the lives of early hunter-gatherer communities.[39][38]
Until the period of European colonisation, Argentina was relatively sparsely populated by a wide number of diverse cultures with different social organisations,[40] which can be divided into three main groups.[41] The first group were basic hunters and food gatherers without the development ofpottery, such as theSelkʼnam andYaghan in the extreme south. The second group were advanced hunters and food gatherers, who included thePuelche,Querandí and Serranos in the centre-east; and theTehuelche in the south, all of them conquered by theMapuche spreading fromChile,[42] and theKom andWichi in the north. The last group were farmers with pottery, such as theCharrúa,Minuane andGuaraní in the northeast, withslash and burn semisedentary existence;[40] the advancedDiaguita sedentarytrading culture in the northwest, which was conquered by theInca Empire around 1480; theTonocoté andHênîa and Kâmîare in the country's centre, and theHuarpe in the centre-west, a culture that raisedllama cattle and was strongly influenced by the Incas.[40]
TheSpanish Empire subordinated the economic potential of the Argentine territory to the immediate wealth of the silver and gold mines inBolivia and Peru, and as such it became part of theViceroyalty of Peru until the creation of theViceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776 with Buenos Aires as its capital.[48]
Beginning a process from which Argentina was to emerge as successor state to the Viceroyalty,[17] the 1810May Revolution replaced the viceroyBaltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros with theFirst Junta, a new government inBuenos Aires made up from locals.[50] In the first clashes of the Independence War the Junta crushed a royalistcounter-revolution in Córdoba,[52] but failed to overcome those of theBanda Oriental,Upper Peru andParaguay, which later became independent states.[53] The French-ArgentineHippolyte Bouchard then brought his fleet to wage war against Spain overseas and attackedSpanish California,Spanish Peru andSpanish Philippines. He secured the allegiance of escaped Filipinos in San Blas who defected from the Spanish to join the Argentine navy, due to common Argentine and Philippine grievances against Spanish colonisation.[54][55] Jose de San Martin's brother,Juan Fermín de San Martín, was already in the Philippines and drumming up revolutionary fervor prior to this.[56] At a later date, the Argentine sign of Inca origin, theSun of May was adopted as a symbol by the Filipinos in thePhilippine Revolution against Spain. He also secured the diplomatic recognition of Argentina from KingKamehameha I of theKingdom of Hawaii. Historian Pacho O'Donnell affirms that Hawaii was the first state that recognised Argentina's independence.[57] He was finally arrested in 1819 by Chilean patriots.
The 1820Battle of Cepeda, fought between the Centralists and the Federalists, resulted in theend of the Supreme Director rule. In 1826 Buenos Aires enacted anothercentralist constitution, withBernardino Rivadavia being appointed as the first president of the country. However, the interior provinces soon rose against him, forced his resignation and discarded the constitution.[67] Centralists and Federalists resumed the civil war; the latter prevailed and formed theArgentine Confederation in 1831, led byJuan Manuel de Rosas.[68] During his regime he faced aFrench blockade (1838–1840), theWar of the Confederation (1836–1839), and anAnglo-French blockade (1845–1850), but remained undefeated and prevented further loss of national territory.[69] His trade restriction policies, however, angered the interior provinces and in 1852Justo José de Urquiza, another powerfulcaudillo,beat him out of power. As the new president of the Confederation, Urquiza enacted theliberal and federal 1853 Constitution.Buenos Aires seceded but was forced back into the Confederation after being defeated in the 1859Battle of Cepeda.[70]
Starting withJulio Argentino Roca in 1880, ten consecutive federal governments emphasisedliberal economic policies. Themassive wave of European immigration they promoted—second only to the United States'—led to a near-reinvention of Argentine society and economy that by 1908 had placed the country as the seventh wealthiest[72] developed nation[73] in the world. Driven by thisimmigration wave and decreasing mortality, the Argentine population grew fivefold and the economy 15-fold:[74] from 1870 to 1910, Argentina'swheat exports went from 100,000 to 2,500,000 t (110,000 to 2,760,000 short tons) per year, while frozen beef exports increased from 25,000 to 365,000 t (28,000 to 402,000 short tons) per year,[75] placing Argentina as one of the world's top five exporters.[76] Its railway mileage rose from 503 to 31,104 km (313 to 19,327 mi).[77] Fostered by a newpublic, compulsory, free and secular education system,literacy quickly increased from 22% to 65%, a level higher than mostLatin American nations would reach even fifty years later.[76] Furthermore, realGDP grew so fast that despite the huge immigration influx,per capita income between 1862 and 1920 went from 67% of developed country levels to 100%:[77] In 1865, Argentina was already one of the top 25 nations by per capita income. By 1908, it had surpassed Denmark, Canada and the Netherlands to reach 7th place—behind Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Belgium. Argentina's per capita income was 70% higher than Italy's, 90% higher than Spain's, 180% higher than Japan's and 400% higher thanBrazil's.[72] Despite these unique achievements, the country was slow to meet its original goals of industrialisation:[78] after the steep development of capital-intensive local industries in the 1920s, a significant part of the manufacturing sector remained labour-intensive in the 1930s.[79]
Between 1878 and 1884, the so-calledConquest of the Desert occurred, with the purpose of tripling the Argentine territory by means of the constant confrontations between natives and Criollos in the border,[81] and the appropriation of the indigenous territories. The first conquest consisted of a series of military incursions into the Pampa and Patagonian territories dominated by the indigenous peoples,[82] distributing them among the members of theSociedad Rural Argentina, financiers of the expeditions.[83] The conquest of Chaco lasted up to the end of the century,[84] since its full ownership of the national economic system only took place when the mere extraction of wood andtannin was replaced by the production ofcotton.[85] The Argentine government consideredindigenous people as inferior beings, without the same rights as Criollos and Europeans.[86]
In 1930, Yrigoyenwas ousted from power by the military led byJosé Félix Uriburu. Although Argentina remained among the fifteen richest countries until mid-century,[72] thiscoup d'état marked the start of the steady economic and social decline that pushed the country back into underdevelopment.[88]
During the Rawson dictatorship a relatively unknown military colonel namedJuan Perón was named head of the Labour Department. Perón quickly managed to climb the political ladder, being named defence minister in 1944. Being perceived as a political threat by rivals in the military and the conservative camp, he was forced to resign in 1945, and was arrested days later. He was finally released under mounting pressure from both his base and several allied unions.[89] He later became president after a landslide victory over the UCR in the1946 general election as theLabour candidate.[90]
TheLabour Party (later renamedJusticialist Party), the most powerful and influential party in Argentine history, came into power with the rise of Juan Perón to the presidency in 1946. Henationalised strategic industries and services, improved wages and working conditions, paid the fullexternal debt and claimed he achieved nearlyfull employment. He pushed Congress to enactwomen's suffrage in 1947,[91] and developed a system of social assistance for the most vulnerable sectors of society.[92] The economy began to decline in 1950 due in part to government expenditures and theprotectionist economic policies.[93]
He also engaged in a campaign of political suppression. Anyone who was perceived to be a political dissident or potential rival was subject to threats, physical violence and harassment. The Argentineintelligentsia, the middle-class, university students, and professors were seen as particularly troublesome. Perón fired over 2,000 university professors and faculty members from all major public education institutions.[94]
Perón tried to bring most trade and labour unions under his thumb, regularly resorting to violence when needed. For instance, the meat-packers union leader,Cipriano Reyes, organised strikes in protest against the government after elected labour movement officials were forcefully replaced by Peronist puppets from thePeronist Party. Reyes was soon arrested on charges of terrorism, though the allegations were never substantiated. Reyes, who was never formally charged, was tortured in prison for five years and only released after the regime's downfall in 1955.[95]
