President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
Population
42,192,494
65,630,692
Life Expectancy
77.140 years
81.460 years
Capital City
Buenos Aires
Paris
Largest city
Buenos Aires (population: 13,076,300)
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Human Development Index
0.86
0.955
GDP per capita
$17,700 US
$35,600 US
Literacy Rate
97.2%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
2.9
6.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
39.8%
19.6%
Wealthiest Citizens
Gregorio Perez Companc & family ($1.8bn US)
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
Unemployment Rate
7.200%
9.300%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
republic
republic
Independence date
9 July 1816 (from Spain)
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
Religions
nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Languages
Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Exports
soybeans and derivatives, petroleum and gas, vehicles, corn, wheat
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
External Debt
$136,800,000,000 $
$5,633,000,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Argentine pesos (ARS) per US dollar - 3.1636 (2008 est.), 3.1105 (2007), 3.0543 (2006), 2.9037 (2005), 2.9233 (2004)
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.800%
2.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
6
40
Location
Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay
Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain
Area
2,780,400 km sq
643,801 km sq
Coastline
4,989 km
0 km
Climate
mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest
