Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico, Colombia and Spain are more populous. Its continental area is between the Andes mountain range in the west and the Atlantic Ocean in the east. Argentina borders Paraguay and Bolivia to the north, Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast, and Chile to the west and south. Argentina claims the British overseas territories of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It also claims a part of Antarctica, overlapping claims made by Chile and the United Kingdom, though all claims were suspended by the Antarctic Treaty of 1961.

The earliest evidence of humans in Argentina is in Patagonia and dates from 11,000 BC. The Inca Empire under King Pachacutec invaded and conquered present-day northwestern Argentina in 1480, integrating it into a region called Collasuyu; the Guarani developed a culture based on yuca, sweet potato, and yerba mate. The central and southern areas (Pampas and Patagonia) were dominated by nomadic cultures, unified in the 17th century by the Mapuches.

European explorers arrived in 1516. Spain established the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1542 encompassing all its holdings in South America, and established a permanent colony at Buenos Aires in 1580 as part of the dependency of Río de la Plata. In 1776 this dependency was elevated to a viceroyalty which shifted trade from Lima to Buenos Aires.

The area was largely a country of Spanish immigrants and their descendants, known as criollos, and others of native cultures and of descendants of African slaves, present in significant numbers. A third of Colonial-era settlers gathered in Buenos Aires and other cities, others living on the pampas as gauchos, for instance. Indigenous peoples inhabited much of the rest of Argentina. The British invaded twice between 1806 and 1807, as part of the Napoleonic Wars when Spain was an ally of France, but both invasions were repelled.

On 25 May 1810, after the rumors of the Napoleonic overthrow of Ferdinand VII were confirmed, the citizens of Buenos Aires created the First Government Junta(May Revolution). Two nations emerged in the former viceroyalty: the United Provinces of South America (1810) and the Liga Federal(1815). Other provinces delayed the formation of a unified state because of differences between autonomist and centralist parties; Paraguay seceded, declaring independence in 1811.

Between 1814 and 1817, General Jose de San Martin led a military campaign aimed at making independence a reality. San Martín and his regiment crossed the Andes in 1817 to defeat royalist forces in Chile and Perú, thus securing independence. The Congress of Tucuman gathered on 9 July 1816 and finally issued a formal Declaration of Independence from Spain. The Liga Federal was crushed in 1820 by the combined forces of the United Provinces and Brazil, and its provinces were absorbed into the United Provinces of South America. Bolivia declared independence in 1825, and Uruguay was created in 1828 as a result of a truce following the Argentina-Brazil War. The controversial truce led to the rise of Buenos Aires provincial governor Juan Manuel de Rosas, who, as a federalist, exercised a reign of terror and kept the fragile confederacy together.

The centralist Unitarios and the Federales maintained an internecine conflict until Rosas' 1852 overthrow after the Platine War, and to help prevent future struggle during the tenuous times that followed, a Constitution was promulgated in 1853. The constitution, drafted by legal scholar Juan Bautista Alberdi, was defended by Franciscan Friar Mamerto Esquiu and endured through difficult early years. National unity was reinforced when Paraguay attacked local British interests in 1865, resulting in the War of the Triple Alliance, which left more than 300,000 dead and devastated Paraguay.

A wave of foreign investment and immigration from Europe after 1870 led to the development of modern agriculture and to a near-reinvention of Argentine society and the economy and the strengthening of a cohesive state. The rule of law was consolidated in large measure by Dalmacio Velez Sarsfield, whose 1860 Commercial Code and 1869 Civil Code laid the foundation for Argentina's statutory laws. General Julio Argentino Roca’s military campaign in the 1870's established Argentine dominance over the southern Pampas and Patagonia, subdued the remaining indigenous peoples and left 1,300 indigenous dead. Some contemporary sources indicate that it was campaign of genocide by the Argentine government.

Argentina increased in prosperity and prominence between 1880 and 1929, while emerging as one of the 10 richest countries in the world, benefiting from an agricultural export-led economy. Driven by immigration and decreasing mortality, the Argentine population grew fivefold and the economy by 15-fold. Conservative interests dominated Argentine politics through non-democratic means until, in 1912, President Roque Saenez Peña enacted universal male suffrage and the secret ballot. This allowed their traditional rivals, the centrist Radical Civic Union, to win the country's first free elections in 1916. President Hipolito Yrigogen enacted social and economic reforms and extended assistance to family farmers and small business. But having been politically imposing and beset by the Great Depression, the military forced him from power in 1930. This led to another decade of Conservative rule, whose economists turned to more protectionist policies and whose electoral policy was one of “patriotic fraud.” The country was neutral during World War I and most of World War II, becoming an important source of foodstuffs for the Allied Nations.

