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Argentina
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- For a topic outline on this subject, see List of basic Argentina topics. For more on the subject see the Argentina Portal. For other uses of "Argentina" or "Argentine", see Argentina (disambiguation).
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic (Spanish: República Argentina, Spanish pronunciation: [reˈpuβ̞lika aɾxenˈtina]), is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city. It is the second largest country in South America by land area, and eighth in the world. Its continental area is 2,766,890 km² (1,068,302 sq mi), between the Andes mountain range in the west and the southern Atlantic Ocean in the east and south. Argentina borders Paraguay and Bolivia to the north, Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast, and Chile to the west and south. Argentina also claimed 969,464 km² (374,312 sq mi) of Antarctica, known as Argentine Antarctica, overlapping other claims made by Chile (Chilean Antarctic Territory) and the United Kingdom (British Antarctic Territory); all such claims have been suspended by the Antarctic Treaty of 1961.
Argentina has the highest Human Development Index level and the second highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in purchasing power parity in Latin America.[5] Argentina's nominal GDP is the 31st largest in the world;[6] but when purchasing power is taken into account, its total GDP makes it the 23rd largest economy in the world.[7][8]
The country is currently classified as an Upper-Middle Income Country[9] or as a secondary emerging market by the World Bank.[10][11]
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Etymology
The name Argentina (from Latin argentum: silver) was first used extensively in the 1612 book Historia del descubrimiento, población, y conquista del Río de la Plata (History of the discovery, population, and conquest of the Río de la Plata) by Ruy Díaz de Guzmán, naming the territory Tierra Argentina (Land of Silver).[12][13]
History
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The earliest evidence of human presence in Argentina found thus far is in Patagonia (Piedra Museo, Santa Cruz) and dates from 11,000 BC (Santa María, Huarpes, Diaguitas and Sanavirones, among others). The Inca Empire under the rule of King Pachacutec launched an offensive in 1480 and conquered present-day northwestern Argentina, integrating it into a region called Collasuyu; , the Guaraní developed a culture based on yuca and sweet potato. The central and southern areas (Pampas and Patagonia) were dominated by nomadic cultures, unified in the 17th century by the Mapuches.
European explorers arrived in 1516. Spain established a permanent colony on the site of Buenos Aires in 1580 and the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was created in 1776. This area was largely a country of Spanish immigrants and their descendants, known as criollos, of native cultures and of descendants of African slaves (See:Afro-Argentines), present in significant numbers. A third of Colonial-era settlers gathered in Buenos Aires and other cities, others living on the pampas as gauchos, for instance. Indigenous peoples inhabited much of the rest of Argentina.
The British Empire launched two invasions of Buenos Aires in 1806-07; but the criollo population repelled both attempts. On 25 May 1810, after confirmation of the rumors on the overthrow of King Ferdinand VII by Napoleon, citizens of Buenos Aires created the First Government Junta (May Revolution). Two nations emerged in what is now Argentina: the United Provinces of South America (1810) and the Liga Federal (1815). Other provinces, as a result of differences between autonomist and centralist quarters, delayed taking part in a unified State; Paraguay seceded, declaring its independence in 1811.
Military campaigns led by General José de San Martín between 1814 and 1817 made independence increasingly a reality. Argentines revere San Martín, who campaigned in Argentina, Chile and Peru, as the hero of national independence. General José de San Martín and his regiment crossed the Andes in 1817 to defeat royalist forces in Chile and Peru, thus securing independence. The Congress of Tucumán gathered on 9 July 1816 and finally issued a formal Declaration of Independence from Spain. The Liga Federal was crushed by forces of the United Provinces of South America in 1820 and some Portuguese brigades from Brazil and its provinces were absorbed into United Provinces of South America. Bolivia declared itself independent in 1825 and Uruguay was created in 1828 as a result of a truce following the Argentina-Brazil War. The controversial truce led to the rise of Buenos Aires Province Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas, who, as a federalist, exercised a reign of terror and kept the fragile confederacy together.
