Argentina
The Argentine Republic (República Argentina) is a Spanish-speaking country in southern South America, in between the Andes in the West and the South Atlantic Ocean in the East. It borders Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile and Uruguay.
The name Argentina is derived from the Latin argentum (silver). The origin of this name goes back to the first voyages made by the Spanish conquerors to Río de la Plata. The survivors of the shipwrecked expedition mounted by Juan Díaz de Solís found indigenous people in the region who gave them silver objects as presents. The news about the legendary Sierra del Plata – a mountain rich in silver – reached Spain around 1524. Since then, the Spaniards named the river of Solís, Río de la Plata (River of Silver).
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| National motto: En Unión y Libertad (Spanish, "In Union and Liberty") | |||||
| Official language | Spanish | ||||
| Capital | Buenos Aires City | ||||
| Largest City | Buenos Aires City | ||||
| President | Néstor Kirchner | ||||
| Cabinet Chief | Alberto Fernández | ||||
| Area - Total - % water | Ranked 8th 2,766,890 km² ¹ 1.1% | ||||
| Population
- Total (2002) - Density | Ranked 31st
37,812,817 14/km² | ||||
| Independence
- Initiated - Formally declared | From Spain
May 25, 1810 July 9, 1816 | ||||
| Currency | Argentine Peso | ||||
| Time zone | UTC -3 | ||||
| National anthem | Oid, Mortales | ||||
| Internet TLD | .AR | ||||
| Calling Code | 54 | ||||
| (1) Argentina also claims 1,000,000 km² of Antarctica, as well as the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands | |||||