Perónmanaged to get reelected in 1951. His wifeEva Perón, who played a critical role in the party, died of cancer in 1952. As the economy continued to tank, Perón started losing popular support, and came to be seen as a threat to the national process. The Navy took advantage of Perón's withering political power, andbombed the Plaza de Mayo in 1955. Perón survived the attack, but a few months later, during theLiberating Revolution coup, he was deposed and went intoexile in Spain.[96]
The new head of State,Pedro Eugenio Aramburu,proscribed Peronism and banned the party from any future elections.Arturo Frondizi from theUCR won the1958 general election.[97] He encouraged investment to achieve energetic and industrial self-sufficiency, reversed a chronictrade deficit and lifted the ban on Peronism; yet his efforts to stay on good terms with both the Peronists and the military earned him the rejection of both and a new coup forced him out.[98] Amidst the political turmoil, Senate leaderJosé María Guido reacted swiftly and applied anti-power vacuum legislation, ascending to the presidency himself; elections were repealed and Peronism was prohibited once again.Arturo Illia waselected in 1963 and led an increase in prosperity across the board; however he was overthrown in 1966 by another militarycoup d'état led by GeneralJuan Carlos Onganía in the self-proclaimedArgentine Revolution, creating a new military government that sought to rule indefinitely.[99]
Perón's return and death
Following several years of military rule,Alejandro Agustín Lanusse was appointed president by themilitary junta in 1971. Under increasing political pressure for the return of democracy, Lanusse called for elections in 1973. Perón was banned from running but the Peronist party was allowed to participate.[100] The presidential elections were won by Perón's surrogate candidate,Hector Cámpora, a left-wing Peronist, who took office on 25 May 1973. A month later, in June, Perón returned from Spain. One of Cámpora's first presidential actions was to grant amnesty to members of organisations that had carried out political assassinations and terrorist attacks, and to those who had been tried and sentenced to prison by judges. Cámpora's months-long tenure in government was beset by political and social unrest. Over 600 social conflicts,strikes, andfactory occupations took place within a single month.[101] Even though far-left terrorist organisations had suspended their armed struggle, their joining with theparticipatory democracy process was interpreted as a direct threat by the Peronist right-wing faction.[102]
Amid a state of political, social, and economic upheaval, Cámpora and Vice President Vicente Solano Lima resigned in July 1973, calling for new elections, but this time with Perón as the Justicialist Party nominee. Perón won the election with his wifeIsabel Perón as vice president. Perón's third term was marked by escalating conflict between left and right-wing factions within the Peronist party, as well as the return of armed terror guerrilla groups such as the GuevaristERP, leftist PeronistMontoneros, and the state-backed far-rightTriple A. After a series of heart attacks and signs of pneumonia in 1974, Perón's health deteriorated quickly. He suffered a final heart attack on Monday, 1 July 1974, and died at 13:15. He was 78 years old. After his death,Isabel Perón, his wife and vice president, succeeded him in office. During her presidency, a military junta, along with the Peronists' far-right fascist faction, once again became thede factohead of state. Isabel Perón served as President of Argentina from 1974 until 1976, when she was ousted by the military. Her short presidency was marked by the collapse of Argentine political and social systems, leading to a constitutional crisis that paved the way for a decade of instability, left-wing terrorist guerrilla attacks, and state-sponsored terrorism.[93][103][104][105][106]
The "Dirty War" (Spanish:Guerra Sucia) was part ofOperation Condor, which included the participation of other right-wing dictatorships in theSouthern Cone. The Dirty War involvedstate terrorism in Argentina and elsewhere in the Southern Cone against political dissidents, with military and security forces employing urban and rural violence against left-wing guerrillas, political dissidents, and anyone believed to be associated with socialism or somehow contrary to theneoliberal economic policies of the regime.[107][108][109] Victims of the violence in Argentina alone included an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 left-wing activists and militants, including trade unionists, students, journalists,Marxists,Peronistguerrillas,[110] and alleged sympathisers. Most of the victims were casualties ofstate terrorism. The opposing guerrillas' victims numbered nearly 500–540 military and police officials[111] and up to 230 civilians.[112] Argentina received technical support and military aid from the United States government during theJohnson,Nixon,Ford,Carter, andReagan administrations.
The exact chronology of therepression is still debated, yet the roots of the long political war may have started in 1969 when trade unionists were targeted for assassination by Peronist and Marxist paramilitaries. Individual cases ofstate-sponsored terrorism against Peronism and the left can be traced back even further to theBombing of Plaza de Mayo in 1955. TheTrelew massacre of 1972, the actions of theArgentine Anticommunist Alliance commencing in 1973, andIsabel Perón's "annihilation decrees" against left-wing guerrillas duringOperativo Independencia (Operation Independence) in 1975, are also possible events signaling the beginning of the Dirty War.[H]
Onganía shut down Congress, banned all political parties, and dismantled student and worker unions. In 1969, popular discontent led to two massive protests: theCordobazo and theRosariazo. The terrorist guerrilla organisationMontoneros kidnapped and executed Aramburu.[116] The newly chosen head of government,Alejandro Agustín Lanusse, seeking to ease the growing political pressure, allowedHéctor José Cámpora to become the Peronist candidate instead of Perón. Cámpora won theMarch 1973 election, issuedpardons for condemned guerrilla members, and then secured Perón's return from his exile in Spain.[117]
Perón died in July 1974 and was succeeded by his wife, who signed a secret decree empowering the military and the police to "annihilate" the left-wing subversion,[121]stopping ERP's attempt to start a rural insurgence in Tucumán province.[122]Isabel Perón was ousted one year later by a junta of the combined armed forces, led by army generalJorge Rafael Videla. They initiated theNational Reorganization Process, often shortened toProceso.[123]
TheProceso shut down Congress, removed the judges on the Supreme Court, banned political parties and unions, and resorted to employing theforced disappearance of suspected guerrilla members including individuals suspected of being associated with the left-wing. By the end of 1976, the Montoneros had lost nearly 2,000 members and by 1977, the ERP was completely subdued. Nevertheless, the severely weakened Montoneros launched a counterattack in 1979, which was quickly put down, effectively ending the guerrilla threat and securing the junta's position in power.[124]
In March 1982, an Argentine force took control of the British territory ofSouth Georgia and, on 2 April, Argentinainvaded the Falkland Islands. The United Kingdom dispatched a task force to regain possession. Argentina surrendered on 14 June and its forces were taken home. Street riots in Buenos Aires followed the humiliating defeat and the military leadership stood down.[125][126]Reynaldo Bignone replaced Galtieri and began to organise the transition to democratic governance.[127]
De la Rúa left Menem's economic plan in effect despite the worsening crisis, which led to growing social discontent.[132] Massivecapital flight from the country was responded to with afreezing of bank accounts, generating further turmoil. TheDecember 2001 riots forced him to resign.[134] Congress appointedEduardo Duhalde as acting president, who revoked the fixed exchange rate established by Menem,[135] causing many working- and middle-class Argentines to lose a significant portion of their savings. By late 2002, the economic crisis began to recede, but the assassination of twopiqueteros by the police caused political unrest, prompting Duhalde to move elections forward.[136]Néstor Kirchner waselected as the new president. On 26 May 2003, he was sworn in.[137][138]
Boosting theneo-Keynesian economic policies[136] laid by Duhalde, Kirchner ended the economic crisis attaining significant fiscal and trade surpluses, and rapidGDP growth.[139] Under his administration, Argentinarestructured its defaulted debt with an unprecedented discount of about 70% on most bonds, paid off debts with theInternational Monetary Fund,[140] purged the military of officers with dubious human rights records,[141]nullified and voided the Full Stop and Due Obedience laws,[142][I] ruled them as unconstitutional, and resumed legal prosecution of the Junta's crimes. He did not run for reelection, promoting instead the candidacy of his wife, senatorCristina Kirchner who won the2007 and2011 elections.[144] DuringKirchner's presidency she promoted foreign relations with countries such as Venezuela, Iran, and Cuba, whilst US and UK relations were increasingly strained. Despite increased renewable energy production and subsidies during her tenure, the overall economy had been sluggish since 2011.[145]