The centralist Unitarios and the Federales maintained an internecine conflict until Governor Rosas' 1852 overthrow and, to help prevent future struggle during the tenous times that followed, a Constitution was promulgated in 1853. The Constitution, drafted by legal scholar Juan Bautista Alberdi, was persuasively defended in moving oratory by Franciscan Friar Mamerto Esquiú and endured through its first difficult years. National unity was reinforced by an 1865 attack on Argentine and Brazilian interests by Paraguay, resulting in the War of Triple Alliance and devastating Paraguay.
A wave of foreign investment and immigration from Europe after 1870 led to the development of modern agriculture and to a near-reinvention of Argentine society and the economy, leading to the strengthening of a cohesive state. The 1870s, however, also saw the "Conquest of the Desert", which subdued the remaining indigenous tribes throughout the southern Pampas and Patagonia and left 1,300 indigenous dead.[14][15]
The era between 1880 and 1929 saw Argentina enjoy increasing prosperity and prominence while emerging as one of the 10 richest countries in the world, benefiting from an agricultural export-led economy. Driven by immigration and decreasing mortality, the Argentine population grew six-fold and the economy, by 15-fold.[16] Conservative interests dominated Argentine politics through non-democratic means until, in 1912, Pres. Roque Sáenz Peña enacted universal male suffrage and the secret ballot. This allowed their traditional rivals, the centrist Radical Civic Union, to win the country's first free elections in 1916. Pres. Hipólito Yrigoyen enacted social and economic reforms and extended assistance to family farmers and small business; but, having been politically imposing and beset by the great depression, the military forced him from power in 1930. This led to another decade of Conservative rule, whose economists turned to more protectionist policies.
The country was neutral during World War II. Political change led to the presidency of Juan Perón in 1946, who worked to empower the working class and greatly expanded the number of unionized workers and of social and educational programs. Perón's wife, Eva Perón (better known as "Evita") played an important role as first lady during Perón's first two administrations. She was a driving force behind Perón's success among the working class and quickly became a phenomenon that is still researched today. Born into poverty herself, Evita never forgot the hardships her family endured during her childhood. In 1947, she created the Eva Perón Foundation, which provided for an array of services and needs to the working class and poor of Argentina, such as basic items like pots and pans, sewing machines and even fully furnished houses. The foundation built thousands of schools, hospitals, orphanages, and even Evita City, which still thrives today.
This was the first time the country had seen such a shift in attention to aiding the poor and it did not sit well with the oligarchy. Evita was seen as the "bridge of love" between Perón and the people. She championed women's suffrage and organized the Peronist Women's Party. Throughout Perón's first and second term as president, his economists encouraged accelerated industrial development, increasingly important since the 1920s. Following Evita's untimely death in 1952 at age 33, Perón's administration became increasingly distracted by struggles with the Roman Catholic Church. A violent coup deposed him in 1955 and he fled into exile, eventually residing in Spain.
Following an attempt to purge the Peróns' influence and the banning of Peronists from political life, elections in 1958 brought the more moderate Arturo Frondizi to office. Frondizi enjoyed some support from Perón's followers and his policies encouraged needed investment in energy and industry, both of which were chalking up sizable trade deficits for Argentina. The military, however, frequently interfered on behalf of conservative interests and the results were mixed; Frondizi was forced to resign in 1962 and, following two more civilian administrations weakened by military pressure, the armed forces retook power in a quiet 1966 coup. Though repressive, this new regime continued to encourage domestic development and invested record amounts into public works; during those years the economy grew strongly and income poverty declined to 7% by 1975, still a record low. Due in part to their repressiveness, political violence began to escalate and, from exile, Perón skillfully co-opted student and labor protests, which eventually resulted in the military regime's call for free elections in 1973 and his return from Spanish exile. Taking office that year, Perón passed away in July 1974, leaving his third wife Isabel, the Vice President, to succeed him in office. Mrs. Perón had been chosen as a compromise among feuding Peronist factions who could agree on no other running mate; secretly, though, she was beholden to Perón's most Fascist advisers. The resulting conflict between left and right-wing extremists led to mayhem and financial chaos and, on 24 March 1976, a military coup removed her from office.
