Argentina,^[C] officially theArgentine Republic,^[A][D] is a country in the southern half ofSouth America. It covers an area of 2,780,085 km² (1,073,397 sq mi),^[B] making it thesecond-largest country in South America afterBrazil, the fourth-largest country in theAmericas, and theeighth-largest country in the world. Argentina shares the bulk of theSouthern Cone withChile to the west, and is also bordered byBolivia andParaguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast,Uruguay and the SouthAtlantic Ocean to the east, and theDrake Passage to the south. Argentina is afederal state subdivided into twenty-threeprovinces, and oneautonomous city, which is thefederal capital andlargest city of the nation,Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under afederal system. Argentina claims sovereignty over theFalkland Islands,South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, theSouthern Patagonian Ice Field, anda part of Antarctica.

Argentine Republic[A] República Argentina (Spanish)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  "En unión y libertad" ("In Unity and Freedom")
Anthem: Himno Nacional Argentino ("Argentine National Anthem")
Sol de Mayo[2] (Sun of May)
Location of Argentina   Territory claimed but not controlled Show globe Show map of Argentina
Capital and largest city	Buenos Aires 34°36′S58°23′W / 34.600°S 58.383°W /-34.600; -58.383
Official languages	Spanish (de facto)[a]
Co-official languages	Guaraní inCorrientes[3] Quechua inSantiago del Estero[4] Qom,Mocoví, andWichí inChaco[5]
Religion (2019)[6]	78.2%Christianity 62.9%Catholicism 15.3% otherChristian 20.5%no religion 1.3% other
Demonym(s)	Argentine, Argentinian, Argentinean
Government	Federal presidential republic
• President	Javier Milei
• Vice President	Victoria Villarruel
• Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers	Guillermo Francos
• President of the Chamber of Deputies	Martín Menem
• President of Supreme Court	Horacio Rosatti
Legislature	National Congress
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Independence  fromSpain
• May Revolution	25 May 1810
• Declared	9 July 1816
• Constitution	1 May 1853
Area
• Total	2,780,085[7][8] km2 (1,073,397 sq mi)[B] (8th)
• Water (%)	1.57
Population
• 2024 estimate	47,067,441[9] (32nd)
• 2022 census	46,044,703[10] (32nd)
• Density	16.9/km2 (43.8/sq mi) (178th)
GDP (PPP)	2024 estimate
• Total	$1.354 trillion[11] (30th)
• Per capita	$28,704[11] (69th)
GDP (nominal)	2024 estimate
• Total	$604.382 billion[11] (24th)
• Per capita	$12,814[11] (71st)
Gini (2022)	40.7[12] medium inequality
HDI (2022)	0.849[13] very high (48th)
Currency	Argentine peso ($) (ARS)
Time zone	UTC– 03:00 (ART)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (CE)
Calling code	+54
ISO 3166 code	AR
Internet TLD	.ar
^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 earliest recorded human presence in modern-day Argentina dates back to thePaleolithic period.^[14] TheInca Empire expanded to the northwest of the country in pre-Columbian times. The country has its roots inSpanish colonization of the region during the 16th century.^[15] Argentina rose as the successor state of theViceroyalty of the Río de la Plata,^[16] a Spanishoverseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. Thedeclaration on July 9 of 1816 and thefight for independence (1810–1825) was followed by anextended civil war that lasted until 1880, culminating in the country's reorganization as afederation. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, withseveral waves of European immigration, mainlyItalians andSpaniards, influencing itsculture anddemography.^{[17][18][19][20]}

TheNational Autonomist Party dominated national politics in the period called theConservative Republic, from 1880 until the1916 elections. TheGreat Depression led to thefirst coup d'état in 1930 led byJosé Félix Uriburu, beginning the so-called "Infamous Decade" (1930–1943). After that coup, four more followed in1943,1955,1962, and1966. Following the death of PresidentJuan Perón in 1974, his widow and vice president,Isabel Perón, ascended to the presidency, before being overthrown in the final coupin 1976. The followingmilitary junta, which was supported by theUnited States, persecuted and murdered thousands of political critics, activists, and leftists in theDirty War, a period ofstate terrorism and civil unrest that lasted until the election ofRaúl Alfonsín as president in1983.

Argentina is aregional power, and retains its historic status as amiddle power in international affairs.^[21][22][23] Amajor non-NATO ally of the United States,^[24] Argentina is adeveloping country with the second-highestHDI (human development index) inLatin America afterChile.^[25] It maintains thesecond-largest economy in South America, and is a member ofG-15 andG20. Argentina is also a founding member of theUnited Nations,World Bank,World Trade Organization,Mercosur,Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and theOrganization of Ibero-American States.

The description of the region by the wordArgentina has been found on aVenetian map in 1536.^[26]

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.

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.^[27]

The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced toLa Argentina,^[E] a 1602 poem byMartín del Barco Centenera describing the region.^[28] Although "Argentina" was already in common usage by the 18th century, the country was formally named "Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata" by theSpanish Empire, and "United Provinces of the Río de la Plata" after independence.

The1826 constitution included the first use of the name "Argentine Republic" in legal documents.^[29] The name "Argentine Confederation" was also commonly used and was formalized in theArgentine Constitution of 1853.^[30] In 1860 a presidential decree settled the country's name as "Argentine Republic",^[31] and that year's constitutional amendment ruled all the names since 1810 as legally valid.^[32][F]

InEnglish, the country was traditionally called "the Argentine", mimicking the typicalSpanish usagela Argentina^[33] and perhaps resulting from a mistaken shortening of the fuller 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".

