no permanent national government; transitional, parliamentary federal government
Independence date
9 July 1816 (from Spain)
Religions
nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%
Sunni Muslim
Languages
Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French
Somali (official), Arabic, Italian, English
Exports
soybeans and derivatives, petroleum and gas, vehicles, corn, wheat
External Debt
$136,800,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
Argentine pesos (ARS) per US dollar - 3.1636 (2008 est.), 3.1105 (2007), 3.0543 (2006), 2.9037 (2005), 2.9233 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.800%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
6
0
Location
Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay
Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, east of Ethiopia
Area
2,780,400 km sq
637,657 km sq
Coastline
4,989 km
3,025 km
Climate
mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest
principally desert; northeast monsoon (December to February), moderate temperatures in north and hot in south; southwest monsoon (May to October), torrid in the north and hot in the south, irregular rainfall, hot and humid periods (tangambili) between monsoons
