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The name comes from the latin
word "argentum", which means silver. The origin of this name can be traced back
to the voyages of the first Spanish conquerors to the Rio de la Plata. The shipwrecked
survivors of the expedition mounted by Juan Diaz de Solis found indigenous people in the
region who gave them objects made of silver as presents and, around 1524, they took back
to Spain the news about the existence of Sierra del Plata, a mountain rich in that
precious metal.
From that date, the Portuguese named the river of
Solis, Rio de la Plata (Silver River). Two years later, the Spanish also used the same
name.
The National Constitution, passed in 1853, included
the name Republica Argentina (Republic of Argentina) among the oficial names to designate
the Nation’s government and territory.
| Location, area
and frontiers |
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Located in South America and,
therefore, in the southern hemisphere of the planet, Argentina has an area of almost 3.8
million square kilometers, where 2.8 belong to the continent – with approximately 54%
of plains (prairies and grasslands), 23% of plateaus and another 23% of mountains- and the
rest belongs to the Antarctic sector. Its 3.800 km- long stretches from latitude 22º
South to latitude 55º South. Argentina borders with Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia
and Chile. The borderline has a perimeter of 9.376 km. The Atlantic Ocean coastline is
4.725 km-long.
The fundamental
characteristic of Argentina is the enormous contrast between the immense eastern plains
and the imposing western Andes mountain range, which has the highest peak in the western
hemisphere: the Aconcagua, 6.959 meters-high.
In its passage from Jujuy to Tierra del Fuego, the
range shows a marvellous landscape variety: the plateaus in the Northwest
–desert-like, with valleys, ravines and colorful mountains- up to the Patagonian
region of lakes, forests and glaciers.
To the North, Chaco is a forest area connected to
the rivers Bermejo, Salado and Pilcomayo.
The Argentine Mesopotamia between the Parana and
Uruguay rivers, enclosing the provinces of Entre Rios, Corrientes and Misiones, is made up
of low hills, pools and marshlands that show the old watercourses of these large rivers.
In some parts, there are fissures that favour spectacular phenomena such as the Iguazu
Falls.
In the center of Argentina, the region of the pampas
is the largest and best known area of plains. It has an extensive agricultural and cattle
breeding activity, covering the province of Buenos Aires, Northeast of La Pampa, and South
of Cordoba and Santa Fe. The plain landscape is interrupted towards the South by the low
hills of Tandil and La Ventana, and towards the West by the low mountain ranges of
Cordoba.
Towards the south, from the Andes to the sea, are
the barren and stony plateaus of Patagonia, lashed by the wind during most of the year.
The Atlantic coast, lined with high cliffs, forms massive indentations like the Valdes
Peninsula with its spectacular colonies of marine animals.
Argentina has a wide climatic
variety: mild and humid in the plains of the pampas, cold and humid in the west end
of Patagonia, subtropical in the northern part of the Mesopotamia and hot in the
Northwest. From November to March, the average temperature is 23ºC, and from June to
September, 12ºC.
Argentina’s current
population is estimated to be larger than 36 million inhabitants, almost half of them live
in the Federal Capital and the province of Buenos Aires. These figures indicate a
population density of 13 inhabitants per square kilometre.
95% of Argentineans are white, mainly descendants
of Italian and Spanish people. After the massive European immigration, half-castes –
half white and half indigenous- slowly diluted and today these people only represent 4.5%
of the Argentine population.
The pure indigenous population, the Mapuches,
Collas, Tobas, Matacos and Chiriguanos, amount to 0.5% of the inhabitants.
Spanish is the official
language of Argentina. In Buenos Aires, it adopts styles and terms from lunfardo, the
city’s slang.
The official religion is the
Roman Catholic; yet, there is complete religious freedom in Argentina. Also, other
religions are practised, such as Protestantism, Judaism, Islamism, Greek Orthodox, Russian
Orthodox and the like.
| Constitution
and Government |
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The national territory is
made up of the city of Buenos Aires as the Federal Capital and 23 provinces. Its
government, as stated by the National Constitution, is representative, republican and
federal. It is divided into three powers: the executive, the judiciary and the
legislature.
The executive is exercised by a President and a
Vice President for a period of four years, who can only be reelected for one extra
consecutive period. The legislature is made up of two chambers: the Senate, made up of
three senators representing each province and three representing the Federal Capital, and
the House of Representatives, whose members are elected directly by proportional
representation in each district.
The President and Vice President, the Mayor of the
City of Buenos Aires, the governors of the provinces and the members of the legislative
bodies are elected by universal secret and compulsory suffrage, by male and female
citizens older than 18 years old. The judiciary "is exercised by the Supreme Court of
Justice and the rest of the lower courts".
Each province, in accordance with the principles,
declarations and rights stated in the National Constitution and under the federal
representative system, passes its own constitution that establishes the acts of
government.
The Constitution currently in force dates from
1853. Even so, it has been reformed in 1860, 1898, 1957 and 1994. The last amendment,
introduced in August 1994, allows the reelection of the President for one extra term of
office. |