The earliest traces of human life in the area now known as Argentina are dated from thePaleolithic period, with further traces in theMesolithic andNeolithic.^[14] Until the period of European colonization, Argentina was relatively sparsely populated by a wide number of diverse cultures with different social organizations,^[34] which can be divided into three main groups.^[35]

The first group are basic hunters and food gatherers without the development ofpottery, such as theSelkʼnam andYaghan in the extreme south. The second group are advanced hunters and food gatherers which include thePuelche,Querandí and Serranos in the centre-east; and theTehuelche in the south—all of them conquered by theMapuche spreading fromChile^[36]—and theKom andWichi in the north. The last group are farmers with pottery, such as theCharrúa,Minuane andGuaraní in the northeast, withslash and burn semisedentary existence;^[34] the advancedDiaguita sedentarytrading culture in the northwest, which was conquered by theInca Empire around 1480; theToconoté 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.^[34]

Europeans first arrived in the region with the 1502 voyage ofAmerigo Vespucci. The Spanish navigatorsJuan Díaz de Solís andSebastian Cabot visited the territory that is now Argentina in 1516 and 1526, respectively.^[15] In 1536Pedro de Mendoza founded the small settlement ofBuenos Aires, which was abandoned in 1541.^[37]

Further colonization efforts came fromParaguay—establishing theGovernorate of the Río de la Plata—Peru and Chile.^[38]Francisco de Aguirre foundedSantiago del Estero in 1553.Londres was founded in 1558;Mendoza, in 1561;San Juan, in 1562;San Miguel de Tucumán, in 1565.^[39]Juan de Garay foundedSanta Fe in 1573 and the same yearJerónimo Luis de Cabrera set upCórdoba.^[40] Garay went further south to re-found Buenos Aires in 1580.^[41]San Luis was established in 1596.^[39]

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.^[42]

Buenos Aires repelledtwo ill-fated British invasions in 1806 and 1807.^[43] The ideas of theAge of Enlightenment and the example of the firstAtlantic Revolutions generated criticism of theabsolutist monarchy that ruled the country. As in the rest of Spanish America, the overthrow ofFerdinand VII during thePeninsular War created great concern.^[44]

Beginning a process from which Argentina was to emerge as successor state to the Viceroyalty,^[16] the 1810May Revolution replaced the viceroyBaltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros with theFirst Junta, a new government inBuenos Aires made up from locals.^[44] In the first clashes of the Independence War the Junta crushed a royalistcounter-revolution in Córdoba,^[46] but failed to overcome those of theBanda Oriental,Upper Peru andParaguay, which later became independent states.^[47] 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 colonization.^[48][49] Jose de San Martin's brother,Juan Fermín de San Martín, was already in the Philippines and drumming up revolutionary fervor prior to this.^[50] 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 recognized Argentina's independence.^[51] He was finally arrested in 1819 by Chilean patriots.

Revolutionaries split into two antagonist groups: theCentralists and theFederalists—a move that would define Argentina's first decades of independence.^[52] TheAssembly of the Year XIII appointedGervasio Antonio de Posadas as Argentina's firstSupreme Director.^[52]

On 9 July 1816, theCongress of Tucumán formalized theDeclaration of Independence,^[53] which is now celebrated as Independence Day, a national holiday.^[54] One year later GeneralMartín Miguel de Güemes stopped royalists on the north. GeneralJosé de San Martín joinedBernardo O'Higgins, and they led a combined armyacross the Andes and secured the independence of Chile; then it was sent by O'Higgins orders to the Spanish stronghold ofLima and proclaimed theindependence of Peru.^[55][G] In 1819 Buenos Aires enacted acentralist constitution that was soonabrogated by federalists.^[57]

Some of the most important figures of Argentine independence made a proposal known as theInca plan of 1816, which proposed that theUnited Provinces of the Río de la Plata (Present Argentina) should be a monarchy, led by a descendant of theInca. Juan Bautista Túpac Amaru (half-brother ofTúpac Amaru II) was proposed as monarch.^[58] Some examples of those who supported this proposal wereManuel Belgrano,José de San Martín andMartín Miguel de Güemes. TheCongress of Tucumán finally decided to reject the Inca plan, creating instead a republican, centralist state.^[59][60]

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.^[61] Centralists and Federalists resumed the civil war; the latter prevailed and formed theArgentine Confederation in 1831, led byJuan Manuel de Rosas.^[62] 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.^[63] 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.^[64]

Overpowering Urquiza in the 1861Battle of Pavón,Bartolomé Mitre secured Buenos Aires' predominance and was elected as the first president of the reunified country. He was followed byDomingo Faustino Sarmiento andNicolás Avellaneda; these three presidencies set up the basis of the modern Argentine State.^[65]

Starting withJulio Argentino Roca in 1880, ten consecutive federal governments emphasizedliberal 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^[66] developed nation^[67] in the world. Driven by thisimmigration wave and decreasing mortality, the Argentine population grew fivefold and the economy 15-fold:^[68] 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,^[69] placing Argentina as one of the world's top five exporters.^[70] Its railway mileage rose from 503 to 31,104 km (313 to 19,327 mi).^[71] 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.^[70] 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%:^[71] 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.^[66] Despite these unique achievements, the country was slow to meet its original goals of industrialization:^[72] 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.^[73]

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,^[75] 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,^[76] distributing them among the members of theSociedad Rural Argentina, financiers of the expeditions.^[77] The conquest of Chaco lasted up to the end of the century,^[78] 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.^[79] The Argentine government consideredindigenous people as inferior beings, without the same rights as Criollos and Europeans.^[80]

In 1912, PresidentRoque Sáenz Peña enacteduniversal and secret male suffrage, which allowedHipólito Yrigoyen, leader of theRadical Civic Union (or UCR), to winthe 1916 election. He enacted social and economic reforms and extended assistance to small farms and businesses. Argentina stayed neutral duringWorld War I. The second administration of Yrigoyen faced an economic crisis, precipitated by theGreat Depression.^[81]

In 1930, Yrigoyenwas ousted from power by the military led byJosé Félix Uriburu. Although Argentina remained among the fifteen richest countries until mid-century,^[66] thiscoup d'état marks the start of the steady economic and social decline that pushed the country back into underdevelopment.^[82]

Uriburu ruled for two years; thenAgustín Pedro Justo was elected in afraudulent election, and signed a controversialtreaty with the United Kingdom. Argentinastayed neutral during World War II, a decision that had full British support but was rejected by the United States after theattack on Pearl Harbor. In 1943a military coup d'état led byGeneral Arturo Rawson toppled the democratically elected government ofRamón Castillo. Under pressure from the United States, later Argentina declared war on the Axis Powers (on 27 March 1945, roughly a month before theend of World War II in Europe).

