Geography Of Argentina

Location:

Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay

Geographic coordinates:

Map references:

South America

Area:

• Total: 2,766,890 km²

• Land: 2,736,690 km²

• Water: 30,200 km²

Area comparative:

• Australia comparative: slightly bigger than Western Australia

• Canada comparative: slightly bigger than Nunavut

• United Kingdom comparative: 11 times bigger than the UK

• United States 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:

• Contiguous zone: 24 nm

• Continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

• Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

• Territorial sea: 12 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: Gran Bajo de San Julin (located in Santa Cruz Province)

• Highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,960 m

Natural resources:

Fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium

Land use:

• Arable land: 9%

• Permanent crops: 1%

• Permanent pastures: 52%

• Forests and woodland: 19%

• Other: 19% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:

17,000 km² (1993 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 soil degradation, desertification, air pollution, and water pollution. Argentina is a world leader in setting voluntary greenhouse gas targets.

Environment--international agreements:

• Party to: Antarctic Treaty, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

• Signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life Conservation

Geography--note:

Second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)

Reference

• Much of the material in this article comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

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