is a federal republic located in southeastern So uth America With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2 Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second-largest in Latin America, and the largestSpanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city (ciudad autónoma), Buenos Aires, which is the federal capital of the nation

In 1816 the Congress of Tucumán formalized the Declaration of Independence.[45] One year later General Martín Miguel de Güemes stopped royalists on the north, and GeneralJosé de San Martín took an army across the Andes and secured the independence of Chile; then he led the fight to the Spanish stronghold of Lima and proclaimed theindependence of Peru.[46][F] In 1819 Buenos Aires enacted a centralist constitution that was soon abrogated by federalists.[48]

Tourism in Argentina is characterized by its cultural offerings and its ample and varied natural assets. The country had 5.57 million visitors in 2013, ranking in terms of the international tourist arrivals as the top destination in South America, and second in Latin America after Mexico. The country's capital city, Buenos Aires, is the most visited city in South America.

The de facto[C] official language is Spanish, spoken by almost all Argentines There are several second-languages in widespread use among the Argentine population:

English,[O] taught since elementary school. 42.3% of Argentines claim to speak it, with 15.4% of them claiming to have a high level of language comprehension.[citation needed]

Italian, by 1.5 million people. Arabic, Standard German, Yiddish, Guaraní, Catalan, French, Quechua by 65,000 people, mostly in the Northwest, Wichí, Vlax Romani, Japanese, Aymara, Ukrainian, Welsh,

On 13 March 2013, Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as Pope of the Catholic Church and took the name "Francis", becoming the first pope from the Americas and from the Southern Hemisphere, the first non-European pope in 1272 years, and the first Jesuit one.

Football: as of 2014 the men's national team is, along with France's, the only to have won the most important international triplet: World Cup, Confederations Cup, andOlympic Gold Medal. It has also won 14 Copas América, 6 Pan American Gold Medals, and many other trophies.[298] Alfredo Di Stéfano, Diego Maradona, and Lionel Messiare among the best players in the game's history.[299]