The name Argentina

The word "argentina" comes from the Latin word for silver, “argentum”. The history of the name goes way back to some of the first trips that were made by the Spanish sailors to the River Plate Region. Survivors of a shipwrecked expedition, led by Juan Díaz de Solís, discovered indigenous people
from whom they received silver objects as gifts. News about the Incredible Sierra del Plata – a mountain that is rich with silver –spread through Spain around 1524. After that the Portuguese called the river of Solís, Río de la Plata ( The River of Silver). A couple of years later Spaniards started to use that denomination also. The National Constitution sanctioned in 1853 included the denomination of “República Argentina” in the official name listings used to designate the government and the territory of the Nation

Situation, extension and limits:
Argentina is situated in South America, in the southern hemisphere. It has an extension of almost 3,8 millions square kilometers out of which 2,8 belongs to the continent – with approximately a 54% of plains (meadows and savannahs), 23% of plateaus and another 23% of hills and mountains –, the rest belongs to the Antarctic area. Its 3,800 kilometers of length extend from the 22º to the 55 south latitude. It limits with Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chile with 9, 376 kilometers of borders. The seaside frontage, on the Atlantic Ocean, reaches 4,725 square kilometers.

Geography
The main characteristic of the Argentinean land is the great contrast between the huge oriental plains and the amazing Andes mountains on the west. This range posses the highest peak of the western hemisphere: the Aconcagua mountain, which is 6,959 meters tall. On its way from Jujuy to Tierra del Fuego, this range shows a great variety of countryside: from the north-east “altiplano” – desert, with valleys, ravines and colorful hills – to the regions of the lakes, fields wood forests and Patagonia glaciers. To the north, the Chaco wooded area is linked to the Bermejo, Salado and Pilcomayo rivers. Between the rivers Parana and Uruguay, the Argentinean Mesopotamia (Entre Ríos, Corrientes and Misiones provinces) is formed by low ridges, lagoons and swamps that show the old layout of these rivers. In some areas, in the middle of the subtropical jungle, ruptures are produced. These ruptures have allowed the formation of the spectaculars Iguazú Waterfalls. In the centre of Argentina, The Pampas Region is the most extended and well-known plain. It has intense farming and livestock cattle exploitation. It includes the Buenos Aires, north-east of La Pampa, the south of Córdoba and Santa Fe provinces. Its countryside is interrupted by a low mountainous region named Sierra de la Ventana and Tandil and to the west by the sierras of Cordoba To the south, from the Andes to the sea, it is the sterile and rocky Patagonian plateau lashed, in great part of the year, by the wind. The Atlantic seaboard, surrounded by the high cliffs, draws sinuous drawings such as Valdéz Peninsula, with its spectacular stands of sea animals.

Weather
Argentina has different types of climate. It is warm and wet in The Pampas plains, cold and wet in the west extreme of Patagonia, subtropical in the north area of Mesopotamia and warm in the north- east. From November to March, the average temperature is 23ºCelcius and from June to September, it’s 12º Celsius .

Population:
The population of Argentina is over 36 million people, almost half of them live in Federal Capital as well as in the Buenos Aires province. These figures indicate a density of 13 inhabitants per square kilometer. Ninety-five per cent of Argentineans are of white race and they mainly are Italian and Spanish descendants. With the massive arrival of European immigrants, the half-cattle person – a mixture of white and Indian – began slowly to disappear and today they are only 4,5% of the racial Argentinean population. The pure Indian population – araucaria Indians, collas, tobas, matacos and chiriguanos – represent the 0,5% of the inhabitants.

Language:
The official language of Argentinean Republic is Spanish. In Buenos Aires, a language of the underworld, called "lunfardo", has been in use for many years.

Religion:
The official religion is Catholic Apostolic Roman, even though a total freedom of cult exists. Protestantism, Judaism, Islamism, the Greek orthodox religion, the Russian orthodox religion – among others – are also practiced.

Money:
The official money is the Peso. There are bills of $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100, and there are coins of $0,05, $0,10, $0,25, $0,50,and $0,50 pence and of $1,00.

Constitution and government:
Twenty – three provinces integrate the national territory as well as Federal Capital, Buenos Aires. Their government, according to the National Constitution, adopted the representative republican and federal form and the division into three powers: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. The Executive Power is carried out by the President and the Vice President for four years and they can be re-elected for one more consecutive period only .The Legislative Power is constituted by two chambers, the Senate, integrated by three senators per each province and three per the city of Buenos Aires.
The second one, the chamber of Deputies, integrated by representatives chosen in a direct and proportional way according to the number of inhabitants of each district. The Nation President and Vice President as well as the Chief of Government of the city of Buenos Aires, the governors of the provinces and the members of the Legislative Groups are chosen by a universal, secret and compulsory suffrage by all citizens over 18 years of age .The Judicial Power is ruled by the Supreme Court of Justice and other superior law courts. Each province, according to the principles, declarations and guaranties of the National Constitution and under the federal representative system, dictates its own Constitution that rules the government acts.
The Constitution dates to 1853 and has had four reforms. The latest one, in August 1994, allows the re-election of the President of the Nation for one more period.

Two historical dates
May 25th, 1810: The First Assembly of Patriot Government took place.
July 9th, 1810: the Independence of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata was proclaimed.

Symbols:
The national flag has three horizontal stripes: the one in the center is white with
a raising sun in the middle. The other two stripes are light blue. The national flower is the “ceibo” and the national stone is called “rodocrosita” or the Inca flower.