In 1946, General Juan Peron was elected president, creating a political movement referred to as “”Peronism.” His hugely popular wife, Evita, played a central political role until her death in 1952, mostly through the Eva Peron Foundation and the Peronist Women’s Party. During Perón's tenure, wages and working conditions improved appreciably, the number of unionized workers quadrupled, government programs increased and urban development was prioritized over the agrarian sector. Formerly stable prices and exchange rates were disrupted, however: the peso lost about 70% of its value from early 1948 to early 1950, and inflation reached 50% in 1951. Foreign policy became more isolationists training U.S.-Argentine relations. Perón intensified censorship as well as repression: 110 publications were shuttered, and numerous opposition figures were imprisoned and tortured. Over time, he rid himself of many important and capable advisers, while promoting patronage. A violent coup which bombarded the Casa Rosada and its surroundings killing many, deposed him in 1955. He fled into exile, eventually residing in Spain.

Following an attempt to purge the Peronist influence and the banning of Peronists from political life, elections in 1958 brought Arturo Frondizi to office. Frondizi enjoyed some support from Perón's followers, and his policies encouraged investment to make Argentina self-sufficient in energy and industry, but led to a trade deficit for Argentina. The military, however, frequently interfered on behalf of conservative interests and the results were mixed. Frondizi was forced to resign in 1962. Arturo Illia, elected in 1963, enacted expansionist policies; but despite prosperity, his attempts to include Peronists in the political process resulted in the armed forces' retaking power in a quiet 1966 coup. Though repressive this new regime continued to encourage domestic development and invested record amounts into public works. The economy grew strongly, and income poverty declined to 7% by 1975, still a record low. Partly because of their repressiveness, however, political violence began to escalate and, from exile, Perón skillfully co-opted student and labor protests, which eventually resulted in the military regime's call for free elections in 1973 and his return from Spain. Taking office that year, Perón died in July 1974, leaving his third wife Isabel the Vice President, to succeed him in office. Mrs. Perón had been chosen as a compromise among feuding Peronist factions who could agree on no other running mate; secretly, though, she was beholden to Perón's most fascist advisors. The resulting conflict between left and right-wing extremists led to mayhem and financial chaos and, in March 1976, a coup d’ etat removed her from office.

Argentina has since been enjoying economic growth though with high inflation. Néstor Kirchner forfeited the 2007 campaign in favor of his wife Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Winning by a landslide that October, she became the first woman elected President of Argentina and in a disputed result, Fabiana Rios a center-left (ARI) candidate in Tierra del Fuego Province became the first woman in Argentine history to be elected governor. President Cristina Kirchner, despite carrying large majorities in Congress, saw controversial plans for higher agricultural export taxes defeated by Vice President Julio Cobos' surprise tie-breaking vote against them on 16 July 2008, following massive agrarian protests and lockouts from March to July. The global financial crisis has since prompted Mrs. Kirchner to step up her husband's policy of state intervention in troubled sectors of the economy. A halt in growth and political missteps helped lead Kirchnerism and its allies to lose their absolute majority in Congress, following the 2009 mid-term elections.

The total surface area (excluding the Antarctic claim) is 2,766,891 km2 (1,068,303 sq mi), of which 30,200 km2 (11,700 sq mi) (1.1%) is water. Argentina is about 3,900 km (2,400 mi) long from north to south, and 1,400 km (870 mi) from east to west (maximum values). There are four major regions: the fertile central plains of the Pampas, source of Argentina's agricultural wealth; the flat to rolling, oil-rich southern plateau of Patagonia including Tierra del Fuego; the subtropical northern flats of the Gran Chaco, and the rugged Andes mountain range along the western border with Chile.

The highest point above sea level is in Mendoza province at Cerro Aconcagua (6,962 m (22,841 ft)), also the highest point in the Southern and Western Hemisphere. The lowest point is Laguna del Carbon in Santa Cruz province, -105 m (−344 ft) below sea level. This is also the lowest point in South America. The geographic center of the country is in south-central La Pampa province.

The major rivers are the Parana (the largest), the Pilcomayo, Paraguay, Bermejo, Colorado, Rio Negro, Salado and the Uruguay. The Paraná and the Uruguay join to form the Rio de la Plata estuary, before reaching the Atlantic. Regionally important rivers are the Atuel and Mendoza in the homonymous province, the Chubutin Patagonia, the Río Grande in Jujuy and the San Francisco River in Salta.

