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Argentina

BASIC FACTS National name: Repœblica Argentina. Area: 1,072,067 sq mi. (2,766,890 sq km) Population (1999 est.): 36,737,664 (average annual rate of natural increase: 1.23%); Birth rate: 19.9/1000; infant mortality rate: 18.4/1000; density per sq mi.: 34 Capital and largest city: Buenos Aires: city proper (1991) 2,965,403; metro. area (1996 est.) 11,931,000 Other large cities (1991 est.): C—rdoba, 1,180,000; La Matanza, 1,121,164; General Sarmiento, 646,900; Mor—n, 641,540 (1983); Rosario, 950,000 (1983) Monetary unit: Peso Language: Spanish, English, Italian, German, French Ethnicity/Race: white 85%, mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups 15% There are large groups of immigrants from other European countries, British, German, French, and the inevitable surge of people escaping from the Second World War. Religion: Predominantly Roman Catholic (nominally) Literacy rate: 96% (1990) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (1996 est.): $296.9 billion; $8,610 per capita. Real growth rate: 4.4%. Inflation: 0.1%. Unemployment: 17.3% (Oct. 1996). Arable land: 9%. Products: grains, oilseeds, livestock products. Labor force (1995 est.), 14.5 million; industry: 31%, agriculture, 12%, services, 57% (1985 est.). Products: processed foods, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals. Natural resources: minerals, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron, manganese, oil, uranium. Exports: $23.8 billion (f.o.b., 1996): meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, manufactures. Imports: $23.7 billion (c.i.f., 1996): machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, agricultural products. Major trading partners: U.S., Brazil, Bolivia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Netherlands, Bolivia.

Geography: Second in South America only to Brazil in size and population, Argentina is a plain, rising from the Atlantic to the Chilean border and the towering Andes peaks. Aconcagua (23,034 ft.; 7,021 m) is the highest peak in the world outside Asia. Argentina is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay on the north, and by Uruguay and Brazil on the east. The northern area is the swampy and partly wooded Gran Chaco, bordering on Bolivia and Paraguay. South of that are the rolling, fertile Pampas, which are rich in agriculture and sheep and cattle grazing and support most of the population. Next southward is Patagonia, a region of cool, arid steppes with some wooded and fertile sections.

Government Argentina is a federal union of 23 provinces and the federal district. Under the constitution of 1853, the president and vice president are elected every six years by popular vote through an electoral college. The president appoints his cabinet. The vice president presides over the Senate but has no other powers. The Congress consists of two houses: a 46-member Senate and a 254-member Chamber of Deputies.

History Discovered in 1516 by Juan D’az de Solis, Argentina developed slowly under Spanish colonial rule. Buenos Aires was settled in 1580; the cattle industry was thriving as early as 1600. Invading British forces were expelled in 1806ö07, and after Napoleon conquered Spain (1808), the Argentinians set up their own government in 1810. On July 9, 1816, independence was formally declared. As it had in World War I, Argentina proclaimed neutrality at the outbreak of World War II, but in the closing phase declared war on the Axis powers on March 27, 1945. Juan D. Per—n, an army colonel, emerged as the strongman of the postwar era, winning the presidential elections of 1946 and 1951. Per—n's political strength was reinforced by his second wife÷Eva Duarte de Per—n (Evita)÷and his popularity with the working classes. Although she never held any government post, Evita acted as de facto minister of health and labor, establishing a national charitable organization, and awarding generous wage increases to the unions, who responded with political support for Per—n. Opposition to Per—n's increasing authoritarianism led to a coup by the armed forces that sent Per—n into exile in 1955, three years after Evita's death. Argentina entered a long period of military dictatorships with brief intervals of constitutional government. The former dictator returned to power in 1973 and his third wife, Isabel Mart’nez de Per—n, was elected vice president. After Per—n's death in 1974, she became the hemisphere's first woman chief of state, but was deposed in 1976 by a military junta. On April 2, 1982, Lt. Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri, commander of the army and the new president, landed thousands of troops on the Falkland Islands and reclaimed Las Malvinas, their Spanish name, as national territory. By May 21, more than 5,000 British marines and paratroops landed and regained control of the islands. Galtieri resigned three days after the surrender of the island garrison on June 14. Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Bignone took office as president on July 1, 1982. In the presidential election of Oct. 1983, Raœl Alfons’n, leader of the middle-class Radical Civic Union, handed the Peronist Party its first defeat since its founding. However, the twin economic problems of growing unemployment and quadruple-digit inflation led to a Peronist victory in the elections of May 1989. Inflation of food prices led to riots that induced Alfons’n to step down in June 1989, six months early, in favor of the new Peronist president, Carlos Menem. A group of army leaders and their followers attempted an uprising on Dec. 3, 1990. Most commanders, however, stood by the legitimate government, and the insurrection was suppressed in less than 24 hours. In 1991 President Menem hammered out a vast deregulation of the economy designed to reverse decades of state intervention and protectionism. During the first half of 1997 the president and his ruling Peronist Party saw their popularity dramatically fall as a result of increasing social disturbances and a scandal over presidential links to an alleged mobster. Argentina closed out 1997 with a strong gross domestic product but a high unemployment rate, which further damaged Peronist Party popularity. Menem had the constitution changed in 1994 to allow him to serve for a second term; in 1998 he planned to change it again to allow for a third term. Amid opposition threats of civil disobedience and dissatisfaction in his own party, however, he abandoned his bid for a third term. Latest news: Mr Fernando de la Rua, a sombre centrist who pledged to clean up government graft and breathe oxygen into a sluggish economy, has won a landslide victory in presidential elections, ending a decade of rule under the flamboyant and unpredictable Mr Carlos Saul Menem. 10-25-99

CAPITAL CITY: BUENOS AIRES Visitors to Argentina's seductive capital city are pleasantly surprised by the European energy buzzing in the South American air. The multi-ethnic "Porte–os" reflect English, Italian, Spanish or German heritage as well as South American. And like European cities, Buenos Aires is known for its late-late-night dining and clubs that let visitors dance until sunrise.

Buenos Aires is a sprawling giant, with towering glass skyscrapers casting shadows on 19th century Victorian houses and a wealth of unique neighborhoods, each with its own personality.

The San Telmo district, where Buenos Aires artists work and live, is noted for its mishmash of architectural styles, perfectly embodying Buenos Aires' multinational heritage in Spanish Colonial houses with Italian detailing and graceful French Classic buildings holding antique shops, tango bars and cafes. La Boca's pressed tin houses were painted a rainbow of colors by 19th century Italian immigrant families, colors which are still bright and set off by the colorful murals decorating the walls of side streets. The city's chicest neighborhood is the Barrio Recoleta, called the Beverly Hills of Buenos Aires for its art galleries and upscale restaurants.

Culture flourishes here too. One of the world's finest opera houses, the Teatro Colon, has hosted the likes of Maria Callas, Toscanini, Stravinsky, and Caruso in its luxurious French Renaissance-styled theatre. Tickets are hard to come by as season ticket-holders crowd the seats, but visitors can tour the theater from 10am to 6pm weekdays.