The self-styled National Reorganization Process promptly repressed opposition and leftist groups using brutal, illegal measures (the "Dirty War"); thousands of dissidents "disappeared", while the SIDE cooperated with Chile's DINA, other South American intelligence agencies and with the CIA in Operation Condor. Many of the military leaders that took part in the Dirty War were trained in the U.S.-financed School of the Americas, among them Argentine dictators Roberto Viola and Leopoldo Galtieri. This new dictatorship at first brought some stability and built numerous important public works; but their frequent wage freezes and deregulation of finance led to a sharp fall in living standards and record foreign debt. Deindustrialization, the peso's collapse and crushing real interest rates, as well as unprecedented corruption, public revulsion in the face of human rights abuses and, finally, the country's 1982 defeat by the British in the Falklands War discredited the military regime and led to free elections in 1983. Raúl Alfonsín's government took steps to account for the "disappeared", established civilian control of the armed forces and consolidated democratic institutions. The members of the three military juntas were prosecuted and sentenced to life terms. The previous regime's foreign debt, however, left the Argentine economy saddled by the conditions imposed on it by both its private creditors and the IMF and priority was given to servicing the foreign debt at the expense of public works and domestic credit. Alfonsín's failure to resolve worsening economic problems caused him to lose public confidence. Following a 1989 currency crisis that resulted in a sudden and ruinous 15-fold jump in prices, he left office five months early.
Newly elected, President Carlos Menem began pursuing privatizations; but after a second bout of hyperinflation in 1990, reached out to Economist Domingo Cavallo, who imposed a peso-dollar fixed exchange rate in 1991 and adopted far-reaching market-based policies, dismantling protectionist barriers and business regulations and implementing vast privatizations. These reforms contributed to significant increases in investment and growth with stable prices through most of the 1990s; but the peso's fixed value could only be maintained by flooding the market with dollars, resulting in a renewed increase in the foreign debt. The peso-dollar parity also made imports a bargain again and left much local industry out of the era's prosperity; while part of the population was saving in dollars, traveling overseas and purchasing imported and luxury goods cheaply, the rest of the population experienced an increase in crime and unemployment. The IMF and economists in general praised the liberalization of the Argentine market and the country was presented as a "model student;" towards 1998, however, a series of international financial crises and overvaluation of the pegged peso caused a gradual slide into economic crisis. The sense of stability and well being which had prevailed during the 1990s eroded quickly and by the end of his term in 1999, these accumulating problems and perceived corruption had made Menem unpopular.
President Fernando de la Rúa inherited diminished competitiveness in exports, massive imports which damaged national industry and mounting social problems, as well as chronic fiscal deficits. The governing coalition developed rifts and was eventually forced to take a series of measures (culminating in the freezing of bank accounts) to halt a wave of capital flight and to stem the imminent debt crisis. A climate of popular discontent ensued and on 20 December 2001 Argentina dove into its worst institutional and economic crisis since the 1890 Barings financial debacle. There were violent street protests, which clashed with police and resulted in several fatalities. The increasingly chaotic climate, amid riots accompanied by cries that “they should all go,” finally resulted in the resignation of President de la Rúa.
Three presidents followed in quick succession over two weeks, culminating in the appointment of interim President Eduardo Duhalde by the Legislative Assembly on 2 January 2002. Argentina defaulted on its international debt and the peso's 11 year-old tie to the US dollar was rescinded, causing a major depreciation of the peso and a spike in inflation. Duhalde, a Peronist with a center-left economic position, had to cope with a financial and socio-economic crisis, with unemployment as high as 25% by late 2002 and the lowest real wages in sixty years. The crisis accentuated the people's mistrust in politicians and institutions. Following a year racked by protest, the economy began to stabilize by late 2002 and restrictions on bank withdrawals were lifted in December.
Benefiting from a more competitive and flexible exchange rate, government and business planners alike implemented new policies based on re-industrialization, import substitution and increased exports, and began seeing consistent fiscal and trade surpluses. Governor Néstor Kirchner, a social democratic Peronist, was elected president in May 2003; during Kirchner's presidency, Argentina restructured its defaulted debt with a steep discount (about 66%) on most bonds, paid off debts with the International Monetary Fund, renegotiated contracts with utilities and nationalized some previously privatized enterprises. Kirchner and his economists, notably Roberto Lavagna, also pursued vigorous income policies and public works investments.
