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.

The earliest known human presence in Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic era. The Cave of the Hands (Cueva de las Manos) contains famous prehistoric paintings created by hunter-gatherers around 9,000 years ago.

Before European arrival, Argentina was home to many indigenous groups. Some lived as hunter-gatherers, others practiced farming and pottery-making, and in the northwest, societies such as the Diaguita developed more complex cultures.

The name Argentina comes from the Latin word *argentum*, meaning silver, inspired by early legends of lands rich in silver. The country officially adopted the name in the 19th century.

By the early 20th century, Argentina had become one of the world’s wealthiest nations per capita, largely due to agricultural exports and European investment.

Argentina is considered an immigrant nation. Between the late 1800s and early 1900s, over 6 million immigrants, mainly from Italy and Spain, settled there. Argentines often call their society a “crisol de razas” (melting pot of races).

In the province of Corrientes, Guaraní is an official language alongside Spanish and is one of the most widely spoken indigenous languages in South America.

Argentina is highly urbanized, with over 90% of its population living in cities.

The Buenos Aires metropolitan area is one of the largest urban regions in South America.

Education is highly valued in Argentina, with a literacy rate close to 98% and a long tradition of free public education.

Students usually provide their own transportation and school materials, and school uniforms are common in private schools.

Family and social relationships are central to Argentine life. Rural communities tend to be more traditional, while city populations are generally more cosmopolitan.

Argentine families are typically small, averaging two children. Divorce has been legal since the late 20th century, and same-sex marriage became legal in 2010.

Tango is one of Argentina’s most famous cultural symbols. It developed in Buenos Aires in the late 1800s, blending African rhythms, European music, and local influences.

Argentina’s official national sport is pato, a horseback game once played by gauchos using live ducks and now played with a ball.

The women’s national field hockey team, known as Las Leonas, is among the most successful teams in the world, with Olympic medals and world titles.

Beef plays a major role in Argentine cuisine, and the country is among the highest consumers of beef per capita in the world.

Argentina’s national drink is yerba mate, a herbal infusion traditionally shared using a metal straw called a bombilla.

Wine has been produced in Argentina since the 16th century, and today the country is one of the world’s leading wine producers, especially known for Malbec.

Iguazú Falls, on the border with Brazil, is one of the largest waterfall systems on Earth, made up of about 275 individual falls.

Iguazú National Park protects one of South America’s richest ecosystems, home to jaguars, tapirs, toucans, caimans, and hundreds of bird species.

Argentina has the second-largest economy in South America after Brazil.

The city of Ushuaia is often called the southernmost city in the world, although this title is debated with Chilean settlements.

Avenida 9 de Julio in Buenos Aires is one of the widest avenues in the world, with up to 14 traffic lanes.

Argentina is famous for its dinosaur fossils and is one of the most important countries for paleontology, with some of the largest dinosaur species ever discovered there.

In 1891, Argentine police officer Juan Vucetich pioneered the use of fingerprints in criminal investigations, making Argentina the first country to solve a murder case using fingerprint identification.

The world’s first animated feature film was created by Argentine filmmaker Quirino Cristiani in 1917, predating Disney’s full-length animations.

Argentina was among the first countries to broadcast radio publicly, with its first transmission taking place in 1920 in Buenos Aires.

The Pampas are vast fertile grasslands where cattle ranching has shaped much of Argentina’s culture and economy.

Argentina is considered a megadiverse country, with ecosystems ranging from tropical forests and wetlands to deserts, mountains, glaciers, and Antarctic territory.

Patagonia is home to large colonies of Magellanic penguins, the largest warm-weather penguin populations in the world.