style="font-size:15px;"> _#_Natural resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, crude oil, uranium
_#_Land use: arable land 9%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and pastures 52%; forest and woodland 22%; other 13%; includes irrigated 1%
_#_Environment: Tucuman and Mendoza areas in Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike Pampas and northeast; irrigated soil degradation; desertification; air and water pollution in Buenos Aires
_#_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: 32,663,983 (July 1991), growth rate 1.1% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 20 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 31 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 74 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 2.7 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun—Argentine(s); adjective—Argentine
_#_Ethnic divisions: white 85%; mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups 15%
_#_Religion: nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 6%
_#_Language: Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French
_#_Literacy: 95% (male 96%, female 95%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: 10,900,000; agriculture 12%, industry 31%, services 57% (1985 est.)
_#_Organized labor: 3,000,000; 28% of labor force
_*Government #_Long-form name: Argentine Republic
_#_Type: republic
_#_Capital: Buenos Aires (tentative plans to move to Viedma by 1990 indefinitely postponed)
_#_Administrative divisions: 22 provinces (provincias, singular—provincia), 1 national territory* (territorio nacional), and 1 district** (distrito); Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes, Distrito Federal**, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego, Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur*, Tucuman; note—the national territory is in the process of becoming a province; the US does not recognize claims to Antarctica
_#_Independence: 9 July 1816 (from Spain)
_#_Constitution: 1 May 1853
_#_Legal system: mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
_#_National holiday: Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)
_#_Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
_#_Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados)
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government—President Carlos Saul MENEM (since 8 July 1989); Vice President Eduardo DUHALDE (since 8 July 1989)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
Justicialist Party (JP), Carlos Saul MENEM, Peronist umbrella political
organization;
Radical Civic Union (UCR), Raul ALFONSIN, moderately left of center;
Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), Alvaro ALSOGARAY, conservative
party;
Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar ALENDE, leftist party;
several provincial parties
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
President—last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held May 1995); results—Carlos Saul MENEM was elected;
Chamber of Deputies—last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held October 1991); results—JP 47%, UCR 30%, UCD 7%, other 16%; seats—(254 total); JP 122, UCR 93, UCD 11, other 28
_#_Communists: some 70,000 members in various party organizations, including a small nucleus of activists
_#_Other political or pressure groups: Peronist-dominated labor movement, General Confederation of Labor (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization), Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association), Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association), business organizations, students, the Roman Catholic Church, the Armed Forces
_#_Member of: AfDB, AG (observer), CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-6, G-11,
G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD,
IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU,
LAES, LAIA, LORCS, NAM, OAS, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Ortiz de ROZAS; Chancery at 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 939–6400 through 6403; there are Argentine Consulates General in Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Consulates in Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles;
US—Ambassador Terence A. TODMAN; Embassy at 4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires (mailing address is APO Miami 34034); telephone [54] (1) 774–7611 or 8811, 9911
_#_Flag: three equal horizontal bands of light blue (top), white, and light blue; centered in the white band is a radiant yellow sun with a human face known as the Sun of May
_*Economy #_Overview: Argentina is rich in natural resources and has a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Nevertheless, following decades of mismanagement and statist policies, the economy has encountered major problems in recent years, leading to escalating inflation and a recession in 1988–90. A widening public-sector deficit and a multidigit inflation rate have dominated the economy over the past three years; retail prices rose nearly 5,000% in 1989 and another 1,345% in 1990. Since 1978, Argentina's external debt has nearly doubled to $60 billion, creating severe debt-servicing difficulties and hurting the country's creditworthiness with international lenders.
_#_GNP: $82.7 billion, per capita $2,560; real growth rate - 3.5% (1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices):
