Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic (República Argentina), is a country in the far south of South America. Its official name is rendered in Spanish as República Argentina. The country's name derives from the Latin word argentum, meaning 'silver'.

The federal capital is Buenos Aires, which is also the country's largest city. Spanish is the official language. The national currency is the Argentine peso.

Argentina is a federal republic with a bicameral Congress, comprising a Senate of 72 members and a Chamber of Deputies of 257. As a federal state, it is divided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The World Bank classifies the country in the upper middle income group for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Argentina covers an area of 2,780,085 km2, a figure that makes it the eighth-largest country in the world. The country lies in the far south of South America and is officially known as the Argentine Republic. Its territory is divided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires, which serves as the federal capital and largest city.

The main geographic regions of the country are the Andes, the North, the Pampas and Patagonia. The Andes extend through seven South American countries: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. They are the highest mountain range outside Asia. The Pampas are fertile low grasslands of southern South America covering more than 1,200,000 km2, including the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Córdoba, all of Uruguay and southernmost Brazil. Patagonia is a geographical region encompassing the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile.

The highest point in the country is Aconcagua, whose summit the Military Geographical Institute of Argentina documents at 22,831 feet (6,959 metres), a figure in general use. A 2001 GPS survey placed the peak at 6,962 m.

The Argentine government gives the country's surface area as 3,761,274 km2, a total that includes its Antarctic and South Atlantic claims.

Argentina's population stood at 46,234,830 according to the official 2022 census figure. A 2026 estimate places the country's inhabitants at 47,914,000. The census count of 2022, recorded as 46,044,703, represented a 15.3% increase over the 40,117,096 counted in 2010.

At its peak, Argentina received the second-largest number of immigrants in the world, surpassed only by the United States. Greater Buenos Aires totals around 14 million people, making it one of the 15 largest urban areas in the world.

Argentina is a federal republic with two legislative houses: a Senate of 72 members and a Chamber of Deputies of 257. The country is officially named the Argentine Republic, or República Argentina. Its capital is Buenos Aires.

Argentina is a federal state divided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires, which is the federal capital and largest city. The Congress of Tucumán formalised the Declaration of Independence on 9 July 1816, an event now celebrated as Argentina's Independence Day. With the declaration of independence on 9 July 1816 and the military defeat of Spain in 1824, a federal state formed in 1853–1861 that is today's Argentine Republic.

Argentina's democracy endured through the 2001–02 crisis and is regarded as more robust than its pre-1983 predecessors and other Latin American democracies. The December 2001 crisis, sometimes called the Cacerolazo or Argentinazo, was a period of civil unrest and rioting in Argentina during December 2001, most violently on 19 and 20 December. The crisis caused the resignation of president Fernando de la Rúa and gave way to a period of political instability during which five government officials successively performed the duties of the presidency.

The history of Argentina is divided into four main parts: pre-Columbian times, the colonial period from 1536 to 1809, nation-building from 1810 to 1880, and modern history from around 1880. In 1776 the Spanish Crown established the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, from which the Revolution of May 1810 began the formation of independent states including the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. The May Revolution of 1810 was not initially separatist: its supporters backed the legitimacy of the Juntas in the Americas and acted on behalf of Ferdinand VII.

On 9 July 1816 the Congress of Tucumán formalised the Declaration of Independence, now celebrated as Argentina's Independence Day. The Congress met at San Miguel de Tucumán in 1816 on behalf of the United Provinces of South America, comprising what is now Argentina, Uruguay and parts of Bolivia. The Argentine War of Independence was a set of military events from 1810 to 1825 that consolidated Argentina as an independent country from Spanish rule. With the declaration of independence on 9 July 1816 and the military defeat of Spain in 1824, a federal state formed in 1853-1861 that is today's Argentine Republic.

The 1970s brought a period of military dictatorship and repression in which thousands of presumed dissidents were 'disappeared' or murdered, ending in the disastrous Falklands Islands War of 1982. The Dirty War is the name used by the military junta, or civic-military dictatorship, of Argentina for the period of state-sponsored violence from 1974 to 1983. It is estimated that between 13,000 and 30,000 people were killed or disappeared during the Dirty War. ESMA was the Argentine Navy's principal secret detention centre during the civil-military dictatorship of 1976-1983.

The December 2001 crisis, sometimes called the Cacerolazo or Argentinazo, was a period of civil unrest and rioting in Argentina during December 2001, most violently on 19 and 20 December. The crisis was a direct response to the 'Corral' policies (corralito) imposed at the behest of economy minister Domingo Cavallo, which restricted people's ability to withdraw cash from banks. It caused the resignation of president Fernando de la Rúa and gave way to a period of political instability during which five government officials successively performed the duties of the presidency. Argentina's democracy endured through the 2001-02 crisis and is regarded as more robust than its pre-1983 predecessors and other Latin American democracies.