On 22 November 2015, after a tie in the first round ofpresidential elections on 25 October,centre-right coalition candidateMauricio Macri won the firstballotage in Argentina's history, beatingFront for Victory candidateDaniel Scioli and becoming president-elect.[146] Macri was the first democratically elected non-peronist president since 1916 that managed to complete his term in office without being overthrown.[147] He took office on 10 December 2015 and inherited an economy with a high inflation rate and in a poor shape.[148] In April 2016, theMacri government introduced neoliberal austerity measures intended to tackleinflation and overblown public deficits.[149] Under Macri's administration, economic recovery remained elusive with GDP shrinking 3.4%, inflation totalling 240%, billions of US dollars issued in sovereign debt, and mass poverty increasing by the end of his term.[150][151] He ran for reelection in 2019 but lost by nearly eight percentage points toAlberto Fernández, the Justicialist Party candidate.[152]
Fernández and vice president Cristina Kirchner took office in December 2019,[153] just months before theCOVID-19 pandemic hit Argentina and among accusations ofcorruption,bribery andmisuse of public funds during Néstor and Cristina Kirchner's presidencies.[154][155] In November 2021, the centre-left coalition of Argentina's ruling Peronist party,Frente de Todos (Front for Everyone), lost its majority in Congress, for the first time in almost 40 years, in midtermlegislative elections. The election victory of the centre-right coalition,Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change) limited Fernández' power during his final two years in office. Losing control of the Senate made it difficult for him to make key appointments, including to the judiciary. It also forced him to negotiate with the opposition on every initiative send to the legislature.[156][157]
Argentina is one of the mostbiodiverse countries in the world[173] hosting one of the greatestecosystem varieties in the world: 15 continental zones, 2 marine zones, and the Antarctic region are all represented in its territory.[173] This huge ecosystem variety has led to a biological diversity that is among the world's largest:[173][174] 9,372 cataloguedvascular plant species (ranked 24th);[J] 1,038 catalogued bird species (ranked 14th);[K] 375 cataloguedmammal species (ranked 12th);[L] 338 cataloguedreptilian species (ranked 16th); and 162 cataloguedamphibian species (ranked 19th).
In Argentinaforest cover is around 10% of the total land area, equivalent to 28,573,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 35,204,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 27,137,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 1,436,000 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to beprimary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 7% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 0% of the forest area was reported to be underpublic ownership, 4%private ownership and 96% with ownership listed as other or unknown.[175][176]
The originalpampa had virtually no trees; some imported species such as theAmerican sycamore oreucalyptus are present along roads or in towns and country estates (estancias). The only tree-like plant native to the pampa is the evergreenOmbú. The surface soils of the pampa are a deep black colour, primarilymollisols, known commonly ashumus. This makes the region one of the most agriculturally productive on Earth; however, this is also responsible for decimating much of the original ecosystem, to make way for commercial agriculture.[177] The western pampas receive less rainfall, thisdry pampa is a plain of short grasses orsteppe.[178][179]
In general, Argentina has four main climate types: warmhumid subtropical, moderate humid subtropical,arid, andcold, all determined by the expanse across latitude, range in altitude, and relief features.[183][184] Although the most populated areas are generallytemperate, Argentina has an exceptional amount of climate diversity,[185] ranging fromsubtropical in the north topolar in the far south.[186] Consequently, there is a wide variety ofbiomes in the country, includingSubtropical rainforests,semi-arid andarid regions,temperate plains in thePampas, and coldsubantarctic in the south.[187] The average annual precipitation ranges from 150 millimetres (6 in) in the driest parts ofPatagonia to over 2,000 millimetres (79 in) in the westernmost parts of Patagonia and the northeastern parts of the country.[185] Mean annual temperatures range from 5 °C (41 °F) in the far south to 25 °C (77 °F) in the north.[185]
Major wind currents include the coolPampero Winds blowing on the flat plains of Patagonia and the Pampas; following the cold front, warm currents blow from the north in middle and late winter, creating mild conditions.[188]TheSudestada usually moderates cold temperatures but brings very heavy rains, rough seas andcoastal flooding. It is most common in late autumn and winter along the central coast and in the Río de la Plata estuary.[188]TheZonda, ahot dry wind, affects Cuyo and the central Pampas. Squeezed of all moisture during the 6,000 m (19,685 ft) descent from the Andes, Zonda winds can blow for hours with gusts up to 120 km/h (75 mph), fuelling wildfires and causing damage; between June and November, when the Zonda blows, snowstorms andblizzard (viento blanco) conditions usually affect higher elevations.[189]
Climate change in Argentina is predicted to have significant effects on the living conditions in Argentina.[190]: 30 Theclimate of Argentina is changing with regards to precipitation patterns and temperatures. The highest increases in precipitation (from the period 1960–2010) have occurred in the eastern parts of the country. The increase in precipitation has led to more variability in precipitation from year to year in the northern parts of the country, with a higher risk of prolongeddroughts, disfavouring agriculture in theseregions.
In the 20th century, Argentina experienced significant political turmoil and democratic reversals.[191][192] Between 1930 and 1976, thearmed forces overthrew six governments in Argentina;[192] and the country alternated periods of democracy (1912–1930, 1946–1955, and 1973–1976) with periods of restricted democracy andmilitary rule.[191] Following atransition that began in 1983,[193] full-scale democracy in Argentina was reestablished.[191][192] Argentina's democracy endured through the2001–02 crisis and to the present day; it is regarded as more robust than both its pre-1983 predecessors and other democracies inLatin America.[192] According toInternational IDEA’s Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Indices and Democracy Tracker, Argentina performs in the mid-range on overall democratic measures, with particular strengths in freedom of religion, inclusive suffrage, and civic engagement.[194] Moreover, according to theV-Dem Democracy indices, Argentina in 2023 was the second mostelectoral democratic country in Latin America.[195]
The federal government is composed of three branches. TheLegislative branch consists of thebicameral Congress, made up of theSenate and theChamber of Deputies. The Congress makesfederal law,declares war, approvestreaties and has thepower of the purse and ofimpeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government.[201] The Chamber of Deputies represents the people and has 257 voting members elected to a four-year term. Seats are apportioned among the provinces by population every tenth year.[202] As of 2014[update] ten provinces have just five deputies while theBuenos Aires Province, being the most populous one, has 70. The Chamber of Senators represents the provinces, and has 72 members electedat-large to six-year terms, with each province having three seats; one-third of Senate seats are up for election every other year.[203] At least one-third of the candidates presented by the parties must be women.
In theExecutive branch, thePresident is thecommander-in-chief of the military, canvetolegislative bills before they become law—subject to Congressional override—and appoints themembers of the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.[204] The President is electeddirectly by the vote of the people, serves a four-year term and may be elected to office no more than twice in a row.[205]
TheJudicial branch includes theSupreme Court and lowerfederal courts interpret laws andoverturn those they findunconstitutional.[206] The Judicial is independent of the Executive and the Legislative. The Supreme Court has seven members appointed by the President—subject to Senate approval—who serve for life. The lower courts' judges are proposed by theCouncil of Magistracy (a secretariat composed of representatives of judges, lawyers, researchers, the Executive and the Legislative), and appointed by the president on Senate approval.[207]
Argentina is a federation of twenty-three provinces and oneautonomous city, Buenos Aires. Provinces are divided for administration purposes intodepartments andmunicipalities, except for Buenos Aires Province, which is divided intopartidos. The City of Buenos Aires is divided intocommunes.