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.^[83] He later became president after a landslide victory over theUCR in the1946 general election as theLabour candidate.^[84]

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. Henationalized 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,^[85] and developed a system of social assistance for the most vulnerable sectors of society.^[86] The economy began to decline in 1950 due in part to government expenditures and theprotectionist economic policies.^[87]

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.^[88]

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, organized 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.^[89]

Perónmanaged to get re-elected 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.^[90]

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.^[91] 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.^[92] 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.^[93]

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. 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 organizations 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.^[94] Even though far-left terrorist organizations had suspended their armed struggle, their joining with theparticipatory democracy process was interpreted as a direct threat by the Peronist right-wing faction.^[95]

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.^[87][96][97]

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.^{[98][99][100]} 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,^[101] and alleged sympathizers. Most of the victims were casualties ofstate terrorism. The opposing guerrillas' victims numbered nearly 500–540 military and police officials^[102] and up to 230 civilians.^[103] 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 organizationMontoneros kidnapped and executed Aramburu.^[107] 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.^[108]

On the day Perón returned to Argentina, the clash between Peronist internal factions—right-wing union leaders andleft-wing youth from the Montoneros—resulted in theEzeiza Massacre. Overwhelmed by political violence, Cámpora resigned and Perón won the followingSeptember 1973 election with his third wifeIsabel as vice-president. Heexpelled Montoneros from the party^[109] and they became once again a clandestine organization.José López Rega organized theArgentine Anticommunist Alliance (AAA) to fight against them and thePeople's Revolutionary Army (ERP).^[110][111]

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,^[112]stopping ERP's attempt to start a rural insurgence in Tucumán province.^[113]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.^[114]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[115][116]Reynaldo Bignone replaced Galtieri and began to organize the transition to democratic governance.^[117]

Raúl Alfonsín won the1983 elections campaigning for the prosecution of those responsible forhuman rights violations during theProceso: theTrial of the Juntas and other martial courts sentenced all the coup's leaders but, under military pressure, he also enacted theFull Stop andDue Obedience laws,^[118][119] which halted prosecutions further down thechain of command. The worsening economic crisis andhyperinflation reduced his popular support and the PeronistCarlos Menem won the1989 election. Soon after,riots forced Alfonsín to an early resignation.^[120]

Menem embraced and enactedneoliberal policies:^[121] afixed exchange rate, businessderegulation,privatizations, and the dismantling ofprotectionist barriers normalized the economy in the short term. He pardoned the officers who had been sentenced during Alfonsín's government. The1994 Constitutional Amendment allowed Menem tobe elected for a second term. With the economy beginning to decline in 1995, and with increasing unemployment and recession,^[122] the UCR, led byFernando de la Rúa, returned to the presidency in the1999 elections.^[123]

De la Rúa left Menem's economic plan in effect despite the worsening crisis, which led to growing social discontent.^[122] Massivecapital flight from the country was responded to with afreezing of bank accounts, generating further turmoil. TheDecember 2001 riots forced him to resign.^[124] Congress appointedEduardo Duhalde as acting president, who revoked the fixed exchange rate established by Menem,^[125] 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.^[126]Néstor Kirchner waselected as the new president. On 26 May 2003, he was sworn in.^[127][128]

Boosting theneo-Keynesian economic policies^[126] laid by Duhalde, Kirchner ended the economic crisis attaining significant fiscal and trade surpluses, and rapidGDP growth.^[129] Under his administration, Argentinarestructured its defaulted debt with an unprecedented discount of about 70% on most bonds, paid off debts with theInternational Monetary Fund,^[130] purged the military of officers with dubious human rights records,^[131]nullified and voided the Full Stop and Due Obedience laws,^[132][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.^[134] DuringKirchner's presidecy promoted foreign relations with countries such as Venezuela, Iran, and Cuba, whilst US and UK relations increasingly strained. Despite increased renewable energy production and subsidies during her tenure, the overall economy had been sluggish since 2011.^[135]

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.^[136] Macri was the first democratically elected non-peronist president since 1916 that managed to complete his term in office without being overthrown.^[137] He took office on 10 December 2015 and inherited an economy with a high inflation rate and in a poor shape.^[138] In April 2016, theMacri government introduced neoliberal austerity measures intended to tackleinflation and overblown public deficits.^[139] Under Macri's administration, economic recovery remained elusive with GDP shrinking 3.4%, inflation totaling 240%, billions of US dollars issued in sovereign debt, and mass poverty increasing by the end of his term.^[140][141] He ran for re-election in 2019 but lost by nearly eight percentage points toAlberto Fernández, the Justicialist Party candidate.^[142]

Fernández and vice president Cristina Kirchner took office in December 2019,^[143] just months before theCOVID-19 pandemic hit Argentina and among accusations ofcorruption,bribery andmisuse of public funds during Néstor and Cristina Kirchner's presidencies.^[144][145] 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.^[146][147]

In April 2023, Fernández announced that he would not seek re-election in the nextpresidential election.^[148] The November2023 election run-off ended in a win for libertarian outsiderJavier Milei with 55.7% of the vote against 44.4% to ruling coalition candidateSergio Massa.^[149]Milei's presidency began on10 December 2023.^[150]

With a mainland surface area of 2,780,400 km² (1,073,518 sq mi),^[B] Argentina is located insouthern South America, sharing land borders with Chile across theAndes to the west;^[151] Bolivia and Paraguay to the north; Brazil to the northeast,Uruguay and theSouth Atlantic Ocean to the east;^[152] and theDrake Passage to the south;^[153] for an overall land border length of 9,376 km (5,826 mi). Its coastal border over theRío de la Plata andSouth Atlantic Ocean is 5,117 km (3,180 mi) long.^[152]

Argentina's highest point isAconcagua in theMendoza province (6,959 m (22,831 ft) above sea level),^[154] also the highest point in theSouthern andWestern Hemispheres.^[155] The lowest point isLaguna del Carbón in theSan Julián Great DepressionSanta Cruz province (−105 m (−344 ft) below sea level,^[154] also the lowest point in the Southern and Western Hemispheres, and the seventh lowest point on Earth).^[156]