There are several large lakes including Argentino and Viedma in Santa Cruz, Nahuel Huapi between Río Negro and Neuquén, Fagnano in Tierra del Fuego, and Colhué Huapi and Musters in Chubut. Lake Buenos Aries and O’Higgins/San Martin Lake are shared with Chile. Mar Chaquita/Cordoba, is the largest salt water lake in the country. There are numerous rewservoirs created by dams. Argentina features various hot springs, such as Termas de Rio Hondo with temperatures between 65°C and 89°C.

The generally temperate climate ranges from subtropical in the north to subpolar in the far south. The north is characterized by very hot, humid summers with mild drier winters, and is subject to periodic droughts. Central Argentina has hot summers with thunderstorms (western Argentina produces some of the world's largest hails), and cool winters. The southern regions have warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall, especially in mountainous zones. Higher elevations at all latitudes experience cooler conditions.

The Andean range over Santa Cruz province The hottest and coldest temperature extremes

recorded in South America have occurred in Argentina. A record high temperature of 49.1 °C (120.4 °F), was recorded at Villa de María, Córdoba, on 2 January 1920. The lowest temperature recorded was −39 °C (−38 °F) at Valle de los Patos Superior, San Juan, on 17 July 1972.

Major wind currents include the cool Pampero Winds blowing on the flat plains of Patagonia and the Pampas; following the cold front, warm currents blow from the north in middle and late winter, creating mild conditions. The Zonda, a hot dry wind, affects west-central Argentina. Squeezed of all moisture during the 6,000 m (20,000 ft) descent from the Andes, Zonda winds can blow for hours with gusts up to 120 km/h (75 mph), fueling wildfires and causing damage; when the Zonda blows (June-November), snowstorms and blizzard(viento blanco) conditions usually affect higher elevations.

The Sudestada ("southeasterlies") could be considered similar to the Nor’easter though snowfall is rare but not unprecedented. Both are associated with a deep winter low pressure system. The sudestada usually moderates cold temperatures but brings very heavy rains, rough seas and coastal flooding. It is most common in late autumn and winter along the central coast and in the Río de la Plata estuary.

The official language of Argentina is Spanish, usually called castellano (Castilian) by Argentines. A phonetic study conducted by the Laboratory for Sensory Investigations of CONICET and the University of showed that the accent of the inhabitants of Buenos Aires (known as porteños) is closer to the Neopolitan dialect of Italian than any other spoken language. Italian immigration and other European immigrations influenced Lunfardo, the slang spoken in the Río de la Plata region, permeating the vernacular vocabulary of other regions as well.

Argentines are the largest Spanish-speaking society that universally employs what is known as voseo (the use of the pronoun vos instead of tú (you), which occasions the use of alternate verb forms as well). The most prevalent dialect is Rioplatense, whose speakers are primarily located in the basin of the Río de la Plata.

According to one survey, there are around 1.5 million Italian speakers (which makes it the second most spoken language in the country) and 1 million speakers of North Levantine Spoken Arabic.

Standard German is spoken by between 400,000 and 500,000 Argentines of German ancestry, making it the third or fourth most spoken language in Argentina.

Some indigenous communities have retained their original languages. Guarani is spoken by some in the northeast, especially in Corrientes (where it enjoys official status) and Misiones. Quechua is spoken by some in the northwest and has a local variant in Santiago del Estero. Aymara is spoken by members of the Bolivian community who migrated to Argentina from Bolivia. In Patagonia there are several Welsh -speaking communities with some 25,000 estimated second-language speakers. More recent immigrants have brought Chinese and Korean , mostly to Buenos Aires. English, Brazilian Portuguese and French are also spoken. English is commonly taught at schools as a second language and, to a lesser extent, Portuguese and French.[

Bariloche, Mt. Piedra, Rainbow Falls, a Glacier, Trekking, and the brightly colored houses all are a part of the countryside of Argentina

Ninth of July Blvd in Buenos Aires, named after the date of Argentine Independence in 1816 

Cordoba City Center and Old Cordoba

San Marin Blvd

La Plata City Hall

The Govenors Office

Aerial view of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires City Buenos Aires Province Catamarca Province Chaco Province Chubut Province Córdoba Province Corrientes Province Entre Ríos Province Formosa Province Jujuy Province La Pampa Province La Rioja Province Mendoza Province Misiones Province Neuquén Province Río Negro Province Salta Province San Juan Province San Luis Province Santa Cruz Province Santa Fe Province Santiago del Estero Province Tierra del Fuego

and disputed areas of Antarctica and the South Atlantic

Tucumán Province

National Flower – celbo

The official national sport of Argentina is pato, played with a six-handle ball on horseback, but the most popular sport is association football. The national football teamhas won 25 major international titles including two FIFA World Cups, two Olympic gold medals and fourteen Copa Americanas. Over one thousand Argentine players play abroad, the majority of them in European football leagues. There are 331,811 registered football players, with increasing numbers of girls and women, who have organized their own national championships since 1991 and were South American champions in 2006.