Provinces hold all the power that they chose not to delegate to the federal government;[208] they must be representative republics and must not contradict the Constitution.[209] Beyond this they are fully autonomous: they enact their own constitutions,[210] freely organise their local governments,[211] and own and manage their natural and financial resources.[212] Some provinces have bicameral legislatures, while others haveunicameral ones.[N]
La Pampa and Chaco became provinces in 1951. Misiones did so in 1953, andFormosa,Neuquén,Río Negro,Chubut and Santa Cruz, in 1955. The last national territory, Tierra del Fuego, became theTierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province in 1990.[214] It has three components, although two are nominal because they are not under Argentine sovereignty. The first is the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego; the second is an area of Antarctica claimed by Argentina that overlaps with similar areas claimed by the UK and Chile; the third comprises the two disputed British Overseas Territories of theFalkland Islands andSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.[215]
A prominent Latin American[23] and Southern Cone[24]regional power, Argentina cofoundedOEI andCELAC.It is also a founding member of theMercosur block, having Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay andVenezuela as partners. Since 2002 the country has emphasised its key role inLatin American integration, and the block—which has some supranational legislative functions—is its first international priority.[218]
The president holds the title of commander-in-chief of the Argentine Armed Forces, as part of a legal framework that imposes a strict separation between national defence and internal security systems:[225][226] TheNational Defence System, an exclusive responsibility of the federal government,[227] coordinated by theMinistry of Defence, and comprising theArmy, theNavy and theAir Force.[228] Ruled and monitored by Congress[229] through the Houses' Defence Committees,[230] it is organised on the essential principle of legitimate self-defence: the repelling of any external military aggression in order to guarantee freedom of the people, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity.[230] Its secondary missions include committing to multinational operations within the framework of the United Nations, participating in internal support missions, assisting friendly countries, and establishing a sub-regional defence system.[230]
Military service is voluntary, with enlistment age between 18 and 24 years old and noconscription.[231] Argentina's defence has historically been one of the best equipped in the region, even managingits own weapon research facilities, shipyards, ordnance, tank and plane factories.[232] However, real military expenditures declined steadily after the defeat in theFalklands/Malvinas War and the defence budget in 2011 was only about 0.74% of GDP, a historical minimum,[233] below the Latin American average. Within the defence budget itself, funding for training and even basic maintenance has been significantly cut, a factor contributing to theaccidental loss of the Argentine submarine San Juan in 2017. The result has been a steady erosion of Argentine military capabilities, with some arguing that Argentina had, by the end of the 2010s, ceased to be a capable military power.[234]
TheInterior Security System is jointly administered by the federal and subscribing provincial governments.[226] At the federal level it is coordinated by the Interior,Security and Justice ministries, and monitored by Congress.[226] It is enforced by theFederal Police; thePrefecture, which fulfillscoast guard duties; theGendarmerie, which servesborder guard tasks; and theAirport Security Police.[235] At the provincial level it is coordinated by the respective internal security ministries and enforced by local police agencies.[226]
Argentina was the only South American country to send warships and cargo planes in 1991 to theGulf War underUN mandate and has remained involved inpeacekeeping efforts in multiple locations such asUNPROFOR inCroatia/Bosnia,Gulf of Fonseca,UNFICYP inCyprus (where among Army and Marines troops the Air Force provided the UN Air contingent since 1994) andMINUSTAH inHaiti. Argentina is the only Latin American country to maintain troops inKosovo duringSFOR (and laterEUFOR) operations wherecombat engineers of the Argentine Armed Forces are embedded in anItalian brigade.
In 2007, an Argentine contingent including helicopters, boats and water purification plants was sent to helpBolivia against their worst floods in decades.[236] In 2010 the Armed Forces were also involved inHaiti andChile humanitarian responses after their respective earthquakes.[237]
Benefiting from richnatural resources, a highly literate population, a diversified industrial base, and an export-oriented agricultural sector, Argentina's economy is Latin America's third-largest,[238] and the second-largest inSouth America.[239] In 1913, Argentina was one of the wealthiest countries in the world by GDP per capita.[240] It has a "very high" rating on the Human Development Index[12] and ranks 66th bynominal GDP per capita,[241] with a considerableinternal market size and a growing share of thehigh-tech sector. As amiddle emerging economy and one of the world's top developing nations, it is a member of theG-20 major economies.[242][O]
Argentina is the largest producer in the world ofyerba mate (due to the large domestic consumption ofmate), one of the five largest producers in the world ofsoybeans,maize,sunflower seed,lemon andpear, one of the ten largest producers in the world ofbarley,grape,artichoke,tobacco andcotton, and one of the 15 largest producers in the world ofwheat,sugarcane,sorghum andgrapefruit. It is the largest producer in South America of wheat, sunflower seed, barley, lemon and pear.[244][245] Inwine, Argentina is usually among the tenlargest producers in the world.[246] Argentina is a traditional meat exporter, having been, in 2019, the 4th world producer ofbeef, with a production of 3 million tons (only behind US, Brazil and China), the 4th world producer ofhoney, and the 10th world producer ofwool, in addition to other relevant productions.[247][248]
Themining industry of Argentina is less prominent compared to other countries but stands out as the fourth-largest producer oflithium,[249] the 11th-largest ofsilver[250] and 17th-largest ofgold[251] worldwide. Argentina excels innatural gas production, being the largest producer in South America and the 18th-largest globally. Argentina produces an average of 500,000 barrels/day ofpetroleum, despite the under-utilisation of the Vaca Muerta field due to technical and financial limitations in resource extraction.[252][253]
In 2012[update],manufacturing accounted for 20.3% of GDP—the largest sector in Argentina's economy.[254] Well-integrated into Argentine agriculture, half of the industrial exports have rural origin.[254] With a 6.5% production growth rate in 2011[update],[255] the diversified manufacturing sector rests on a steadily growing network ofindustrial parks, 314 in 2013.[256][257] In 2012, the leading sectors by volume were: food processing, beverages and tobacco products; motor vehicles and auto parts;textiles and leather;refinery products andbiodiesel; chemicals and pharmaceuticals;steel,aluminium andiron; industrial and farm machinery; home appliances and furniture; plastics and tires; glass and cement; and recording and print media.[254] Argentina has since long been one of the top five wine-producing countries in the world.[254]
Argentina ranks 85th out of 180 countries in theTransparency International's 2017Corruption Perceptions Index,[258] an improvement of 22 positions over its 2014 rankings.[259] Argentina settled its long-standing debt default crisis in 2016 with the so-calledvulture funds after the election of Mauricio Macri, allowing Argentina to enter capital markets for the first time in a decade.[260] The government of Argentina defaulted in May 2020 by failing to pay a $500 million bill by its due date to its creditors. Negotiations for the restructuring of $66 billion of its debt continue.[261]
Highinflation—a weakness of the Argentine economy for decades—has become a trouble once again,[262] recently peaking at 220% in 2024.[263] Approximately 43% of the Argentina's population lived below the poverty line in 2023.[264] To deter it and support the peso, the government imposed foreign currency control.[265]Income distribution, having improved since 2002, is classified as "medium", although it is still considerably unequal.[11]
