GeodlySouth America
Argentina
Argentina covers most of the southern half of South America, from the subtropical north down to Tierra del Fuego near the tip of the continent. With about 2.8 million square kilometres it is the eighth-largest country in the world and the largest Spanish-speaking country by area. Its name comes from the Latin word argentum, silver, after the silver early Spanish explorers hoped to find in the Río de la Plata region.
The May Revolution of 1810 in Buenos Aires started the break from Spanish rule, and independence was formally declared in San Miguel de Tucumán on 9 July 1816. Today most Argentines live in cities, and greater Buenos Aires alone is home to roughly a third of the population. The country is known for beef from the grasslands of the Pampas, for wine from Mendoza, and as one of the birthplaces of tango.
The flag of Argentina
The flag has three horizontal stripes, light blue, white and light blue, with a golden sun with a human face in the middle of the white stripe.
Manuel Belgrano, one of the leaders of the independence movement, raised the first blue and white flag in 1812. The colours are often linked to the sky and clouds, and to the cockade worn by patriots during the May Revolution. The sun is the Sol de Mayo, the Sun of May. It recalls the sun that is said to have broken through the clouds during the May Revolution, and it is modelled on Inti, the sun god of the Inca.
Landscape and geography
The Andes run along the whole western border with Chile. Aconcagua, at 6,961 metres, is the highest mountain in the world outside Asia. East of the mountains lie the flat, fertile Pampas, which give way to the dry plateaus and glaciers of Patagonia further south. Visitors to the Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park come to watch huge blocks of ice break off its 70-metre-high front into Lake Argentino.
In the far north-east, the Iguazú River drops over a horseshoe of around 275 separate waterfalls on the border with Brazil. In the far south, Ushuaia on Tierra del Fuego calls itself the southernmost city in the world and is the main port for cruises to Antarctica.
Did you know?
- Argentina claims a slice of Antarctica, and Esperanza Base there has had children born on the ice.
- The Sun of May on the flag also appears on Uruguay’s flag, a reminder of the two countries’ shared history around the Río de la Plata.
- Buenos Aires has one of the oldest underground railways in the Southern Hemisphere. Its first line opened in 1913.
- Flag Day in Argentina is held on 20 June, the anniversary of Manuel Belgrano’s death.
Key facts
- Capital
- Buenos Aires
- Continent
- South America
- Population
- About 46 million
- Land neighbours
- 5
- Coast
- Has a coastline
- European Union
- Not a member
- NATO
- Not a member
Land neighbours
Argentina in numbers
| Population | 46,044,703 people |
|---|---|
| Land area | 2,736,690 km² |
| Population density | 16.8 people/km² |
| Total GDP | $640,000,000,000 |
| GDP per capita | $13,900 |
| Life expectancy | 75.4 years |
| Unemployment rate | 6.6% |
| Coastline | 4,989 km |
| Forest coverage | 9.8% |
| Human Development Index | 0.842 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites | 12 sites |
| Airports | 1,138 airports |
These are the figures used in GeoDecide. They are rounded and can lag behind the latest official statistics.
World rankings
Geo Sort asks you to place countries by rank. A lower number means a higher place in that category.
| Land Area | #8 |
|---|---|
| Coastline | #20 |
| FIFA Ranking (M) | #1 |
| Military Strength | #24 |
| Avg Annual Temperature | #126 |
| UNESCO Sites | #21 |
| Population Density | #171 |
| Highest Point | #5 |
Practise Argentina on Geodly
- Flag Drawing: The flag of Argentina is in the Easy set. Draw it from memory and compare your drawing with the real design.
- Border Clash: Draw the border between Argentina and Chile on a blank map.
- Border Clash: Draw the border between Argentina and Brazil on a blank map.
- Geo Click: Find Argentina on the map, or locate its capital, Buenos Aires, in the capital modes.
- Geo Chain: Link countries through shared land borders. Knowing the 5 neighbours of Argentina gives you more routes.
- GeoDecide: Compare Argentina with other countries on the statistics listed above.
- Geo Sort: Place Argentina in the category where its world rank is strongest.
- Terra Tac Toe: Use Argentina as an answer when its facts fit both the row and the column of a square.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Argentina · CIA World Factbook: Argentina