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Argentina

OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Argentina

DATE OF FORMATION: 1816

POPULATION: 38.9 million

DENSITY: 37 people per square mile

LANGUAGES: Spanish, Italian, Amerindian languages

RELIGIONS: Roman Catholic 90%, Other 6%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%

ETHNIC MIX: Indo-European 83%, Mestizo 14%, Jewish 2%, Amerindian 1%

GOVERNMENT: Multiparty elections

CURRENCY: new Argentine peso

Click to see a larger map

Occupying most of the southern portion of South America, Argentina extends 3460 km (2150 miles) from the Gran Chaco to Tierra del Fuego. The Andes mountains in the west run north–south, forming a natural border with Chile. To the east they slope down to the fertile central Pampas, the region known as Entre Ríos. Agriculture, especially wheat, fruit, and beef, and energy resources are Argentina's main sources of wealth. Politics in Argentina was characterized in the past by periods of military rule, but in 1983 the country returned to multiparty democracy.