On 10 December 2023,Javier Milei was sworn in as president. He pursued deregulation policies to alleviate the national economic crisis.[266][267] In January 2024, Argentina's poverty rate reached 57.4%, the highest poverty rate in the country since 2004.[268] By the second semester of 2024, however, poverty levels had fallen sharply to 38%, the lowest since 2022.[269] In November 2024, Argentina's monthly inflation rate slowed to 2.4%, the lowest in over four years. Annual inflation was expected to end 2024 closer to 100%.[270] Favourable results and normalisation in Argentina's economy are expected to continue in 2025. The annual inflation rate is expected to be below 30% in 2025. Economic activity has also begun to recover after the severe recession at the beginning of 2024. The economy is expected to expand by more than 4% in 2025.[271]
In 2004, Buenos Aires, all provincial capitals except Ushuaia, and all medium-sized towns were interconnected by 69,412 km (43,131 mi) of paved roads, out of a road network of 231,374 km (143,769 mi).[274] In 2021, Argentina had about 2,800 km (1,740 mi) ofdual carriageways, most leaving the capitalBuenos Aires, linking it with cities such asRosario andCórdoba,Santa Fe,Mar del Plata andPaso de los Libres (bordering Brazil). There are alsodual carriageways leaving fromMendoza towards the capital, and between Córdoba and Santa Fé, among other locations.[275] Nevertheless, this road infrastructure is still inadequate and cannot handle the sharply growing demand caused by deterioration of the railway system.[276]
Argentina has the largestrailway system in Latin America, with 36,966 km (22,970 mi) of operating lines in 2008[update], out of a network of almost 48,000 km (29,826 mi).[277] This system links all 23 provinces, plus Buenos Aires City, and connects with all neighbouring countries.[276] There are four incompatiblegauges in use; this forces virtually all interregional freight traffic to pass through Buenos Aires.[276] The system has been in decline since the 1940s: regularly running up large budgetary deficits. By 1991, it was transporting 1,400 times less goods than it did in 1973.[276]
However, in recent years the system has experienced agreater degree of investment from the state, in both commuter rail lines and long-distance lines, renewing rolling stock and infrastructure.[278][279] In April 2015, by overwhelming majority theArgentine Senate passed a law which recreatedFerrocarriles Argentinos, effectively renationalising the country's railways, a move which saw support from all major political parties on both sides of the political spectrum.[280][281][282]
In 2012, there were about 11,000 km (6,835 mi) ofwaterways,[283] mostly comprising the La Plata, Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay rivers, with Buenos Aires,Zárate,Campana, Rosario, San Lorenzo, Santa Fe,Barranqueras and San Nicolas de los Arroyos as the mainfluvial ports.Some of the largestsea ports areLa Plata–Ensenada, Bahía Blanca,Mar del Plata,Quequén–Necochea,Comodoro Rivadavia,Puerto Deseado,Puerto Madryn, Ushuaia andSan Antonio Oeste.Buenos Aires has historically been the most important port. Since the 1990s the Up-River port region has become dominant: stretching along 67 km (42 mi) of the Paraná river shore in Santa Fe province, it includes 17 ports and in 2013 accounted for 50% of all exports.
In 2020, more than 60% of Argentina's electricity came from non-renewable sources such as natural gas, oil and coal. 27% came fromhydropower, 7.3% from wind and solar energy and 4.4% from nuclear energy.[288] At the end of 2021 Argentina was the 21st country in the world in terms of installed hydroelectric power (11.3 GW), the 26th country in the world in terms of installed wind energy (3.2 GW) and the 43rd country in the world in terms of installed solar energy (1.0 GW).[289]
The wind potential of the Patagonia region is considered gigantic, with estimates that the area could provide enough electricity to sustain the consumption of a country like Brazil alone. However, Argentina has faces infrastructural challenges in transferring electricity from wind-rich rural areas to its population hubs.[290]
In 1974, Argentina was the first country in Latin America to put a commercial nuclear power plant online,Atucha I. Although the Argentine-built parts for that station amounted to 10% of the total, the nuclear fuel it uses are from Argentina. Later nuclear power stations employed a higher percentage of Argentine-built components.Embalse, finished in 1983, used 30% and the 2011Atucha II reactor used 40%.[291]
Argentina was the first country in Latin America to design and build aresearch reactor with homegrown technology, theRA-1 Enrico Fermi. This reliance on the development of its own nuclear-related technologies, instead of buying them abroad, was a constant of Argentina's nuclear programme conducted by the civilianNational Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA). Nuclear facilities with Argentine technology have been built in Peru, Algeria, Australia and Egypt. In 1983, Argentina admitted having the capability of producing weapon-gradeuranium, a major step needed to assemblenuclear weapons. Since then, Argentina has pledged to use nuclear power only for peaceful purposes.[292] As a member of the Board of Governors of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency, Argentina supports nuclear non-proliferation efforts[293] and is committed to global nuclear security.[294]
Despite its modest budget and numerous setbacks, academics and the sciences in Argentina have enjoyed international respect since the 1900s, whenLuis Agote devised the first safe and effective means ofblood transfusion as well asRené Favaloro, who was a pioneer in the improvement of thecoronary artery bypass surgery. Argentine scientists are still on the cutting edge in fields such asnanotechnology,physics,computer sciences, molecular biology, oncology, ecology and cardiology.Juan Maldacena, an Argentine-American scientist, is a leading figure instring theory.
Space research has become increasingly active in Argentina. Argentine-built satellites includeLUSAT-1 [es] (1990),Víctor-1 [es] (1996),PEHUENSAT-1 (2007),[295] and those developed byCONAE, the Argentine space agency, of the SAC series.[296] Argentina has its own satellite programme, nuclear power station designs (4th generation) and public nuclear energy companyINVAP, which provides several countries with nuclear reactors.[297] Established in 1991, theCONAE has since launched two satellites successfully.[298]
In June 2009, CONAE secured an agreement with theEuropean Space Agency for the installation of a 35-m diametre antenna and other mission support facilities at thePierre Auger Observatory, the world's foremostcosmic ray observatory.[299] The facility will contribute to numerous ESA space probes, as well as CONAE's own, domestic research projects. Chosen from 20 potential sites and one of only three such ESA installations in the world, the new antenna will create a triangulation which will allow the ESA to ensure mission coverage around the clock.[300] Argentina was ranked 76th in theGlobal Innovation Index in 2024,[301] and was ranked 77th in 2025.[302]
Argentine Society for the Study of Mammals
The Sociedad Argentina para el Estudio de los Mamíferos, SAREM (Argentine Society for the Study of Mammals) inMendoza, in collaboration with the Center for Science and Technology, Mendoza (CCT), theNational Council of Science and Technology (CONICET), and theInternational Federation of Mammalogists (IFM), hosted the 2009 International Mammalogical Congresses in Mendoza. The Latin American Mammalogy Network (Red Latinoamericana de Mastozoología, or RELAM) was created during the 2009 IMC Congress, cofounded by SAREM and the Asociación Boliviana de Investigadores en Mamíferos (Bolivian Association of Mammal Researchers, ABIMA).[303] The electronic scientific journalTherya, conceived during IMC 10, began publication by the Mexican Association of Mammalogy (AMMAC), in 2010. Doctor William Z. Lidicker Jr., who presided over IMC 10, was the editor.[304]
The 2022census[INDEC] counted 46,044,703 inhabitants, up from 40,117,096 in 2010.[9][305][306] The population in 2024 is estimated to have increased to 47,067,441 inhabitants.[307] Argentina ranks third in South America in total population, fourth in Latin America and 33rd globally. Its population density of 15 persons per square kilometre of land area is well below the world average of 50 persons. The population growth rate in 2010 was an estimated 1.03% annually, with a birth rate of 17.7 live births per 1,000 inhabitants and a mortality rate of 7.4 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. Since 2010, the crudenet migration rate has ranged from below zero to up to four immigrants per 1,000 inhabitants per year.[308]
Argentina is in the midst of ademographic transition to an older and slower-growing population. The proportion of people under 15 is 25.6%, a little below the world average of 28%, and the proportion of people 65 and older is relatively high at 10.8%. In Latin America, this is second only toUruguay and well above the world average, which is currently 7%. Argentina has a comparatively lowinfant mortality rate. Argentina's 2010 birth rate of 2.3 children per woman was considerably below the high of 7.0 children born per woman in 1895,[309] though still nearly twice as high as in Spain or Italy, which are culturally and demographically similar.[310][311] In 2015, the median age was 31.9 years andlife expectancy at birth was 77.14 years.[312]
