With stunning landscapes, intense personalities and passions, and talented professionals across numerous industries, Argentina is the eighth largest country in the world, the fourth largest in the Americas, the second largest in South America after Brazil, and the largest Spanish-speaking nation by area. With European influences and "gaucho" (Argentine cowboy) culture, the country's creative sector of music, arts, cinema, and design is bustling, innovating, and achieving like never before. Argentina is a powerhouse in agriculture and livestock, and it has also produced some of the world's top athletes in soccer, rugby, and polo.

Government

The country is a representative federal and democratic republic, with Buenos Aires as the Federal Capital and 23 provinces. The national president and vice president, as well as the head of government of the city of Buenos Aires, the provincial governors, and the members of the legislative bodies are chosen by the universal, secret, and compulsory vote of citizens of either sex above the age of 18. Presidential reelection is allowed for one consecutive four-year period. Our current president is Alberto Fernández of the “Partido Justicialista”, inaugurated in December 2019. His current vice president is Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the former president of Argentina (2007-2015) and leader of the central-leftist political movement aptly titled kirchnerismo.

Economy

Argentina’s GDP is US$637.6 billion (2017), with a per capita GDP of US$14,400. Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, a diversified industrial base, and an export-oriented economy. Main destinations of exports in 2017 were Brazil (17.0%), China (7.2%) and U.S. (5.9%). Although one of the world’s wealthiest countries 100 years ago, Argentina suffered during most of the 20th century from recurring economic crises, persistent fiscal and current account deficits, high inflation, mounting external debt, and capital flight. The most formidable challenge was a severe economic crisis in 2001 and 2002 that led to the resignation of several interim presidents.

The economy has recovered strongly since bottoming out in 2002. With the reemergence of double-digit inflation in 2005, the Kirchner administration pressured businesses into a series of agreements to hold down prices. The government renegotiated its public debt in 2005 and paid off its remaining obligations to the IMF in early 2006. Real GDP growth averaged 8.5% during the period 2003-2009, bolstering government revenues and keeping the budget in surplus. This trend has ended in the over the last few years, as growth has fluctuation between -2.5% (2014), 2.5% (2015), and -1.8% (2016). Argentina’s unemployment rate hovers around 8%, with around 30% of the population below the poverty line (2006). 2018 saw the worst inflation since 1999, clocking in at 47.1%.

Religion

There is complete religious freedom in Argentina, although the official religion is Roman Catholic. Other major religious populations include Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Greek Orthodox, and Russian Orthodox. Pope Francis, who was born in Buenos Aires as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pope from outside of Europe since the Syrian Gregory III, who reigned in the 8th century.

Geography

Located in the southeast tip of South America, Argentina encompasses 1,452,236 square miles and is populated by 44.7 million inhabitants, over 15.9 million of which claim home to the capital city of Buenos Aires. The dominant language is Spanish.

Argentina is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Brazil, and Uruguay to the east, Paraguay and Bolivia to the north, Chile to the west, and Antarctica to the south. The vast Argentine territory has a diversity of landscapes, where ice fields contrast with arid zones; mountains (the Andes) with valleys or plateaus; fluvial streams and lakes with large oceans, broad grassy plains with woods and forests. The southern area is the Patagonia region. The climate is generally arid in north and west, Mediterranean-type climate in the center-east of the country, and damp and cool in the south.

The average temperature in Buenos Aires is 18°C/64°F, except during the summer, with a high of 35°C/95°F or in the winter with a low of 0° C/32°F.

Culture

Buenos Aires has great cultural production in cinema, theatre, visual arts, music, and literature. The Colon Theatre is ranked among the top three opera houses in the world. Painting and sculpture have a key role in cultural life. The country’s principal cities have prestigious art galleries. There is popular and folklore music and special mention should be made of the urban music typical of the River Plate area: the tango. Its idol, Carlos Gardel, is revered by millions. With regards to science and culture, Argentina has five Nobel Prize winners: Carlos Saavedra Lamas (1936) and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (1980) for peace; Bernardo Houssay (1947) and Cesar Milstein (1984) for medicine; and Luis Federico Leloir (1970) for chemistry.