The Argentine Football Association(AFA) was formed in 1893 and is the eighth oldest national football association in the world. The 1891 league tournament in Argentina was the third in football history, after England and the Netherlands. The AFA today counts 3,377 football clubs, including 20 in the Premier Division. Since the AFA went professional in 1931, fifteen teams have won national tournament titles, including River Platte with 33 and Boca Juniors with 24. Over the last twenty years, futsal and beach soccer have become increasingly popular. The Argentine beach football team was one of four competitors in the first international championship for the sport, in Miami, in 1993.

Argentina has an important rugby union football team, “Los Pumas", with many of its players playing in Europe. Argentina beat host nation France twice in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, placing them third in the competition. The Pumas are currently sixth in the official world rankings. Basketball is also popular; a number of basketball players play in the U.S. National Basketball Association and European leagues. The men's national basketball team won Olympic gold in the 2004 Olympics and the bronze medal in 2008. Argentina is currently ranked first by the International Basketball Federation. Other popular sports include field hockey (particularly amongst women), tennis, auto racing, boxing, volleyball, polo and golf.

Tango, the music and lyrics (often sung in a form of slang called lunfardo), is Argentina's musical symbol. The Milonga dance was a predecessor, slowly evolving into modern tango. By the 1930s, tango had changed from a dance-focused music to one of lyric and poetry, with singers like Carlos Gardel, Hugo del Carril, Roberto Goveneche, Raul Lavie, Tita Merello and Edmundo Rivera. The golden age of tango (1930 to mid-1950s) mirrored that of Jazz and Swing in the United States, featuring large orchestral groups too. Incorporating acoustic music and later, synthesizers into the genre after 1955, bandoneon virtuoso Astor Piazzolla popularized “new tango” creating a more subtle, intellectual and listener-oriented trend. Today tango enjoys worldwide popularity; ever-evolving, neo-tango a global phenomenon with renown groups like Tanghetto Bajofondo and the Gotan Project.

Argentine rock, called rock nacional, is the most popular music among youth. Arguably the most listened form of Spanish-language rock, its influence and success internationally owes to a rich, uninterrupted development.

Argentine folk music is uniquely vast. Beyond dozens of regional dances, a national folk style emerged in the 1930s.

Mercedes Sosa – grand dame of Argentine folk music

Though holidays of many faiths are respected, public holidays usually include most Catholic holidays. Historic holidays include the celebration of the May Revolution (25 May), the Independence Day (9 July), National Flag Day (20 June) and the death of José de San Martín (17 August).

The extended family gathers on Christmas Eve at around 9 p.m. for dinner, music, and often dancing. Candies are served just before midnight, when the fireworks begin. They also open gifts from Papá Noel (Father Christmas or "Santa Claus"). New Years Day is also marked with fireworks. Other widely observed holidays include Good Friday, Easter, Labor Day (1 May) and Sovereignty Day (formerly Malvinas Day, 2 April).

After independence, Argentina constructed a national public education system in comparison to other nations, placing the country high up in the global rankings of literacy. Today the country has a literacy rate of 97%, and three in eight adults over age 20 have completed secondary school studies or higher.[

School attendance is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 17. The Argentine school system consists of a primary or lower school level lasting six or seven years, and a secondary or high school level lasting between five to six years. In the 1990s, the system was split into different types of high school instruction, called Educacion Secundaria and the Polimodal. Some provinces adopted the Polimodal while others did not. A project in the executive branch to repeal this measure and return to a more traditional secondary level system was approved in 2006. President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento is overwhelmingly credited in pushing and implementing a free, modern education system in Argentina. The 1918 University Reform shaped the current tripartite representation of most public universities.