Argentina is highly urbanised, with 92% of its population living in cities:[316] the ten largest metropolitan areas account for half of the population.About 3 million people live in the city of Buenos Aires. The Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area has around 13 million, making it one of the largest urban areas in the world.[317] The metropolitan areas of Córdoba and Rosario have around 1.3 million inhabitants each.[317] Mendoza, San Miguel de Tucumán, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Salta and Santa Fe have at least half a million people each.[317]
The population is unequally distributed: about 60% live in the Pampas region (21% of the total area), including 15 million people in Buenos Aires province. The provinces of Córdoba and Santa Fe, and the city of Buenos Aires have 3 million each. Seven other provinces have over one million people each: Mendoza, Tucumán, Entre Ríos, Salta, Chaco, Corrientes and Misiones. With 64.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (167/sq mi), Tucumán is the only Argentine province more densely populated than the world average. By contrast, the southern province of Santa Cruz has around 1.1/km2 (2.8/sq mi).[318]
Proportion of European and indigenous peoples in Argentina
Argentina is considered a country of immigrants.[320][321][322] Argentines usually refer to the country as acrisol de razas (crucible of races, ormelting pot). A 2010 study conducted on 218 individuals by the Argentine geneticistDaniel Corach established that the average genetic ancestry of Argentines is 79% European (mainly Italian and Spanish), 18% indigenous and 4.3% African. 63.6% of the tested group had at least one ancestorwho was Indigenous.[323][324] The majority of Argentines descend from multiple European ethnic groups, primarily ofItalian andSpanish descent, with over 25 million Argentines, almost 60% of the population, having some partial Italian origins.[325]
Argentina is home to a notableAsian population, the majority of whom are descended from either West Asians, namelyLebanese andSyrians,[326] or East Asians, such as theChinese,[327]Koreans, and theJapanese.[328] The latter of whom number around 180,000 individuals. The total number ofArab Argentines (most of whom are of Lebanese or Syrian origin) is estimated to be 1.3 to 3.5 million. Many immigrated from Asian countries to Argentina during the latter half of 19th century, and the first half of the 20th century.[329][330] Most Arab Argentines belong to the Catholic Church, including both the Latin Church and theEastern Catholic Churches, or theEastern Orthodox Church. A minority areMuslims. In 2018, there were 180,000Alawites in Argentina.[331][332]
Since the 1970s, immigration has mostly been coming fromBolivia,Paraguay andPeru, with smaller numbers from theDominican Republic, Ecuador andRomania.[333] In 2008, the Argentine government estimated that 750,000 inhabitants lack official documents and has launched a programme[334] to encourage illegal immigrants to declare their status in return for two-year residence visas—so far over 670,000 applications have been processed under the programme.[335] As of July 2023, more than 18,500 Russians have come to Argentina after theRussian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[336]
Thede facto[P] official language isSpanish, spoken by almost all Argentines.[337]Argentina is the largestSpanish-speaking society that universally employsvoseo, the use of thepronounvos instead oftú ("you"), which imposes the use of alternative verb forms as well.
Owing to the extensive Argentine geography, Spanish has a strong variation among regions, although the prevalent dialect isRioplatense, primarily spoken in the Pampean and Patagonian regions and accented similarly to theNeapolitan language.[338] Italian and other European immigrants influencedLunfardo—the regional slang—permeating the vernacular vocabulary of other Latin American countries as well.
In 2008, Argentines were 76.5%Catholic, 11.3%Agnostics andAtheists, 9%Evangelical Protestants, 1.2%Jehovah's Witnesses, and 0.9%Mormons, while 1.2% followed other religions, includingIslam,Judaism andBuddhism.[346] These figures appear to have changed quite significantly in recent years: in 2017, Catholics were 66% of the population, indicating a drop of 10.5% in nine years, and the nonreligious in the country standing at 21% of the population, indicating an almost doubling over the same period.[347] In 2024, Catholics were 63% of the population. 20% of Argentines are irreligious, 9% are Protestants, and 8% follow another religion or didn't answer.[348]
Argentines show high individualisation and deinstitutionalisation of religious beliefs.[350] 23.8% claim to always attend religious services; 49.1% seldom do and 26.8% never do.[351]
The Argentine education system consists of four levels.[353] An initial level for children between 45 days to 5 years old, with the last two years[354] being compulsory. An elementary orlower school mandatory level lasting 6 or 7 years.[T] In 2010, theliteracy rate was 98.07%.[355] A secondary orhigh school mandatory level lasts 5 or 6 years.[T] In 2010, 38.5% of people over age 20 had completed secondary school.[356] Higher education is divided into tertiary, university and post-graduate sub-levels. In 2013, there were 47national public universities across the country, and 46 private ones.[357]
In 2010, 7.1% of people over age 20 had graduated from university.[356] The public universities ofBuenos Aires,Córdoba,La Plata,Rosario, and theNational Technological University are some of the most important. The Argentine state guarantees universal, secular and free-of-charge public education for all levels.[U] Responsibility for educational supervision is organised at the federal and individual provincial states. In the last decades the role of the private sector has grown across all educational stages.
Healthcare is provided through a combination of employer and labour union-sponsored plans (Obras Sociales), government insurance plans, public hospitals and clinics and through private health insurance plans. Healthcare cooperatives number over 300 (of which 200 are related tolabour unions) and provide healthcare for half the population; the national INSSJP (popularly known as PAMI) covers nearly all of the five million senior citizens.[358]
There are more than 153,000 hospital beds, 121,000 physicians and 37,000 dentists, ratios comparable todeveloped nations.[359][360] The relatively high access to medical care has historically resulted in mortality patterns and trends similar to developed nations': from 1953 to 2005, deaths fromcardiovascular disease increased from 20% to 23% of the total, those fromtumors from 14% to 20%,respiratory problems from 7% to 14%,digestive maladies (non-infectious) from 7% to 11%, strokes a steady 7%, injuries, 6%, andinfectious diseases, 4%. Causes related tosenility led to many of the rest. Infant deaths have fallen from 19% of all deaths in 1953 to 3% in 2005.[359][361]
The availability of healthcare has also reducedinfant mortality from 70 per 1000 live births in 1948[362] to 12.1 in 2009[359] and raisedlife expectancy at birth from 60 years to 76.[362] Though these figures compare favourably with global averages, they fall short of levels in developed nations and in 2006, Argentina ranked fourth in Latin America.[360]
Argentina is amulticultural country with significant European influences. Modern Argentine culture has been largely influenced byItalian,Spanish and other European immigration fromFrance,Russia,United Kingdom, among others. Its cities are largely characterised by both the prevalence of people of European descent, and of conscious imitation of American and European styles in fashion, architecture and design.[363]
Museums, cinemas, and galleries are abundant in all the large urban centres, as well as traditional establishments such as literary bars, or bars offeringlive music of a variety of genres although there are lesser elements ofAmerindian andAfrican influences, particularly in the fields of music and art.[364] The other big influence is thegauchos and their traditional country lifestyle of self-reliance.[365] Indigenous American traditions have been absorbed into the general cultural milieu.Argentine writerErnesto Sabato has reflected on the nature of the culture of Argentina as follows:
With the primitive Hispanic American reality fractured in La Plata Basin due to immigration, its inhabitants have come to be somewhat dual with all the dangers but also with all the advantages of that condition: because of our European roots, we deeply link the nation with the enduring values of the Old World; because of our condition of Americans we link ourselves to the rest of the continent, through the folklore of the interior and the old Castilian that unifies us, feeling somehow the vocation of thePatria Grande San Martín and Bolívar once imagined.