Argentina has since been enjoying economic growth; despite his popularity, Néstor Kirchner forfeited the 2007 campaign in favor of his wife, Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Winning in a landslide that October, she became the first woman elected President of Argentina and, in an upset, a center-left (ARI) candidate in Tierra del Fuego Province, Fabiana Ríos, became the first woman in Argentine history elected governor. President Cristina Kirchner, despite carrying large majorities in Congress, saw controversial plans for higher agricultural export taxes defeated by Vice President Julio Cobos' surprise tie-breaking vote against them on 16 July 2008. Following massive agrarian protests and lockouts from March to July, robust economic growth quickly returned, though inflation has also increased without, as yet, being addressed.
Politics
Government
Argentina's political framework is a federal presidential representative democratic republic, in which the President of The Argentine Nation is both head of state and head of government, complemented by a pluriform multi-party system. The current president (2007) is Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, with Julio Cobos as vice president.
The Argentine Constitution of 1853 mandates a separation of powers into executive, legislative, and judicial branches at the national and provincial level.
Executive power resides in the President and his or her cabinet. The President of The Argentine Nation and Vice President are directly elected to four-year terms and are limited to two consecutive terms. Cabinet ministers are appointed by the president and are not subject to legislative ratification.
Legislative power is vested in the bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Nación, consisting of a Senate (Senado) of seventy-two seats, and a Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) of 257 members.
Senators serve six-year terms, with one-third standing for reelection every two years. Members of the Chamber of Deputies are directly elected to four-year term via a system of proportional representation, with half of the members of the lower house being elected every two years. A third of the candidates presented by the parties must be women.
The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Argentine Supreme Court of Justice has seven members who are appointed by the President in consultation with the Senate. The rest of the judges are appointed by the Council of Magistrates of the Nation, a secretariat composed of representatives of judges, lawyers, the Congress and the executive (see Law of Argentina).
Argentina is a member of an international block, Mercosur, which has some legislative supranational functions. Mercosur is composed of five full members: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. It has five associate members without full voting rights: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
Argentina was the only country from Latin America to participate in the 1991 Gulf War under mandate of the United Nations. It was also the only Latin American country involved in every phase of the Haiti operation. Argentina has contributed worldwide to peacekeeping operations, including in El Salvador-Honduras-Nicaragua, Guatemala, Ecuador-Peru, Western Sahara, Angola, Kuwait, Cyprus, Croatia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Timor Leste. In recognition of its contributions to international security, U.S. President Bill Clinton designated Argentina as a major non-NATO ally in January 1998. It was last elected as a temporary member of the UN Security Council in 2005.
The United Nations White Helmets, a bulwark of peacekeeping and humanitarian aid efforts, were first deployed in 1994 following an Argentine initiative.[17]
On 4 November-5 November 2005, the Argentine city of Mar del Plata hosted the Fourth Summit of the Americas. This summit was marked by a number of anti-U.S. protests. As of 2006, Argentina has been emphasizing Mercosur as its first international priority; by contrast, during the 1990s, it relied more heavily on its relationship with the United States.
Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), the South Shetland Islands, the South Sandwich Islands and almost 1 million km² in Antarctica, between the 25°W and the 74°W meridians and the 60°S parallel. Claimed by the United Kingdom, they have occupied this area since 1833, though since 1904 the Orcadas Base, an Argentine scientific post, has been maintained by mutual agreement.
