|
Country
|
 Argentina | Ireland |
|
Leader
|

President: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
|

President: Michael D Higgins
|
|
Population
|
42,610,981
| 4,775,982
|
|
Life Expectancy
|
77.320 years
| 80.440 years
|
|
Capital City
|
Buenos Aires
| Dublin
|
|
Largest city
|
| Buenos Aires (population: 13,076,300) | Dublin (population: 1,024,030) |
|
Human Development Index
|
0.86
| 0.96
|
| GDP per capita |
$18,200 US
| $41,700 US
|
|
Literacy Rate
|
97.2%
| 99%
|
|
Corruption Perception Index
|
2.9
| 7.7
|
|
Percentage of Women in Parliament
|
39.8%
| 15.5%
|
| Wealthiest Citizens |
Gregorio Perez Companc & family ($1.8bn US)
| Pallonji Mistry ($2.5bn US)
|
| Unemployment Rate |
7.200%
| 14.600%
|
|
Death Penalty
|
Abolished
| Abolished
|
| |
|
Political System
|
republic
| republic, parliamentary democracy
|
|
Independence date
|
9 July 1816 (from Spain)
| 6 December 1921 (from UK by treaty)
|
| Religions |
nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%
| Roman Catholic 87.4%, Church of Ireland 2.9%, other Christian 1.9%, other 2.1%, unspecified 1.5%, none 4.2% (2006 census)
|
| Languages |
Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French
| English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard
|
| Exports |
soybeans and derivatives, petroleum and gas, vehicles, corn, wheat
| machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; live animals, animal products
|
| External Debt |
$130,200,000,000 $
| $2,352,000,000,000 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 - 0.6689 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
|
| Military Budget as percentage of GDP |
0.500%
| 0.900%
|
| Beijing Olympics Medal Count |
6
| 3
|
| Location |
Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay
| Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain
|
| Area |
2,780,400 km sq
| 70,273 km sq
|
| Coastline |
4,989 km
| 1,448 km
|
| Climate |
mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest
| temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic Current; mild winters, cool summers; consistently humid; overcast about half the time
|
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|
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