Although Argentina's rich literary history began around 1550,[367] it reached full independence withEsteban Echeverría'sEl Matadero, aromantic landmark that played a significant role in the development of 19th century's Argentine narrative,[368] split by the ideological divide between the popular, federalist epic ofJosé Hernández'Martín Fierro and the elitist and cultured discourse ofSarmiento's masterpiece,Facundo.[369]
Buenos Aires is one of the great theatre capitals of the world,[383] with a scene of international caliber centred onCorrientes Avenue, "the street that never sleeps", sometimes referred to as theBroadway of Buenos Aires.[384]Teatro Colón is a global landmark foropera and classical performances; its acoustics are considered among the world's top five.[385][V]
The Argentine film industry has historically been one of the three most developed inLatin American cinema, along with those produced inMexico andBrazil.[386][387] It started in 1896. By the early 1930s, it was Latin America's leading film producer, a place it kept until the early 1950s.[388] The world's firstanimated feature films were made and released in Argentina, by cartoonistQuirino Cristiani, in 1917 and 1918.[389]
In 1946, Gyula Košice and others created TheMadí Movement in Argentina, which then spread to Europe and the United States, where it had a significant impact.[392] Tomás Maldonado was one of the main theorists of theUlm Model of design education, still highly influential globally. Other Argentine artists of worldwide fame includeAdolfo Bellocq, whoselithographs have been influential since the 1920s, andBenito Quinquela Martín, the quintessential port painter, inspired by the immigrant-boundLa Boca neighbourhood. Internationally laureate sculptorsErminio Blotta,Lola Mora andRogelio Yrurtia authored many of the classical evocative monuments of the Argentine cityscape.[393][394]
The colonisation brought theSpanish Baroque architecture, which can still be appreciated in its simplerRioplatense style in thereduction ofSan Ignacio Miní, theCathedral of Córdoba, and the Cabildo of Luján. Italian and French influences increased at the beginning of the 19th century with strongeclectic overtones that gave the local architecture a unique feeling.[395]
Headquarters of theChannel 7, the first television station in the country
The print media industry is highly developed in Argentina, with more than two hundred newspapers. The major national ones includeClarín (centrist, Latin America's best-seller and the second most widely circulated in the Spanish-speaking world),La Nación (centre-right),Página/12 (leftist),La Voz del Interior (centre).[396][397]
TheArgentine television industry is large, diverse and popular across Latin America, with many productions andTV formats having been exported abroad. Since 1999 Argentines have enjoyed the highest availability of cable and satellite television in Latin America.[400] In 2014, 87.4% of Argentina's households had access, a rate similar to those in the United States, Canada and Europe.[401]
As of early 2024, internet penetration in Argentina stood at 88.4% of the total population, and the ratio of cellular mobile connections to the total population was 135.3% (62.14 million active connections).[402]
Besides many of the pasta, sausage and dessert dishes common to continental Europe, Argentines enjoy a wide variety of Indigenous andCriollo creations, includingempanadas (a small stuffed pastry),locro (a mixture of corn, beans, meat, bacon, onion, and gourd),humita andmate.[403]
Tennis has been quite popular among people of all ages.Guillermo Vilas is the greatest Latin American player of theOpen Era,[420] whileGabriela Sabatini is the most accomplished Argentine female player of all time—having reached number 3 in theWTA ranking,[421] are both inductees into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame.[422] Argentina has won theWorld Team Cup four times, in 1980, 2002,2007 and2010 and has reached the semifinals of theDavis Cup 7 times in the last 10 years, losing the finals against Russia in2006 and Spain in2008 and2011; the Argentine team also played the final in1981, where they lost against the United States. The national squad won the2016 Davis Cup.
Argentina reigns undisputed inpolo, having won more international championships than any other country and been seldom beaten since the 1930s.[423] TheArgentine Polo Championship is the sport's most important international team trophy. The country is home to most of the world's top players, among themAdolfo Cambiaso, the best in Polo history.[424]
^Since 2012 suffrage is optional for ages 16 and 17.[200]
^Although not a province, theCity of Buenos Aires is a federallyautonomous city, and as such its local organisation has similarities with provinces: it has its own constitution, an elected mayor and representatives to the Senate and Deputy chambers.[213] Asfederal capital of the nation it holds the status offederal district.
^The other top developing nations being Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey.[242]
^Though not declared officialde jure, the Spanish language is the only one used in the wording of laws, decrees, resolutions, official documents and public acts.
^Many elder people also speak amacaronic language of Italian and Spanish calledcocoliche, which was originated by the Italian immigrants in the late 19th century.
^It gave origin to a mixture of Spanish and German calledBelgranodeutsch.
^In practice this privileged status amounts to tax-exempt school subsidies and licensing preferences for radio broadcasting frequencies.[345]
^Crow 1992, p. 457: "In the meantime, while the crowd assembled in the plaza continued to shout its demands at the cabildo, the sun suddenly broke through the overhanging clouds and clothed the scene in brilliant light. The people looked upward with one accord and took it as a favorable omen for their cause. This was the origin of the "sun of May" which has appeared in the center of the Argentine flag and on the Argentine coat of arms ever since.";Kopka 2011, p. 5: "The sun's features are those ofInti, theIncan sun god. The sun commemorates the appearance of the sun through cloudy skies on 25 May 1810, during the first mass demonstration in favor of independence."
^La educación intercultural bilingüe en Santiago del Estero, ¿mito o realidad? [La cámara de diputados de la provincia sanciona con fuerza de ley.] (in Spanish). Cámara de Diputados de la Nación. p. 1. Archived fromthe original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved30 May 2020.Declárase de interés oficial la preservación, difusión, estímulo, estudio y práctica de la lengua Quíchua en todo el territorio de la provincia [..]
^ab"El INDEC difundió los resultados provisionales Censo 2022: 4 datos claves sobre la población argentina".Página/12.Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved31 January 2023.La población argentina tiene actualmente 46.044.703 habitantes, es decir, 5.927.607 de personas más que las relevadas en el último censo, en 2010. En mayo de 2022, pocos días después del relevamiento, el INDEC había difundido los primeros resultados preliminares, que indicaban que la población argentina tenía 47.327.407 habitantes. Sin embargo el dato fue corregido esta tarde.
^abLevene 1948, p. 11: "[After the Viceroyalty became] a new period that commenced with the revolution of 1810, whose plan consisted in declaring the independence of a nation, thus turning the legal bond of vassalage into one of citizenship as a component of sovereignty and, in addition, organizing the democratic republic.";Sánchez Viamonte 1948, pp. 196–97: "The Argentine nation was a unity in colonial times, during the Viceroyalty, and remained so after the revolution of May 1810. [...] The provinces never acted as independent sovereign states, but as entities created within the nation and as integral parts of it, incidentally affected by internal conflicts.";Vanossi 1964, p. 11: "[The Argentine nationality is a] unique national entity, successor to the Viceroyalty, which, after undergoing a long period of anarchy and disorganization, adopted a decentralized form in 1853–1860 under the Constitution."
^Gordon A. Bridger (2013).Britain and the Making of Argentina. WIT Press. p. 101.ISBN9781845646844.Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved19 August 2021.Some 86% identify themselves as being of European descent, of whom 60% would claim Italian links
^Departamento de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas de laUniversidad Nacional de La Matanza (14 November 2011)."Historias de inmigrantes italianos en Argentina" (in Spanish). infouniversidades.siu.edu.ar.Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved9 October 2018.Se estima que en la actualidad, el 90% de la población argentina tiene alguna ascendencia europea y que al menos 25 millones están relacionados con algún inmigrante de Italia.