The northernmost point is at the confluence of theGrande de San Juan and Mojinete rivers inJujuy province; the southernmost isCape San Pío inTierra del Fuego province; the easternmost is northeast ofBernardo de Irigoyen, Misiones and the westernmost is withinLos Glaciares National Park in Santa Cruz province.^[152] The maximum north–south distance is 3,694 km (2,295 mi), while the maximum east–west one is 1,423 km (884 mi).^[152]

Some of the major rivers are theParaná,Uruguay—which join to form the Río de la Plata,Paraguay,Salado,Negro,Santa Cruz,Pilcomayo,Bermejo andColorado.^[157] These rivers are discharged into theArgentine Sea, the shallow area of the Atlantic Ocean over thePatagonian Shelf, an unusually widecontinental platform.^[158] Its waters are influenced by two major ocean currents: the warmBrazil Current and the coldFalklands Current.^[159]

Argentina is one of the mostbiodiverse countries in the world^[161] 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.^[161] This huge ecosystem variety has led to a biological diversity that is among the world's largest:^[161][162] 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.^[163][164]

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.^{[citation needed]} The western pampas receive less rainfall, thisdry pampa is a plain of short grasses orsteppe.^[165][166]

TheNational Parks of Argentina make up a network of 35national parks in Argentina. The parks cover a very varied set of terrains andbiotopes, fromBaritú National Park on the northern border withBolivia toTierra del Fuego National Park in the far south of the continent. TheAdministración de Parques Nacionales (National Parks Administration) is the agency that preserves and manages these national parks along withNatural monuments andNational Reserves within the country.^[167] Argentina had a 2018Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.21/10, ranking it 47th globally out of 172 countries.^[168]

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.^[170][171] Although the most populated areas are generallytemperate, Argentina has an exceptional amount of climate diversity,^[172] ranging fromsubtropical in the north topolar in the far south.^[173] 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.^[174] 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.^[172] Mean annual temperatures range from 5 °C (41 °F) in the far south to 25 °C (77 °F) in the north.^[172]

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.^[175]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.^[175]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), fueling wildfires and causing damage; between June and November, when the Zonda blows, snowstorms andblizzard (viento blanco) conditions usually affect higher elevations.^[176]

Climate change in Argentina is predicted to have significant effects on the living conditions in Argentina.^[177]: 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.^[178][179] Between 1930 and 1976, thearmed forces overthrew six governments in Argentina;^[179] and the country alternated periods of democracy (1912–1930, 1946–1955, and 1973–1976) with periods of restricted democracy andmilitary rule.^[178] Following atransition that began in 1983,^[180] full-scale democracy in Argentina was reestablished.^[178][179] 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.^[179] According to theV-Dem Democracy indices, Argentina in 2023 was the second mostelectoral democratic country in Latin America.^[181]

Argentina is afederal constitutional republic andrepresentative democracy.^[183] The government is regulated by a system ofchecks and balances defined by theConstitution of Argentina, the country's supreme legal document. Theseat of government is the city ofBuenos Aires, as designated byCongress.^[184] Suffrage isuniversal,equal,secret andmandatory.^[185][M]

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.^[187] 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.^[188] 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.^[189] 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.^[190] 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.^[191]

TheJudicial branch includes theSupreme Court and lowerfederal courts interpret laws andoverturn those they findunconstitutional.^[192] 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.^[193]

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;^[194] they must be representative republics and must not contradict the Constitution.^[195] Beyond this they are fully autonomous: they enact their own constitutions,^[196] freely organize their local governments,^[197] and own and manage their natural and financial resources.^[198] 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.^[200] 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.^[201]

Foreign policy is handled by theMinistry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, which answers to thePresident. The country is one of theG-15 andG-20 major economies of the world, and a founding member of theUN,WBG,WTO andOAS.In 2012Argentina was elected again to a two-year non-permanent position on theUnited Nations Security Council and is participating in major peacekeeping operations inHaiti,Cyprus,Western Sahara and theMiddle East.^[202] Argentina is described as amiddle power.^[21][203]

A prominent Latin American^[22] and Southern Cone^[23]regional power, Argentina co-foundedOEI andCELAC.It is also a founding member of theMercosur block, having Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay andVenezuela as partners. Since 2002 the country has emphasized its key role inLatin American integration, and the block—which has some supranational legislative functions—is its first international priority.^[204]

Argentina claims 965,597 km² (372,819 sq mi) inAntarctica, where it has the world's oldestcontinuous state presence, since 1904.^[205] This overlaps claims byChile and theUnited Kingdom, though all such claims fall under the provisions of the 1961Antarctic Treaty, of which Argentina is a founding signatory and permanent consulting member, with theAntarctic Treaty Secretariat being based in Buenos Aires.^[206]

Argentinadisputes sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, andSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands,^[207] which are administered by the United Kingdom asOverseas Territories. Argentina is a party to theRome Statute of the International Criminal Court.^[208] Argentina is aMajor non-NATO ally since 1998^[24] and anOECD candidate country since January 2022.^[209]

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:^[210][211] TheNational Defence System, an exclusive responsibility of the federal government,^[212] coordinated by theMinistry of Defence, and comprising theArmy, theNavy and theAir Force.^[213] Ruled and monitored by Congress^[214] through the Houses' Defence Committees,^[215] it is organized 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.^[215] 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.^[215]

Military service is voluntary, with enlistment age between 18 and 24 years old and noconscription.^[216] 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.^[217] 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,^[218] 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.^[219]

TheInterior Security System is jointly administered by the federal and subscribing provincial governments.^[211] At the federal level it is coordinated by the Interior,Security and Justice ministries, and monitored by Congress.^[211] It is enforced by theFederal Police; thePrefecture, which fulfillscoast guard duties; theGendarmerie, which servesborder guard tasks; and theAirport Security Police.^[220] At the provincial level it is coordinated by the respective internal security ministries and enforced by local police agencies.^[211]

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.^[221] In 2010 the Armed Forces were also involved inHaiti andChile humanitarian responses after their respective earthquakes.

