1990 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1990 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Climate
mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest
Coastline
4,989 km
Comparative area
slightly more than four times the size of Texas
Continental shelf
200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Disputes
short section of the boundary with Uruguay is in dispute; short section of the boundary with Chile is indefinite; claims British-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); claims British-administered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica
Environment
Tucuman and Mendoza areas in Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike Pampas and northeast; irrigated soil degradation; desertification; air and water pollution in Buenos Aires
Land boundaries
9,665 km total; Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km
Land use
9% arable land; 4% permanent crops; 52% meadows and pastures; 22% forest and woodland; 13% other; includes 1% irrigated
Natural resources
fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, crude oil, uranium
Note
second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)
Terrain
rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border
Territorial sea
200 nm (overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm)
Total area
2,766,890 km2; land area: 2,736,690 km2
People and Society
Birth rate
20 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate
9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Ethnic divisions
85% white, 15% mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups
Infant mortality rate
32 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Labor force
10,900,000; 12% agriculture, 31% industry, 57% services
Language
Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French
Life expectancy at birth
67 years male, 74 years female (1990)
Literacy
94%
Nationality
noun--Argentine(s); adjective--Argentine
Net migration rate
NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Organized labor
3,000,000; 28% of labor force
Population
32,290,966 (July 1990), growth rate 1.2% (1990)
Religion
90% nominally Roman Catholic (less than 20% practicing), 2% Protestant, 2% Jewish, 6% other
Total fertility rate
2.8 children born/woman (1990)
Government
Administrative divisions
22 provinces (provincias, singular--provincia), 1 national territory* (territorio nacional), and 1 district** (distrito); Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes, Distrito Federal**, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego and Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur*, Tucuman
Capital
Buenos Aires (tentative plans to move to Viedma by 1990 indefinitely postponed)
Communists
some 70,000 members in various party organizations, including a small nucleus of activists
Constitution
1 May 1853
Diplomatic representation
Ambassador Guido Jose Maria DI TELLA; Chancery at 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone 202) 939-6400 through 6403; there are Argentine Consulates General in Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Consulates in Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles; US--Ambassador Terence A. TODMAN; Embassy at 4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires (mailing address is APO Miami 34034); telephone [54] (1) 774-7611 or 8811, 9911
Elections
President--last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held May 1995); results--Carlos Saul Menem was elected; Chamber of Deputies--last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held May 1991); results--JP 47%, UCR 30%, UDC 7%, other 16%; seats--(254 total); JP 122, UCR 93, UDC 11, other 28
Executive branch
president, vice president, Cabinet
Flag
three equal horizontal bands of light blue (top), white, and light blue; centered in the white band is a radiant yellow sun with a human face known as the Sun of May
Independence
9 July 1816 (from Spain)
Judicial branch
Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
Leaders
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Carlos Saul MENEM
Legal system
mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch
bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camera de Diputados)
Long-form name
Argentine Republic
Member of
CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT, Group of Eight, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, ISO, ITU, IWC--International Whaling Commission, IWC--International Wheat Council, LAIA, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO, WSG
National holiday
National Day, 25 May (1810)
Other political or pressure groups
Peronist-dominated labor movement, General Confederation of Labor (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization), Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association), Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association), business organizations, students, the Roman Catholic Church, the Armed Forces
Political parties and leaders
Justicialist Party (JP), Antonio Cafiero, Peronist umbrella political organization; Radical Civic Union (UCR), Raul Alfonsin, moderately left of center; Union of the Democratic Center (UCEDE), Alvaro Alsogaray, conservative party; Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar Alende, leftist party; several provincial parties
Suffrage
universal at age 18
Type
republic
Economy
Agriculture
accounts for 15% of GNP (including fishing); produces abundant food for both domestic consumption and exports; among world's top five exporters of grain and beef; principal crops--wheat, corn, sorghum, soybeans, sugar beets; 1987 fish catch estimated at 500,000 tons
Aid
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $1.0 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $3.6 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $718 million
Budget
revenues $11.5 billion; expenditures $13.0 billion, including capital expenditures of $0.93 billion (1988)
Currency
austral (plural--australes); 1 austral (A) = 100 centavos
Electricity
16,449,000 kW capacity; 46,590 million kWh produced, 1,460 kWh per capita (1989)
Exchange rates
australes (A) per US$1--1,930 (December 1989), 8.7526 (1988), 2.1443 (1987), 0.9430 (1986), 0.6018 (1985)
Exports
$9.6 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, hides, wool; partners--US 14%, USSR, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands
External debt
$60 billion (December 1989)
Fiscal year
calendar year
GNP
$72.0 billion, per capita $2,217; real growth rate - 5.5%
Imports
$4.3 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities--machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, fuels and lubricants, agricultural products; partners--US 25%, Brazil, FRG, Bolivia, Japan, Italy, Netherlands
Industrial production
growth rate - 8% (1989)
Industries
food processing (especially meat packing), motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
4,925% (1989)
Overview
Argentina is rich in natural resources, and has a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Nevertheless, the economy has encountered major problems in recent years, leading to a recession in 1988-89. Economic growth slowed to 2.0% in 1987 and to - 1.8% in 1988; a sharp decline of - 5.5% has been estimated for 1989. A widening public-sector deficit and a multidigit inflation rate has dominated the economy over the past three years, reaching about 5,000% in 1989. Since 1978, Argentina's external debt has nearly doubled to $60 billion, creating severe debt-servicing difficulties and hurting the country's creditworthiness with international lenders.
Unemployment rate
8.5% (1989 est.)
Communications
Airports
1,799 total, 1,617 usable; 132 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 30 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 335 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
54 major transport aircraft
Highways
208,350 km total; 47,550 km paved, 39,500 km gravel, 101,000 km improved earth, 20,300 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways
11,000 km navigable
Merchant marine
131 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,693,540 GRT/2,707,079 DWT; includes 45 cargo, 6 refrigerated cargo, 6 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 railcar carrier, 48 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 4 liquefied gas, 18 bulk
Pipelines
4,090 km crude oil; 2,900 km refined products; 9,918 km natural gas
Ports
Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Necochea, Rio Gallegos, Rosario, Santa Fe
Railroads
34,172 km total (includes 169 km electrified); includes a mixture of 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1.676-meter broad gauge, 1.000-meter gauge, and 0.750-meter gauge
Telecommunications
extensive modern system; 2,650,000 telephones (12,000 public telephones); radio relay widely used; stations--171 AM, no FM, 231 TV, 13 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations; domestic satellite network has 40 stations
Military and Security
Branches
Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic, Argentine Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Argentine Naval Prefecture, National Aeronautical Police Force
Defense expenditures
1.4% of GNP (1987)
Military manpower
males 15-49, 7,860,054; 6,372,189 fit for military service; 277,144 reach military age (20) annually