Argentina's gross domestic product stood at about US$683.1 billion in 2025, measured in current dollars. The World Bank classifies the country as an upper middle income economy within Latin America and the Caribbean. These figures place Argentina among the larger economies of its region, though its income classification remains a tier below the high-income group.

The country's economic standing rests on a long agricultural tradition. Its production of livestock and cereals once ranked it among the world's wealthiest nations. That heritage persists in the breadth of its agricultural exports. Argentina leads in exports of beef, citrus, grapes, honey, maize, sorghum, soybeans, squash, sunflower seeds, wheat and yerba mate.

Mining has added a further dimension to the export profile. In 2019 Argentina was the world's fourth-largest producer of lithium, ninth-largest producer of silver and seventeenth-largest producer of gold. The UN Human Development Index ranks Argentina 'very high', reflecting a literate population, export-oriented agriculture and diversified industry.

Tango is a partner and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. Britannica traces the dance to about 1880, when it evolved in the dance halls of the lower-class districts of Buenos Aires from a merge of the Spanish tango with the milonga. UNESCO describes tango as an Argentine and Uruguayan tradition, now familiar around the world, developed by the urban lower classes in Buenos Aires and Montevideo in the Rio de la Plata basin.

Tango was inscribed by UNESCO in 2009 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. On 31 August 2009 UNESCO approved a joint Argentine-Uruguayan proposal to include tango in its Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

After a decline, tango again became widely fashionable in the 1930s and a matter of national pride under the first Perón government.

Argentina has won three FIFA World Cup titles, in 1978, 1986 and 2022. The men's national football team is the only side to have won the World Cup, the Confederations Cup and Olympic gold, a distinction it shares with Brazil, Germany and France.

The 1978 FIFA World Cup was won by the host nation Argentina, who defeated the Netherlands 3-1 in the final after extra time. It was Argentina's first World Cup title, making them the fifth team to be both hosts and world champions. The tournament was marred by controversy and alleged interference and match-fixing by Argentina's military junta, which used it for nationalistic propaganda and legitimacy.

The 1986 World Cup was won by Argentina, their second title after 1978. Argentina beat West Germany 3-2 in the final at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. Diego Maradona played in four FIFA World Cups, including 1986, where he led Argentina to victory as captain and won the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. Maradona is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history and was a joint winner of the FIFA Player of the Century award, alongside Pelé.

Juan Domingo Perón (8 October 1895 - 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and politician, the 29th and 40th president, serving from 1946 to his overthrow in 1955 and from 1973 until his death. He returned from exile in 1973 amid the Ezeiza massacre, after the Peronist Héctor José Cámpora was elected president, and was himself elected for a third term (October 1973 - July 1974).

With his wife Eva Duarte (Evita), Perón's government granted women the right to vote, built half a million houses and provided charity, becoming immensely popular among the working class.

Diego Maradona was born on 30 October 1960 at the Policlínico Evita Hospital in Lanús, Buenos Aires Province, and died on 25 November 2020. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history and was a joint winner of the FIFA Player of the Century award, alongside Pelé. He played in four FIFA World Cups, including 1986, where he led Argentina to victory as captain and won the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. Argentina was captained by the 25-year-old Diego Maradona, who scored his 'Hand of God' goal and another voted the 'Goal of the Century' in the same quarter-final against England.

Lionel Andrés 'Leo' Messi (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine footballer who plays for Inter Miami, which he captains, and the Argentina national team. He has won eight Ballons d'Or, six European Golden Shoes, and been named the world's best player by FIFA eight times. Messi led Argentina to victory at the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 World Cup (becoming the first player to win the World Cup Golden Ball twice) and the 2024 Copa América. He led Argentina to a second consecutive World Cup final at the 2026 World Cup, where he won the Silver Ball and his second consecutive Silver Boot.

Tango was inscribed by UNESCO in 2009 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO describes the tradition as Argentine and Uruguayan, now familiar around the world, developed by the urban lower classes in Buenos Aires and Montevideo in the Rio de la Plata basin. On 31 August 2009 the organization approved a joint Argentine-Uruguayan proposal to include tango in its Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. The dance itself is a partner and social form that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay.

The semicircular waterfall at the heart of Iguazú National Park is some 80 m high and 2,700 m in diameter, on a basaltic line spanning the border between Argentina and Brazil. Los Glaciares National Park lies in the southwest of Santa Cruz Province, in the Argentine part of Patagonia.

ESMA was the Argentine Navy's principal secret detention centre during the civil-military dictatorship of 1976-1983.