Benefiting from richnatural resources, a highly literate population, a diversified industrial base, and an export-oriented agricultural sector, the economy of Argentina is Latin America's third-largest,^[222] and the second-largest inSouth America.^[223] Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world, on the 20th century in 1913 it was one of the wealthiest countries in the world by GDP per capita^[224] It has a "very high" rating on the Human Development Index^[13] and ranks 66th bynominal GDP per capita,^[225] 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.^[226][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.^[228][229] Inwine, Argentina is usually among the tenlargest producers in the world.^[230] Argentina is also 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.^[231][232]

Themining industry of Argentina is less prominent compared to other countries but stands out as the fourth-largest producer oflithium,^[233] the 11th-largest ofsilver^[234] and 17th-largest ofgold^[235] worldwide. The country also excels innatural gas production, being the largest producer in South America and the 18th-largest globally. Additionally Argentina produces an average of 500,000 barrels/day ofpetroleum, despite the under-utilization of the Vaca Muerta field due to technical and financial limitations in resource extraction.^[236][237]

In 2012^[update],manufacturing accounted for 20.3% of GDP—the largest sector in the nation's economy.^[238] Well-integrated into Argentine agriculture, half of the industrial exports have rural origin.^[238] With a 6.5% production growth rate in 2011^[update],^[239] the diversified manufacturing sector rests on a steadily growing network ofindustrial parks (314 as of 2013^[update])^[240][241] In 2012^[update] 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.^[238] In addition, Argentina has since long been one of the top five wine-producing countries in the world.^[238]

Highinflation—a weakness of the Argentine economy for decades—has become a trouble once again,^[242] with an annual rate of 24.8% in 2017.^[243] In 2023 the inflation reached 102.5% among the highest inflation rates in the world.^[244] Approximately 43% of the Argentina's population lives below the poverty line as of 2023.^[245] To deter it and support the peso, the government imposed foreign currency control.^[246]Income distribution, having improved since 2002, is classified as "medium", although it is still considerably unequal.^[12] In January 2024, Argentina's poverty rate reached 57.4%, the highest poverty rate in the country since 2004.^[247]

Argentina ranks 85th out of 180 countries in theTransparency International's 2017Corruption Perceptions Index,^[248] an improvement of 22 positions over its 2014 rankings.^[249] 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.^[250] The government of Argentina defaulted on 22 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.^[251]

Poverty in Argentina was 41.7 percent at the end of the second half of 2023.^[252] However, 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%.^[253] Favourable results and normalization in Argentina’s economy are expected to continue in 2025. The annual inflation rate, which was 211% in 2023, 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.^[254]

The country had 5.57 million visitors in 2013, ranking in terms of international tourist arrivals as the top destination inSouth America, and second inLatin America after Mexico.^[255] Revenues from international tourists reachedUS$4.41 billion in 2013, down fromUS$4.89 billion in 2012.^[255] The country's capital city,Buenos Aires, is the most visited city inSouth America.^[256] There are 30National Parks of Argentina including manyWorld Heritage Sites.

By 2004^[update] 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 total road network of 231,374 km (143,769 mi).^[257] In 2021, the country 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 (in border with Brazil), there are alsodual carriageways leaving fromMendoza towards the capital, and between Córdoba and Santa Fé, among other locations.^[258] Nevertheless, this road infrastructure is still inadequate and cannot handle the sharply growing demand caused by deterioration of the railway system.^[259]

Argentina has the largestrailway system in Latin America, with 36,966 km (22,970 mi) of operating lines in 2008^[update], out of a full network of almost 48,000 km (29,826 mi).^[260] This system links all 23 provinces plus Buenos Aires City, and connects with all neighbouring countries.^[259] There are four incompatiblegauges in use; this forces virtually all interregional freight traffic to pass through Buenos Aires.^[259] 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.^[259] 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.^[261][262] In April 2015, by overwhelming majority theArgentine Senate passed a law which re-createdFerrocarriles Argentinos (2015), effectively re-nationalizing the country's railways, a move which saw support from all major political parties on both sides of the political spectrum.^{[263][264][265]}

In 2012^[update] there were about 11,000 km (6,835 mi) ofwaterways,^[266] 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; however 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^[update] accounted for 50% of all exports.

In 2013^[update] there were 161 airports with paved runways^[267] out of more than a thousand.^[259] TheEzeiza International Airport, about 35 km (22 mi) from downtown Buenos Aires,^[268] is the largest in the country, followed byCataratas del Iguazú in Misiones, andEl Plumerillo in Mendoza.^[259]Aeroparque, in the city of Buenos Aires, is the most important domestic airport.^[269]

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.^[271] 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).^[272]

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^[273]

In 1974 it was the first country in Latin America to put in-line a commercial nuclear power plant,Atucha I. Although the Argentine-built parts for that station amounted to 10% of the total, the nuclear fuel it uses are since entirely built in the country. Later nuclear power stations employed a higher percentage of Argentine-built components;Embalse, finished in 1983, a 30% and the 2011Atucha II reactor a 40%.^[274]

Argentines have received threeNobel Prizes in the Sciences.Bernardo Houssay, the first Latin American recipient, discovered the role ofpituitary hormones in regulatingglucose in animals, and shared theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947.Luis Leloir discovered how organisms store energy converting glucose intoglycogen and the compounds which are fundamental inmetabolizingcarbohydrates, receiving theNobel Prize in Chemistry in 1970.César Milstein did extensive research inantibodies, sharing the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984. Argentine research has led to treatments forheart diseases and several forms of cancer.Domingo Liotta designed and developed the firstartificial heart that was successfully implanted in a human being in 1969.René Favaloro developed the techniques and performed the world's firstcoronary bypass surgery.

