43 Facts About Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country located mostly in the southern half of South America. 

Argentina has an area of 2,780,400 square km. 

Argentina's capital and largest city is Buenos Aires, and Spanish is its national language. 

Argentina's official currency is Peso ($) (ARS). 

Argentina's five bordering countries are Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Argentina is South America’s second largest country and its largest Spanish-speaking one.

Argentina's earliest known humans date back to the Paleolithic era. The Cave of Hands contains evidence of these ancient people. The painting was created by the Toldense Culture in 7370 B. C. and dates back approximately 9,370 years.

Argentina's original pre-Colombian indigenous peoples are classified into three groups. The people of one group were primarily hunters and gatherers. Another group were advanced hunter-gatherers who were defeated by Chile's Mapuche. Farmers who made and used their own pottery comprised the third group. 

Argentina was given its formal name in 1860. It is derived from the Latin word argentums ("silver") and refers to a legend about a land with silver mountains.

Argentina was the world's tenth wealthiest country per capita by 1913. Between 1880 and 1910, the population increased fivefold.

Argentina, like the United States and other countries, is regarded as an immigrant nation. Argentina is sometimes referred to as a "crisol de razas" by Argentines (crucible of races). During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, more than 6.6 million people immigrated to Argentina, the majority of whom came from Spain and Italy.

Guarani is the most widely spoken indigenous language in Argentina's Corrientes province, and it shares official status with Spanish. It is also one of the world's most widely spoken indigenous languages.

Argentina's population is highly urbanised; 92% of the country's population lives in cities. Buenos Aires and its surrounding metropolitan area have a population of 13 million people, making it one of the world's largest urban areas.

Argentina places a high value on education, with a literacy rate of around 98%. There are free public schools and expensive private schools with uniforms.

Argentina has no public school buses; students must provide their own transportation to school. In addition, they must purchase their own books and uniforms.

It is customary to return home after lunch to take a siesta (an afternoon rest or nap.) Many schools and businesses close during these nap times, and people all over the country unwind. There are even a few hotels in Buenos Aires that rent out rooms specifically for siestas.

Family, education, personal relationships, and prosperity are important values to Argentines. Rural Argentines are more traditional and conservative, whereas urban Argentines are more progressive, outgoing, and cosmopolitan.

Argentine families are typically smaller than those in other countries, with only two children on average. Divorce was previously illegal in Argentina; since its legalisation, the number of single-parent households has increased. Gay marriage became legal in 2010.

The Latin dance known as the tango is one of the most well-known aspects of Argentine culture. This sensual dance originated in the late 1800s in Buenos Aires' slaughterhouse district and combines African rhythms with Milonga music.

Argentina's national sport is pato. Pato is the Spanish word for "duck," and this sport was originally played on horseback by gauchos in the early 1600s with live ducks in baskets.

Argentina's women's field hockey team (Las Leonas) is one of the world's most successful. They have four Olympic medals, two World Cups, seven Champions Trophies, and a World League title to their name.

Beef is an important part of the Argentine diet. Argentina is the world's largest consumer of red meat.

Argentina's national drink is maté tea. It is a tea made from the young leaves of the Brazilian holly Yerba Mate. It is sipped through a metal straw called the "bombilla".

Since the 16th century, Argentina's vineyards have been producing wine. Argentina's wine is regarded as some of the best in the world. Currently, the country has approximately 1,800 wineries. Argentina is the world's fifth largest producer of wine.

Iguaz Falls, one of the world's true scenic wonders, is located in Argentina on the border with Brazil and is made up of 275 waterfalls that form a semicircle of 1.9 miles (3 kilometres) of waterfalls.

The goal of the Iguaz National Park is to preserve one of the world's richest natural environments, with over 2,000 species of flora and 400 species of birds, as well as countless insects, including a wide variety of butterflies. Many endangered species can be found in this park, including ocelots, jaguars, giant anteaters, tapirs, jungle eagles, howler monkeys, coatis, large toucans, broad-snouted caimans (vacarés overos), and several bird species.

Argentina is the most popular tourist destination in South America, and Buenos Aires is the most visited city on the continent.

Argentina has South America's second largest economy.

Argentina's Ushuaia is the world's southernmost city. There are 57,000 people living there.

The 9 de Julio, or July 9th, street in Buenos Aires is the world's widest. It has 14 lanes of traffic and four lanes of parallel streets on either side.

Argentina is a popular destination for palaeontologists, as it is home to the world's oldest and largest dinosaur species.

Argentina has also discovered the earliest plants to ever grow on land. These liverworts first appeared 472 million years ago.

Argentina's most endangered animal is the chinchilla.

In 1891, Argentine police officer Juan Vucetich performed the first criminal fingerprint identification. Argentina was the first country to use fingerprint identification to solve the murder of two children in a small town in 1925. Detective Eduardo Alvarez used her fingerprints to identify their mother as the murderer.

The birth of animation is usually associated with Walt Disney, but the first animated feature film was created by Argentine Quirino Cristiani.

Argentina has the most psychiatrists per capita of any country on the planet.

Argentines spend the most time listening to radio and watching movies of any population on the planet. Argentina is also the only Latin American country to have received an Academy Award.

Argentina was one of the first countries to broadcast radio. The first radio broadcast was made in 1920, when only twenty Argentines owned a radio.

Argentina's political parties have their own beer brands.

In Argentina, ferrets are given steroids from birth. They are then groomed and sold as toy poodles for up to $150 USD per ferret.

The pampas are large grassy areas of land where the Argentines herd cattle.

Argentina is regarded as a megadiverse country, with one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. With 15 continental zones, three oceanic zones, and the Antarctic region, it has one of the world's greatest biological diversity. Its catalogued flora includes nearly 9400 species. Over 1,000 bird species have been catalogued. There are 500 reptiles and amphibians and 375 mammal species catalogued.

Patagonia, Argentina, is home to the largest warm-weather penguins.