Education is funded by tax payers at all levels except for the majority of graduate studies. There are many private school institutions in the primary, secondary and university levels. Around 11.4 million people were enrolled in formal education of some kind in 2006, including 1.5 million in the nation's 85 universities

Public education in Argentina is tuition-free from the primary to the university levels. Though literacy was nearly universal as early as 1947, the majority of Argentine youth had little access to education beyond the compulsory seven years of grade school during the first half of the 20th century; since then, when the tuition-free system was extended to the secondary and university levels, demand for these facilities has often outstripped budgets (particularly since the 1970s). Consequently, public education is now widely found wanting and in decline; this has helped private education flourish, though it has also caused a marked inequity between those who can afford it (usually the middle and upper classes) and the rest of society, as private schools often have no scholarship systems in place. Roughly one in four primary and secondary students and one in six university students attend private institutions

There are thirty-eight public universities across the country, as well as numerous private ones. The University of Buenos Aires, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Universidad Nacional de la Plata, Universidad National de Rosario, and the National Technological University are among the most important. Public universities faced cutbacks in spending during the 1980s and 1990s, which led to a decline in overall quality.

Argentina's constitution of 1853, as revised in 1994, mandates a separation of powers into executive, legislative, and judicial branches at the national and provincial level. Each province also has its own constitution, roughly mirroring the structure of the national constitution. The president and vice president are directly elected to four-year terms. Both are limited to two consecutive terms; they are allowed to stand for a third term or more after an interval of at least one term. The president appoints cabinet ministers, and the constitution grants him considerable power, including authority to enact laws by presidential decree under conditions of "urgency and necessity" and the line-item veto.

Since 2001, senators have been directly elected, with each province and the Federal Capital represented by three senators. Senators serve six-year terms. One-third of the Senate stands for reelection every two years. Members of the Chamber of Deputies are directly elected to four-year terms. Voters elect half the members of the lower house every two years. Both houses are elected via a system of proportional representation. Female representation in Congress--at nearly one-third of total seats--ranks among the world's highest, with representation comparable to European Union (EU) countries such as Austria and Germany.

The constitution establishes the judiciary as an independent government entity. The president appoints members of the Supreme Court with the consent of the Senate. The president on the recommendation of a magistrates' council appoints other federal judges. The Supreme Court has the power to declare legislative acts unconstitutional.

GDP: $261 billion. Annual real growth rate: +8.7%. Per capita GDP: $6,630 (estimated).Natural resources: Fertile plains (pampas); minerals--lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron, manganese, oil, and uranium. Agriculture (8% of GDP; including agribusiness, about 55% of exports by value): Products--oilseeds and by-products, grains, livestock products. Industry (22.5% of GDP): Types--food processing, oil refining, machinery and equipment, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals. Trade: Exports ($55.9 billion)--oilseed by-products, vegetable oils, cars, fuels, grains. Major markets--MERCOSUR 23%; EU 18%; NAFTA 11%. Imports ($44.8 billion)--machinery, vehicles and transport products, chemicals. Major suppliers--MERCOSUR 36%; EU 17%, NAFTA 16%. Imported goods from the United States totaled approx. 12% of Argentine imported goods.

Type: Republic.Constitution: 1853; revised 1994.Independence: 1816.Branches: Executive--president, vice president, cabinet. Legislative--bicameral Congress (72-member Senate, 257-member Chamber of Deputies). Judicial--Supreme Court, federal and provincial trial courts. Administrative subdivisions: 23 provinces and one autonomous district (Federal Capital).Political parties: Justicialist (Peronist), Radical Civic Union (UCR), numerous smaller national and provincial parties.Suffrage: Universal adult.

Argentina means "land of silver." It's name comes from the mineral silver. The religion is predominately Roman Catholic and the main language is Spanish. The heartland of Argentina is a grassy area called the "pampas". This is where you would find the historical "gauchos". This cowboy way of life has survived for 300 yrs. Argentina is actually triangular in shape and lies along South America East Coast. The capital city is Buenos Aires.

-malbec is the most planted grape -the irrigation system was started

centuries ago by Indians -70% of the wineries are near Mendoza -fifth largest wine country -wine consumption has been falling -wine is grown at around 2,000-3,000 feet -the Penaflor winery is the second largest

in the world

-the highest moutain in argentina is called "Aconcagua"

There is a duck in Argentina that was named "The Argentinian Vampire Duck"!

This duck has the habit of picking off lice from other ducks and christian missionaries apparently thought that was some form of vampirism! Those crazy missionaries! It is also called "The Ghoul Bird"!

Ancient church, ladies selling

Colored houses and yerba matte (green tea)

Falls, on top of the world