Home of the tango and of the football legend Diego Maradona, Argentina is also a country of stunning natural beauty. Argentina’s natural highlights include a sub-tropical north and a sub-Antarctic south, a long coastline, the fertile plains of the Pampas, and the Andes mountain range that boasts South America’s highest peak, Mount Aconcagua (6962 metres). Argentina is rich in resources, and the Pampas is a productive agricultural area. Here are some interesting facts about Argentina:

39.9 million people live in Argentina. The main language in Argentina is Spanish and the major religion is Christianity. The country’s capital is Buenos Aires.

Argentina became independent from Spain in 1816, but its boundaries were set much later in the early 20th century.

Argentina is one of South America’s largest economies. It suffered an economic crisis in 2001, which led to half of the population living in poverty and caused unrest in the country, but the country’s economy has since recovered. Poverty, however, is still a problem.

Argentina’s current president, Cristina Fernandez, is the country’s first elected female president and the wife of a popular former president, Nestor Kirchner. Together they have been called “Clintons of the South”. Christina Fernandez became president in the October 2007 presidential elections, but she has a long background in politics, and during her husband’s term in office she was his chief adviser. Mr Kirchner was a popular president due to his efforts to reduce poverty and unemployment during the 2001 economic collapse.

Argentina has been through several military coups and years of military dictatorship. The so-called seven-year “dirty war” from 1976 to 1983 is especially infamous for human rights abuses. Many people “disappeared” during the dirty war, and their bodies were never found. Many pardons were granted to former military leaders in the 1980’s and 1990’s, but these pardons have recently been criticized.

In 1982 Argentina’s military government invaded the Falkland Islands, or Islas Malvinas, a UK overseas territory. The UK won the subsequent Falklands War.

The Pampas is one of the world’s most productive agricultural regions, and Argentina is also one of the world’s biggest exporters of beef and beef products. “Gauchos” are the legendary residents of the Pampas, a kind of a South American version of lone cowboys.

Argentina has the second highest number of Internet users in South America after Brazil: 16 million Internet users, or 40 % of the population.

Sources:

The BBC
The Encyclopaedia Britannica