Part 32

Geographic coordinates: 34 00 S, 64 00 W

Map references: South America

Area: total area: 2,766,890 sq km land area: 2,736,690 sq km comparative area: slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US

Land boundaries: total: 9,665 km border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km

Coastline: 4,989 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

International 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

Climate: mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest

Terrain: rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border lowest point: Salinas Chicas -40 m highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,962 m

Natural resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium

Land use: arable land: 9% permanent crops: 4% meadows and pastures: 52% forest and woodland: 22% other: 13%

Irrigated land: 17,600 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment: current issues: erosion results from inadequate flood controls and improper land use practices; irrigated soil degradation; desertification; air pollution in Buenos Aires and other major cities; water pollution in urban areas; rivers becoming polluted due to increased pesticide and fertilizer use natural hazards: Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the Pampas and northeast; heavy flooding international agreements: party to - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Marine Life Conservation

Geographic 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)

People ------

Population: 34,672,997 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 28% (male 4,904,380; female 4,707,293) 15-64 years: 63% (male 10,851,004; female 10,834,593) 65 years and over: 9% (male 1,414,412; female 1,961,315) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.1% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 19.41 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 8.62 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female all ages: 0.98 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 28.3 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 71.66 years male: 68.37 years female: 75.12 years (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.62 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality: noun: Argentine(s) adjective: Argentine

Ethnic divisions: white 85%, mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups 15%

Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 6%