^abHuntington 2000, p. 6;Nierop 2001, p. 61: "Secondary regional powers in Huntington's view (Huntington, 2000, p. 6) include Great Britain, Ukraine, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Argentina.";Lake 2009, p. 55: "The US has created a foundation upon which the regional powers, especially Argentina and Brazil, can develop their own rules for further managing regional relations.";Papadopoulos 2010, p. 283: "The driving force behind the adoption of the MERCOSUR agreement was similar to that of the establishment of the EU: the hope of limiting the possibilities of traditional military hostility between the major regional powers, Brazil and Argentina.";Malamud 2011, p. 9: "Though not a surprise, the position of Argentina, Brazil's main regional partner, as the staunchest opponent of its main international ambition [to win a permanent seat on the UN Security Council] dealt a heavy blow to Brazil's image as a regional leader.";Boughton 2012, p. 101: "When the U.S. Treasury organized the next round of finance meetings, it included several non-APEC members, including all the European members of the G7, the Latin American powers Argentina and Brazil, and such other emerging markets as India, Poland, and South Africa."
^abMorris 1988, p. 63: "Argentina has been the leading military and economic power in the Southern Cone in the Twentieth Century.";Adler & Greve 2009, p. 78: "The southern cone of South America, including Argentina and Brazil, the two regional powers, has recently become a pluralistic security community.";Ruiz-Dana et al. 2009, p. 18: "[...] notably by linking the Southern Cone's rival regional powers, Brazil and Argentina."
^"Feriados nacionales 2018" [National Holidays 2018] (in Spanish). Argentina Ministry of the Interior.Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved8 July 2018.
^Douglas A. Richmond, "Julio Argentino Roca" inEncyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 4 p. 583. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.
^Barros, Álvaro (1872).Fronteras y territorios federales de las pampas del Sud (in Spanish). tipos á vapor. pp. 155–57.
^Ras, Norberto (2006).La guerra por las vacas (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Galerna.ISBN978-987-05-0539-6.
^Bayer, Osvaldo (4 December 2004)."Pulgas y garrapatas" (in Spanish). Página/12.Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved4 December 2013.
^Maeder, Ernesto J. A. (1997). "VIII".Historia del Chaco (in Spanish). Editorial Plus Ultra. p. 105.ISBN978-950-21-1256-5.
^Iñigo Carrera, Nicolás (1983).La colonización del Chaco (in Spanish). Centro Editor de América Latina. pp. 16–23.ISBN978-950-25-0123-9.
^"Becoming a serious country".The Economist. London. 3 June 2004.Archived from the original on 20 March 2014.Argentina is thus not a "developing country". Uniquely, it achieved development and then lost it again.
^Maenza, Reinaldo A.; Agosta, Eduardo A.; Bettolli, María L. (August 2017). "Climate change and precipitation variability over the western 'Pampas' in Argentina".International Journal of Climatology.37 (S1):445–463.Bibcode:2017IJCli..37..445M.doi:10.1002/joc.5014.hdl:11336/60155.
^"Grasslands Explained".National Geographic.Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved19 December 2022.Grasslands go by many names. In the United States Midwest, they're often called prairies. In South America, they're known as pampas.
^abc"Argentina".Country Pasture/Forage Resource Profiles. Food and Agriculture Organization.Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved7 June 2015.
^abcdLevitsky, Steven; Murillo, María Victoria (2005)."Introduction". In Steven Levitsky; María Victoria Murillo (eds.).Argentine Democracy: The Politics of Institutional Weakness. Penn State University Press. pp. 1–2.ISBN0271046341.Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved29 March 2020.
^Leslie E. Anderson (2016).Democratization by Institutions: Argentina's Transition Years in Comparative Perspective. University of Michigan Press. p. 15.
^"Argentina – Military expenditure". Index Mundi – SIPRI – Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Yearbook: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security. 2011.Archived from the original on 6 September 2013.
^Corach, Daniel; Lao, Oscar; Bobillo, Cecilia; Van Der Gaag, Kristiaan; Zuniga, Sofia; Vermeulen, Mark; Van Duijn, Kate; Goedbloed, Miriam; Vallone, Peter M.; Parson, Walther; De Knijff, Peter; Kayser, Manfred (January 2010). "Inferring Continental Ancestry of Argentineans from Autosomal, Y-Chromosomal and Mitochondrial DNA".Annals of Human Genetics.74 (1):65–76.doi:10.1111/j.1469-1809.2009.00556.x.hdl:11336/14301.PMID20059473.
^Lizcano Fernández, Francisco."Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI" [Ethnic Composition of the Three Cultural Areas of the American Continent at the Beginning of the 21st Century](PDF).Convergencia. Revista de Ciencias Sociales (in Spanish). Toluca, México: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México:194–195. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 26 June 2013.En principio, se pueden distinguir dos grupos muy distintos al interior de esta etnia: el que procede de Asia occidental (sobre todo árabes cristianos llegados desde Siria y Líbano) y el que salió de Asia oriental (chinos y japoneses principalmente).
^Lizcano Fernández, Francisco."Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI" [Ethnic Composition of the Three Cultural Areas of the American Continent at the Beginning of the 21st Century](PDF).Convergencia. Revista de Ciencias Sociales (in Spanish). Toluca, México: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México: 194. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 26 June 2013.La etnia asiática tiene su origen en los flujos migratorios que partieron de diversos países de Asia, os cuales fueron especialmente relevantes durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX y la primera mitad del XX.
^"Sistema Universitario" (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Ministerio de Educación – Presidencia de la Nación. 2011. Archived fromthe original on 9 February 2014.
^Moore, Don."Radio with a past in Argentina".Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. A slightly edited version of this article was originally published asMoore, Don (January 1995). "Argentina: Radio with a Past".Monitoring Times. Brasstown, NC: Grove Enterprises.
^"Pato, Argentina's national sport".Argentina – Portal público de noticias de la República Argentina. Buenos Aires: Secretaría de Medios de Comunicación – Presidencia de la Nación. 18 November 2008. Archived fromthe original on 6 July 2011.In 1610, thirty years afterBuenos Aires' second foundation and two hundred years before theMay Revolution, a document drafted by the military anthropologistFélix de Azara described apato sport scene taking place in the city.
^"Argentina – Profile". Mies, Switzerland: FIBA – Fédération Internationale de Basket-ball [International Basketball Federation]. 2014. Archived fromthe original on 16 June 2014.
Malamud, Andrés (2011). "A Leader Without Followers? The Growing Divergence Between the Regional and Global Performance of Brazilian Foreign Policy".Latin American Politics and Society.53 (3). Lisbon:1–24.doi:10.1111/j.1548-2456.2011.00123.x.hdl:10451/15545.S2CID154469332.
Mallimaci, Fortunato; Esquivel, Juan Cruz; Irrazábal, Gabriela (26 August 2008)."Primera Encuesta Sobre Creencias y Actitudes Religiosas En Argentina"(PDF) (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: CONICET – Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas.Archived(PDF) from the original on 10 October 2015. Retrieved7 May 2014.
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Arbena, Joseph. "In Search of the Latin American Female Athlete". InArbena & LaFrance (2002), pp. 219–232.
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Further reading
Calvo, Carlos (1864).Anales históricos de la revolucion de la América latina, acompañados de los documentos en su apoyo. Desde el año 1808 hasta el reconocimiento de la independencia de ese extenso continente (in Spanish). Vol. 2. Paris: A. Durand.
Crooker, Richard A. (2009).Argentina. New York: Infobase Publishing.ISBN978-1-4381-0481-2.
Ferro, Carlos A. (1991).Historia de la Bandera Argentina (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Ediciones Depalma.ISBN978-950-14-0610-8.
Margheritis, Ana (2010).Argentina's foreign policy: domestic politics and democracy promotion in the Americas. Boulder, CO: FirstForumPress.ISBN978-1-935049-19-7.
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