Argentina is a founding signatory and permanent consulting member of the Antarctic Treaty System and the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat is established in Buenos Aires.[18]
Military
Argentina's armed forces are controlled by the Defense Ministry, with the country's President as their Commander-in-Chief. Historically, Argentina's military has been one of the best equipped in the region (for example, developing its own advanced jet fighters as early as the 1950s);[19] but, of late, it's faced sharper expenditure cutbacks than most other armed forces in Latin America. Indeed, since 1981, real military expenditures have fallen by about half and are today less than US$3 billion.[20]
The age of allowable military service is 18 years; there is no obligatory military service and currently no conscription. Recently, Argentina's armed forces have numbered about 70,000 active duty personnel, a reduction of over a third from levels before the return to democracy in 1983.[21]
The armed forces are composed of a traditional Army, Navy, and Air Force. Controlled by a separate ministry (the Interior Ministry), Argentine territorial waters are patrolled by the Naval Prefecture and the border regions by the National Gendarmerie; both arms however maintain liaison with the Defense Ministry. Argentina's Armed Forces are currently undertaking major operations in Haiti and Cyprus, in accordance with UN mandates.
Provinces
- See also: Governors in Argentina
Argentina is divided into twenty-three provinces (provincias; singular provincia), and one autonomous city (commonly known as the capital federal, but officially Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires):
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1. Buenos Aires (autonomous city) 3. Catamarca 4. Chaco 5. Chubut 6. Córdoba 7. Corrientes 8. Entre Ríos 9. Formosa 10. Jujuy 11. La Pampa 12. La Rioja |
13. Mendoza 14. Misiones 15. Neuquén 16. Río Negro 17. Salta 18. San Juan 19. San Luis 20. Santa Cruz 21. Santa Fe 23. Tierra del Fuego 24. Tucumán |
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Though declared the capital in 1853, Buenos Aires didn't become the capital of the country until 1880. There have been moves to relocate the administrative centre elsewhere. During the presidency of Raúl Alfonsín, a law was passed ordering the transfer of the federal capital to Viedma, a city in the Patagonian province of Río Negro. Studies were underway when economic problems halted the project in 1989. Though the law was never formally repealed, it is now treated as a relic.
Provinces are divided into smaller secondary units called departamentos ("departments"), of which there are 376 in total. The province of Buenos Aires has 134 similar divisions known as partidos. Departamentos and partidos are further subdivided into municipalities or districts.
In descending order by number of inhabitants, the major cities in Argentina are Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Rosario, Mendoza, Tucumán, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Salta, Santa Fe, San Juan, Resistencia and Neuquén.
Geography
Main features
The total surface area of Argentina (not including the Antarctic claim) is as follows:
- Total: 2,766,891 km²
- Land: 2,736,691 km²
- Water: 30,200 km²
Argentina is about 3,900 km (about 2,500 mi) long from north to south, and 1,400 km (about 870 mi) from east to west (maximum values). It can roughly be divided into four parts: the fertile plains of the Pampas in the center of the country, the source of Argentina's agricultural wealth; the flat to rolling, oil-rich plateau of Patagonia in the southern half down to Tierra del Fuego; the subtropical flats of the Gran Chaco in the north, and the rugged Andes mountain range along the western border with Chile.
The highest point above sea level in Argentina is located in Mendoza. Cerro Aconcagua, at 6,962 meters (22,834 feet), is the highest mountain in the Americas, the Southern,[22] and Western Hemisphere.[23] The lowest point is Laguna del Carbón in Santa Cruz, −105 meters (−344 ft) below sea level.[24] This is also the lowest point on the South American continent. The geographic center of the country is located in south-central La Pampa province.
The country has a territorial claim over a portion of Antarctica (unrecognized by any other country), where, from 1904, it has maintained a constant presence.
Geographic regions
The country is traditionally divided into several major geographically distinct regions:
- Pampas
- The plains west and south from Buenos Aires. Called the Humid Pampa, they cover most of the provinces of Buenos Aires and Córdoba and large portions of the provinces of Santa Fe and La Pampa. The western part of La Pampa and the province San Luis are also mostly plains (the Dry Pampa); but they are drier and used mainly for grazing. The Sierra de Córdoba in the homonymous province (extending into San Luis), is the most important geographical feature of the pampas.
- Gran Chaco
- The Gran Chaco region in the north of the country is seasonal dry/wet, mainly cotton growing and livestock raising. It covers the provinces of Chaco and Formosa. It is dotted with subtropical forests, scrubland, and some wetlands, home to a large number of plant and animal species. The province of Santiago del Estero lies in the drier region of the Gran Chaco.
