nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%
Presbyterian 31.4%, Anglican 13.4%, Roman Catholic 13.1%, Seventh-Day Adventist 10.8%, other Christian 13.8%, indigenous beliefs 5.6% (including Jon Frum cargo cult), other 9.6%, none 1%, unspecified 1.3% (1999 Census)
Languages
Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French
local languages (more than 100) 72.6%, pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama) 23.1%, English 1.9%, French 1.4%, other 0.3%, unspecified 0.7% (1999 Census)
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
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Australia
Area
2,780,400 km sq
12,189 km sq
Coastline
4,989 km
2,528 km
Climate
mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest
tropical; moderated by southeast trade winds from May to October; moderate rainfall from November to April; may be affected by cyclones from December to April