Argentina's nuclear programme has been highly successful. In 1957 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, the country admitted having the capability of producing weapon-gradeuranium, a major step needed to assemblenuclear weapons; since then, however, Argentina has pledged to use nuclear power only for peaceful purposes.^[275] As a member of the Board of Governors of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency, Argentina has been a strong voice in support of nuclear non-proliferation efforts^[276] and is highly committed to global nuclear security.^[277]

Despite its modest budget and numerous setbacks, academics and the sciences in Argentina have enjoyed international respect since the turn of 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 also become increasingly active in Argentina. Argentine-built satellites include LUSAT-1 (1990), Víctor-1 (1996), PEHUENSAT-1 (2007),^[278] and those developed byCONAE, the Argentine space agency, of the SAC series.^[279] Argentina has its own satellite programme, nuclear power station designs (4th generation) and public nuclear energy companyINVAP, which provides several countries with nuclear reactors.^[280] Established in 1991, theCONAE has since launched two satellites successfully and,^[281] in June 2009, 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.^[282] 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^[283] Argentina was ranked 76th in theGlobal Innovation Index in 2024.^[284]

The 2022census[INDEC] conducted by the counted 46,044,703 inhabitants, up from 40,117,096 in 2010.^{[10][285][286]} 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.^[287]

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. Its birth rate of 2.3 children per woman is considerably below the high of 7.0 children born per woman in 1895,^[288] though still nearly twice as high as in Spain or Italy, which are culturally and demographically similar.^[289][290] The median age is 31.9 years andlife expectancy at birth is 77.14 years.^[291]

Attitudes towardsLGBT people are generally positive within Argentina.^[292] In 2010, Argentina became the first country in Latin America, the second in the Americas, and the tenth worldwide to legalizesame-sex marriage.^[293][294]

Argentina is considered a country of immigrants.^{[295][296][297]} 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 ancestor who wasIndigenous.^[298][299] 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.^[300]

Argentina is also home to a notableAsian population, the majority of whom are descended from either West Asians (namelyLebanese andSyrians)^[301] or East Asians (such as theChinese,^[302]Koreans, and theJapanese).^[303] 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 various Asian countries to Argentina during the 19th century (especially during the latter half of the century) and the first half of the 20th century.^[304][305] Most Arab Argentines belong to the Catholic Church (including both the Latin Church and theEastern Catholic Churches) or theEastern Orthodox Church. A minority areMuslims. There are 180,000Alawites in Argentina.^[306][307]

From the 1970s, immigration has mostly been coming fromBolivia,Paraguay andPeru, with smaller numbers from theDominican Republic, Ecuador andRomania.^[308] The Argentine government estimates that 750,000 inhabitants lack official documents and has launched a programme^[309] 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.^[310] As of July 2023, more than 18,500 Russians have come to Argentina after theRussian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.^[311]

Thede facto^[P] official language isSpanish, spoken by almost all Argentines.^[312]The country 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.^[313] Italian and other European immigrants influencedLunfardo—the regional slang—permeating the vernacular vocabulary of other Latin American countries as well.

There are several second languages in widespread use among the Argentine population:English (by 2.8 million people);^[314]Italian (by 1.5 million people);^[312][Q]Arabic (specially itsNorthern Levantine dialect, by one million people);^[312]Standard German (by 200,000 people);^[312][R]Guaraní (by 200,000 people,^[312] mostly in Corrientes and Misiones);^[3]Catalan (by 174,000 people);^[312]Quechua (by 65,000 people, mostly in the Northwest);^[312]Wichí (by 53,700 people, mainly in Chaco^[312] where, along withKom andMoqoit, it is officialde jure);^[315]Vlax Romani (by 52,000 people);^[312]Albanian (by40,000 people);^[316]Japanese (by 32,000 people);^[312]Aymara (by 30,000 people, mostly in the Northwest);^[312] andUkrainian (by 27,000 people).^[312]

Christianity is the largest religion in Argentina. The Constitution guaranteesfreedom of religion.^[317] Although it enforces neither an official nor a state faith,^[318] it givesRoman Catholicism a preferential status.^[319][S]

According to a 2008 CONICET poll, 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.^[321] These figures appear to have changed quite significantly in recent years: data recorded in 2017 indicated that Catholics made up 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.^[322]

The country is home to both one of thelargest Muslim^[320] andlargest Jewish communities in Latin America, the latter being the seventh most populous in the world.^[323] Argentina is a member of theInternational Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.^[320]

Argentines show high individualization and de-institutionalization of religious beliefs;^[324] 23.8% claim to always attend religious services; 49.1% seldom do and 26.8% never do.^[325]

On 13 March 2013, ArgentineJorge Mario Bergoglio, theCardinalArchbishop of Buenos Aires, waselectedBishop of Rome andSupreme Pontiff of theCatholic Church. He took the name "Francis", and he became the first Pope from either theAmericas or from theSouthern Hemisphere; he is the first Pope born outside of Europe since theelection ofPope Gregory III (who wasSyrian) in 741.^[326]

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.^[327]

There are more than 153,000 hospital beds, 121,000 physicians and 37,000 dentists (ratios comparable todeveloped nations).^[328][329] 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.^[328][330]

The availability of healthcare has also reducedinfant mortality from 70 per 1000 live births in 1948^[331] to 12.1 in 2009^[328] and raisedlife expectancy at birth from 60 years to 76.^[331] 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.^[329]

The Argentine education system consists of four levels.^[332] An initial level for children between 45 days to 5 years old, with the last two years^[333] being compulsory. An elementary orlower school mandatory level lasting 6 or 7 years.^[T] In 2010^[update] theliteracy rate was 98.07%.^[334] A secondary orhigh school mandatory level lasting 5 or 6 years.^[T] In 2010^[update] 38.5% of people over age 20 had completed secondary school.^[335] Ahigher level, divided in tertiary, university and post-graduate sub-levels. in 2013^[update] there were 47national public universities across the country, as well as 46 private ones.^[336]

In 2010^[update] 7.1% of people over age 20 had graduated from university.^[335] 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 organized at the federal and individual provincial states. In the last decades the role of the private sector has grown across all educational stages.

Argentina is highly urbanized, with 92% of its population living in cities:^[337] the ten largest metropolitan areas account for half of the population.About 3 million people live in the city of Buenos Aires, and including the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area it totals around 13 million, making it one of the largest urban areas in the world.^[338] The metropolitan areas of Córdoba and Rosario have around 1.3 million inhabitants each.^[338] Mendoza, San Miguel de Tucumán, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Salta and Santa Fe have at least half a million people each.^[338]

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).^[339]

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 characterized by both the prevalence of people of European descent, and of conscious imitation of American and European styles in fashion, architecture and design.^[341] 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.^[342] The other big influence is thegauchos and their traditional country lifestyle of self-reliance.^[343] Finally, 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.