- Mesopotamia
- The land between the Paraná and Uruguay rivers is called Mesopotamia and it is shared by the provinces of Corrientes and Entre Ríos. It features flatland apt for grazing and plant growing, and the Iberá Wetlands in central Corrientes. Misiones province is more tropical and belongs within the Brazilian Highlands geographic feature. It features subtropical rainforests and the Iguazú Falls.
- Patagonia
- The steppes of Patagonia, in the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz, are of Tertiary origin. Most of the region is semiarid in the north to cold and arid in the far south, but forests grow in its western fringes which are dotted with several large lakes. Tierra del Fuego is cool and wet, moderated by oceanic influences. Northern Patagonia (Río Negro, south of the homonymous river, and Neuquén) can also be referred as the Comahue region.
- Cuyo
- West-central Argentina is dominated by the imposing Andes Mountains. To their east is the arid region known as Cuyo. Melting waters from high in the mountains form the backbone of irrigated lowland oasis, at the center of a rich fruit and wine growing region in Mendoza and San Juan provinces. Further north the region gets hotter and drier with more geographical accidents in La Rioja province.
- NOA or Northwest
- This region is the highest in average elevation. Several parallel mountain ranges, several of which have peaks higher than 20,000 feet (6,000 m), dominate the area. These ranges grow wider in geographic extent towards the north. They are cut by fertile river valleys, the most important being the Calchaquí Valleys in the provinces of Catamarca, Tucumán, and Salta. Farther north the province of Jujuy near Bolivia lies mainly within the Altiplano plateau of the Central Andes. The Tropic of Capricorn goes through the far north of the region.
Rivers and lakes
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Major rivers in Argentina include the Pilcomayo, Paraguay, Bermejo, Colorado, Río Negro, Salado, Uruguay and the largest river, the Paraná. The latter two flow together before meeting the Atlantic Ocean, forming the estuary of the Río de la Plata. Regionally important rivers are the Atuel and Mendoza in the homonymous province, the Chubut in Patagonia, the Río Grande in Jujuy and the San Francisco River in Salta.
There are several large lakes in Argentina, many of them in Patagonia. Among these are lakes Argentino and Viedma in Santa Cruz, Nahuel Huapi in Río Negro and Fagnano in Tierra del Fuego and Colhué Huapi and Musters in Chubut. Lake Buenos Aires and O'Higgins/San Martín Lake are shared with Chile. Mar Chiquita, Córdoba, is the largest salt water lake in the country. There are numerous reservoirs created by dams. Argentina features various hot springs, such as those at Termas de Río Hondo with temperatures between 89 °C and 65 °C.[25]
Coastal areas and seas
Argentina has 4,665 km (2,899 mi) of coastline.[26] The continental platform is unusually wide; in Argentina this shallow area of the Atlantic Ocean is called Mar Argentino. The Argentine Atlantic coast has been a favorite among local vacationers for over a hundred years. The waters are rich in fisheries and suspected of holding important hydrocarbon energy resources. Argentina's coastline varies between areas of sand dunes and cliffs. The two major ocean currents affecting the coast are the warm Brazil Current and the cold Falkland Current (Spanish: corriente antártica or corriente de las Malvinas). Because of the unevenness of the coastal landmass, the two currents alternate in their influence on climate and do not allow temperatures to fall evenly with higher latitude. The southern coast of Tierra del Fuego forms the north shore of the Drake Passage.
Climate
Because of longitudinal and elevation amplitudes, Argentina is subject to a variety of climates. As a rule, the climate is predominantly temperate with extremes ranging from subtropical in the north to subpolar in the far south. The north of the country is characterized by very hot, humid summers with mild drier winters, and is subject to periodic droughts. Central Argentina has hot summers with thunderstorms (in western Argentina producing some of the world's largest hail), and cool winters. The southern regions have warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall, especially in mountainous zones. Higher elevations at all latitudes experience cooler conditions.
