Location: | Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay | | Geographic coordinates: | 34 00 S, 64 00 W | | Map references: | South America | | Area: | total: 2,766,890 sq km
land: 2,736,690 sq km
water: 30,200 sq km | | Area - comparative: | slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US | | Land boundaries: | total: 9,665 km
border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km | | Coastline: | 4,989 km | | Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm | | Climate: | mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest | | Terrain: | rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border | | Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Laguna del Carbon -105 m (located between Puerto San Julian and Comandante Luis Piedra Buena in the province of Santa Cruz)
highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,960 m (located in the northwestern corner of the province of Mendoza) | | Natural resources: | fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium | | Land use: | arable land: 12.31%
permanent crops: 0.48%
other: 87.21% (2001) | | Irrigated land: | 15,610 sq km (1998 est.) | | Natural hazards: | San Miguel de Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the pampas and northeast; heavy flooding | | Environment - current issues: | environmental problems (urban and rural) typical of an industrializing economy such as deforestation, soil degradation, desertification, air pollution, and water pollution
note: Argentina is a world leader in setting voluntary greenhouse gas targets | | Environment - international agreements: | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation | | Geography - note: | second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage); Cerro Aconcagua is South America's tallest mountain, while Laguna del Carbon is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere
Source: CIA World Factbook
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