Argentina is the second-largest country in South America and the eighth-largest country in the world.

It occupies a continental surface area of 2,791,810 km² (1,078,000 sq mi) and is located between the Andes mountain range in the west and the southern Atlantic Ocean in the east and south. It is bordered by Paraguay and Bolivia in the north, Brazil and Uruguay in the northeast, and Chile in the west and south. It also claims the British overseas territories of the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Under the name of Argentine Antarctica, it claims 969,464 km² (374,312 sq mi) of Antarctica, overlapping other claims by Chile and the United Kingdom.

The country is formally named the Argentine Republic.

National name: República Argentina

President: Néstor Kirchner (2003)

Land area: 1,056,636 sq mi (2,736,690 sq km); total area: 1,068,302 sq mi (2,766,890 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 39,921,833 (growth rate: 1.0%); birth rate: 16.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 14.7/1000; life expectancy: 76.1; density per sq mi: 38

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Buenos Aires, 13,349,000 (metro. area), 12,116,400 (city proper)

Other large cities: Córdoba, 1,486,200; Rosario, 1,276,900; Mendoza, 988,600; Mar del Plata, 683,700

Monetary unit: Peso

Languages: Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French

Ethnicity/race: white (mostly Spanish and Italian) 97%; mestizo, Amerindian, other 3%

Religions: Roman Catholic 92%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%

Literacy rate: 96.2% (1995 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $542.8 billion; per capita $13,700. Real growth rate: 8.7%. Inflation: 12.3%. Unemployment: 11.1%. Arable land: 10.03%. Agriculture: sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock. Labor force: 15.34 million; agriculture n.a., industry n.a., services n.a. Industries: food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel. Natural resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium. Exports: $40 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): edible oils, fuels and energy, cereals, feed, motor vehicles. Imports: $28.8 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures, plastics. Major trading partners: Brazil, Chile, U.S., China, Spain, Germany (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use 8.7 million (2004); mobile cellular: 13,512,400 (2004). Radio broadcast stations: AM 260 (including 10 inactive stations), FM n.a. (probably more than 1,000, mostly unlicensed), shortwave 6 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 42 (plus 444 repeaters) (1997). Internet hosts: 1,233,175 (2005). Internet users: 10 million (2005).

Transportation: Railways: total: 34,091 km (167 km electrified) (2004). Highways: total: 229,144 km; paved: 68,809 km (including 734 km of expressways); unpaved: 160,335 km (2004). Waterways: 11,000 km (2005). Ports and harbors: Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Concepcion del Uruguay, La Plata, Punta Colorada, Rosario, San Lorenzo-San Martin, San Nicolas. Airports: 1,334 (2004 est.).