— Ernesto Sabato,La cultura en la encrucijada nacional (1976)^[344]

Although Argentina's rich literary history began around 1550,^[345] it reached full independence withEsteban Echeverría'sEl Matadero, aromantic landmark that played a significant role in the development of 19th century's Argentine narrative,^[346] split by the ideological divide between the popular, federalist epic ofJosé Hernández'Martín Fierro and the elitist and cultured discourse ofSarmiento's masterpiece,Facundo.^[347]

TheModernist movement advanced into the 20th century including exponents such asLeopoldo Lugones and poetAlfonsina Storni;^[348] it was followed byVanguardism, withRicardo Güiraldes'sDon Segundo Sombra as an important reference.^[349]

Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina's most acclaimed writer and one of the foremost figures in thehistory of literature,^[350] found new ways of looking at the modern world inmetaphor and philosophical debate and his influence has extended to authors all over the globe. Short stories such asFicciones andThe Aleph are among his most famous works. He was a friend and collaborator ofAdolfo Bioy Casares, who wrote one of the most praisedscience fictionnovels,The Invention of Morel.^[351]Julio Cortázar, one of the leading members of theLatin American Boom and a major name in 20th century literature,^[352] influenced an entire generation of writers in the Americas and Europe.^[353]

A remarkable episode in Argentine literary history is the social and literarial dialectica between the so-calledFlorida Group, named this way because its members used to meet together at theRichmond Cafeteria at Florida street and published in theMartín Fierro magazine, such asJorge Luis Borges,Leopoldo Marechal,Antonio Berni (artist), among others; versus theBoedo Group ofRoberto Arlt,Cesar Tiempo,Homero Manzi (tango composer), that used to meet at theJapanese Cafe and published their works with theEditorial Claridad, with both the cafe and the publisher located at Boedo Avenue.

Other highly regarded Argentine writers, poets andessayists includeEstanislao del Campo,Eugenio Cambaceres,Pedro Bonifacio Palacios,Hugo Wast,Benito Lynch,Enrique Banchs,Oliverio Girondo,Ezequiel Martínez Estrada,Victoria Ocampo,Leopoldo Marechal,Silvina Ocampo,Roberto Arlt,Eduardo Mallea,Manuel Mujica Láinez,Ernesto Sábato,Silvina Bullrich,Rodolfo Walsh,María Elena Walsh,Tomás Eloy Martínez,Manuel Puig,Alejandra Pizarnik, andOsvaldo Soriano.^[354]

Tango, aRioplatense musical genre with European and African influences,^[355] is one of Argentina's international cultural symbols.^[356] The golden age of tango (1930 to mid-1950s) mirrored that ofjazz andswing in the United States, featuring large orchestras such as those ofOsvaldo Pugliese,Aníbal Troilo,Francisco Canaro,Julio de Caro andJuan d'Arienzo.^[357] After 1955, virtuosoAstor Piazzolla popularizedNuevo tango, a subtler and more intellectual trend for the genre.^[357]Tango enjoys worldwide popularity nowadays with groups such asGotan Project,Bajofondo andTanghetto.

Argentina developed strong classical music and dance scenes that gave rise to renowned artists such asAlberto Ginastera, composer;Alberto Lysy, violinist;Martha Argerich andEduardo Delgado, pianists;Daniel Barenboim, pianist andsymphonic orchestra director;José Cura andMarcelo Álvarez, tenors; and toballet dancersJorge Donn,José Neglia,Norma Fontenla,Maximiliano Guerra,Paloma Herrera,Marianela Núñez,Iñaki Urlezaga andJulio Bocca.^[357]

A national Argentine folk style emerged in the 1930s from dozens of regional musical genres and went on to influence the entirety ofLatin American music. Some of its interpreters, such asAtahualpa Yupanqui andMercedes Sosa, achieved worldwide acclaim. Theromantic ballad genre included singers of international fame such asSandro de América.Tenor saxophonistLeandro "Gato" Barbieri and composer andbig band conductorLalo Schifrin are among the most internationally successful Argentine jazz musicians.

Argentine rock developed as a distinct musical style in the mid-1960s, when Buenos Aires and Rosario became cradles of aspiring musicians.Founding bands such asLos Gatos,Sui Generis,Almendra andManal were followed bySeru Giran,Los Abuelos de la Nada,Soda Stereo andPatricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, with prominent artists includingGustavo Cerati,Litto Nebbia,Andrés Calamaro,Luis Alberto Spinetta,Charly García,Fito Páez andLeón Gieco.^[357]

A dance and a musical genre popular at present isCachengue, a subgenre ofArgentine cumbia andreggaeton spreading in popularity in nearby countries such asUruguay,Chile,Paraguay, andBolivia.^[358]

Buenos Aires is one of the great theatre capitals of the world,^[361] with a scene of international caliber centred onCorrientes Avenue, "the street that never sleeps", sometimes referred to as theBroadway of Buenos Aires.^[362]Teatro Colón is a global landmark foropera and classical performances; its acoustics are considered among the world's top five.^[363][V]

The Argentine film industry has historically been one of the three most developed inLatin American cinema, along with those produced inMexico andBrazil.^[364][365] Started in 1896; by the early 1930s it had already become Latin America's leading film producer, a place it kept until the early 1950s.^[366] The world's firstanimated feature films were made and released in Argentina, by cartoonistQuirino Cristiani, in 1917 and 1918.^[367]

Argentine films have achieved worldwide recognition: the country has won twoAcademy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, forThe Official Story (1985) andThe Secret in Their Eyes (2009). In addition, Argentine composersLuis Enrique Bacalov andGustavo Santaolalla have been honoured withAcademy Awards for Best Original Score, andArmando Bó andNicolás Giacobone shared in theAcademy Award for Best Original Screenplay for 2014. Also, theArgentine French actressBérénice Bejo received a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2011 and won theCésar Award for Best Actress and won theBest Actress award in theCannes Film Festival for her role in the filmThe Past.^[368] Argentina also has won seventeenGoya Awards for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film, being by far the most awarded country inLatin America with twenty-four nominations. Many other Argentine films also have been acclaimed by international critique. In 2013^[update] about 100 full-length motion pictures were being created annually.^[369]