The hottest and coldest temperature extremes recorded in South America have occurred in Argentina. A record high temperature of 49.1 °C (120.4 °F), was recorded at Villa de María, Córdoba on 2 January 1920. The lowest temperature recorded was −39 °C (−38.2 °F) at Valle de los Patos Superior, San Juan, 17 July 1972.
Major wind currents in Argentina include the cool Pampero blowing on the flat plains of Patagonia and the Pampas; following the cold front, warm currents blow from the north in mid and late-winter, creating mild conditions. The Zonda, a hot and dry wind (see also foehn wind), affects west-central Argentina. Squeezed of all moisture during the 6,000 meter descent from the Andes, Zonda winds can blow for hours with gusts up to 120 km/h, fueling wildfires and causing damage; when the Zonda blows (June-November), snowstorms and blizzard (viento blanco) conditions usually affect the higher elevations.
The Sudestada (“southeasterlies”) could be considered similar to the Noreaster, though snowfall is rarely involved (but is not unprecedented). Both are associated with a deep winter low pressure system. The sudestada usually moderates cold temperatures but brings very heavy rains, rough seas and coastal flooding. It is most common in late autumn and winter along the coasts of central Argentina and in the Río de la Plata estuary.
The southern regions, particularly the far south, experience long periods of daylight from November to February (up to nineteen hours) and extended nights from May to August. All of Argentina uses UTC-3 time zone. The country does observe daylight saving time occasionally; the last summertime began at 0:00 30 December 2007 and ended on 0:00 16 March 2008.
Extremities: Argentina's easternmost continental point is northeast of the town of Bernardo de Irigoyen, Misiones (), the westernmost in the Mariano Moreno Range in Santa Cruz (). The northernmost point is located at the confluence of the Grande de San Juan and Mojinete rivers, Jujuy (), and the southernmost is Cape San Pío in Tierra del Fuego ().[27]
Enclaves and exclaves
There is one Argentine exclave, Martín García Island (co-ordinates ). It is near the confluence of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, a kilometer (0.62 mi) inside Uruguayan waters, and 3.5 kilometres (2.1 mi) from the Uruguayan coastline near the small town of Martín Chico (itself halfway between Nueva Palmira and Colonia del Sacramento).
An agreement reached by Argentina and Uruguay in 1973 reaffirmed Argentine jurisdiction over the island, ending a century-old dispute. Under the terms of the agreement, Martín García is to be devoted exclusively as a natural preserve. Its area is about 2 square kilometres (500 acres) and its population is about 200 people.
Flora
Subtropical plants dominate the north, part of the Gran Chaco region of South America. The genus Dalbergia of trees is well disseminated with representatives like the Brazilian Rosewood and the quebracho tree; also predominant are white and black algarrobo trees (prosopis alba and prosopis nigra). Savannah-like areas exist in the drier regions nearer the Andes. Aquatic plants thrive in the wetlands dotting the region.
In central Argentina the humid pampas are a true tallgrass prairie ecosystem. The original pampa had virtually no trees; today along roads or in towns and country estates (estancias), some imported species like the American sycamore or eucalyptus are present. The only tree-like plant native to the pampa is the ombú, an evergreen. The surface soils of the pampa are a deep black color, primarily mollisols, known commonly as humus. This is what makes the region one of the most agriculturaly productive on Earth; however, this is also responsible for decimating much of the original ecosystem, to make way for commercial agriculture. The western pampas receive less rainfall, this dry pampa is a plain of short grasses or steppe.[28]
Most of Patagonia in the south lies within the rain shadow of the Andes. The flora, shrubby bushes and plants, is well suited to withstand dry conditions. The soil is hard and rocky, making large-scale farming impossible except along river valleys. Coniferous forests grow in far western Patagonia and on the island of Tierra del Fuego. Conifers native to the region include alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides), ciprés de la cordillera (Austrocedrus chilensis), ciprés de las guaitecas (Pilgerodendron uviferum), huililahuán (Podocarpus nubigenus), lleuque (Prumnopitys andina), mañío hembra (Saxegothaea conspicua) and pehuén (Araucaria araucana), while native broadleaf trees include several species of <