Some of the best-known Argentine painters areCándido López andFlorencio Molina Campos (Naïve style);Ernesto de la Cárcova andEduardo Sívori (Realism);Fernando Fader (Impressionism);Pío Collivadino,Atilio Malinverno andCesáreo Bernaldo de Quirós (Postimpressionism);Emilio Pettoruti (Cubism);Julio Barragán (Concretism and Cubism)Antonio Berni (Neofigurativism);Roberto Aizenberg andXul Solar (Surrealism);Gyula Košice (Constructivism);Eduardo Mac Entyre (Generative art);Luis Seoane,Carlos Torrallardona,Luis Aquino,Alfredo Gramajo Gutiérrez (Modernism);Lucio Fontana (Spatialism);Tomás Maldonado,Guillermo Kuitca (Abstract art);León Ferrari,Marta Minujín (Conceptual art);Gustavo Cabral (Fantasy art), andFabián Pérez (Neoemotionalism).^[vague]

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.^[370] 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.^{[citation needed]}

The colonization 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.^[371]

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, published since 1870),Página/12 (leftist, founded in 1987),La Voz del Interior (centre, founded in 1904).^[372][373]

Argentina beganthe world's first regular radio broadcasting on 27 August 1920, whenRichard Wagner'sParsifal was aired by a team of medical students led byEnrique Telémaco Susini in Buenos Aires'Teatro Coliseo.^[374] By 2002^[update] there were 260AM and 1150FM registered radio stations in the country.^[375]

TheArgentine television industry is large, diverse and popular across Latin America, with many productions andTV formats having been exported abroad. Since 1999 Argentines enjoy the highest availability of cable and satellite television in Latin America,^[376] as of 2014^[update] totaling 87.4% of the country's households, a rate similar to those in the United States, Canada and Europe.^[377]

By 2011^[update] Argentina also had the highest coverage of networked telecommunications among Latin American powers: about 67% of its population had internet access and the ratio of mobile phone subscriptions to population was 137.2%.^{[378][better source needed]}

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.^[379] In various localities of Argentina, this dish is consumed as abeefmelt.

The country has the highest consumption ofred meat in the world,^[380] traditionally prepared asasado, the Argentine barbecue. It is made with various types of meats, often includingchorizo,sweetbread,chitterlings, andblood sausage.^[381]

Common desserts includefacturas (Viennese-style pastry),cakes andpancakes filled withdulce de leche (a sort of milkcaramel jam),alfajores (shortbread cookies sandwiched together with chocolate,dulce de leche or a fruit paste), andtortas fritas (fried cakes)^[382]

Argentine wine, one of the world's finest,^[383] is an integral part of the local menu.Malbec,Torrontés,Cabernet Sauvignon,Syrah andChardonnay are some of the most sought-aftervarieties.^[384]

Pato is thenational sport,^[385] an ancient horseback game locally originated in the early 1600s and predecessor ofhorseball.^[386][387]

The most popular sport isfootball. Along withBrazil,Germany andFrance, themen's national team is the only one to have won each of theWorld Cup (in1978,1986 and2022),Confederations Cup, and theOlympic gold. They have also won 16Copas América, 7Pan American Gold Medals and many other trophies.^[388]Alfredo Di Stéfano,Diego Maradona andLionel Messi are widely considered to be among the best players in the game's history.^[389]

The country'swomen's field hockey teamLas Leonas, is one of the world's most successful with fourOlympic medals, twoWorld Cups, aWorld League and sevenChampions Trophy.^[390]Luciana Aymar is recognized as the best female player in the history of the sport,^[391] being the only player to have received theFIH Player of the Year Award eight times.^[392]

Basketball is a very popular sport. Themen's national team is the only one in theFIBA Americas zone that has won the quintuplet crown:World Championship,Olympic Gold Medal,Diamond Ball,Americas Championship, andPan American Gold Medal. It has also conquered 13South American Championships, and many other tournaments.^[393]Emanuel Ginóbili,Luis Scola,Andrés Nocioni,Fabricio Oberto,Pablo Prigioni,Carlos Delfino andJuan Ignacio Sánchez are a few of the country's most acclaimed players, all of them part of theNBA.^[390] Argentina hosted theBasketball World Cup in 1950 and 1990.

Rugby is another popular sport in Argentina. As of 2017^[update], themen's national team, known as 'Los Pumas' has competed at theRugby World Cup each time it has been held, achieving their highest-ever result in2007 when they came third. Since2012, the Los Pumas have competed againstAustralia,New Zealand &South Africa inThe Rugby Championship, the premier international Rugby competition in the Southern Hemisphere. Since 2009 thesecondary men's national team known as the 'Jaguares' has competed against theUS,Canada, andUruguay first teams in theAmericas Rugby Championship, which Los Jaguares have won six out of eight times it has taken place.

Argentina has produced some of the most formidable champions forboxing, includingCarlos Monzón, the bestmiddleweight in history;^[394]Pascual Pérez, one of the most decoratedflyweight boxers of all times;Horacio Accavallo, the formerWBA andWBC world flyweight champion;Víctor Galíndez, as of 2009^[update], record holder for consecutive worldlight heavyweight title defences andNicolino Locche, nicknamed "The Untouchable" for his masterful defence; they are all inductees into theInternational Boxing Hall of Fame.^[395]

Tennis has been quite popular among people of all ages.Guillermo Vilas is the greatest Latin American player of theOpen Era,^[396] whileGabriela Sabatini is the most accomplished Argentine female player of all time—having reached number 3 in theWTA ranking,^[397] are both inductees into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame.^[398] 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.^[399] 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.^[400]

Historically, Argentina has had a strong showing withinauto racing.Juan Manuel Fangio was a five-timeFormula One world champion under four different teams, winning 102 of his 184 international races, and is widely ranked as the greatest driver of all time.^[401] Other distinguished racers wereOscar Alfredo Gálvez,Juan Gálvez,José Froilán González andCarlos Reutemann.^[402]

• Index of Argentina-related articles
• Outline of Argentina