Nation Project- Part 1Argentina

Kelsey TaylorHistory 141

Geography

2,400 miles long, 870 miles wide

4 major regions: fertile central plains of the Pampas (agriculture), southern plateau of Patagonia (oil), subtropical northern flats of the Gran Chaco, and rugged Andes mountain range

Major rivers: Paraná, Pilcomayo, Paraguay, Bermejo, Colorado, Río Negro, Salado, y Uruguay

Shares a very long border with Atlantic Ocean

Geography

General Climates

North: very hot, humid summers with mild drier winters, subject to periodic droughts

Central: hot summers with thunderstorms and cool winters

South: warm summers, cold winters with heavy snowfall especially in mountainous zones

People

Demographics

40 million inhabitants

considered a country of immigrants: most are descendants of Europeans (86.4%), Mestizo (8%), or Arab and Asian (4%)

most of the immigrants came from Italy and Spain and many of them went to Buenos Aires

Argentine constitution guarantees freedom of religion but also requires the government to support Roman Catholicism economically

People

Language

Official language is Spanish

Argentina is the second largest Spanish-speaking society that uses “vos” instead of “tu”

most prevalent dialect is Rioplatense in the Río de la Plata basin

the Buenos Aires accent is closer to the Neapolitan dialect of Italian than any other spoken language

other languages spoken include Italian, Levantine dialect of Arabic, German, Guarraní, English, Portuguese, and French

Culture

Argentina has a rich literary history

Also has one of the region’s most active publishing industries

Jorge Luis Borges- most acclaimed writer

“golden age” of cinema was in the 1930-1950’s

Buenos Aires is one of the great capitals of theater

the cities are enriched by the many Argentine architects

Culture

Common dishes: pasta, sausage and dessert dishes common to continental Europe and also a wide variety of indigenous and Crillo dishes including empanadas, locro, humitas, and yerba mate

Argentines have the highest consumption of red meat in the world

most popular sport is soccer

the tango is Argentina’s music symbol

Argentine rock is the most popular music among youths

History

indigenous Inca indians were the first humans to inhabit Argentina

European settlers arrived in 1516

1st settlement in modern Argentina was Fort of Sancti Spiritu in 1527

Buenos Aires was established in 1536 but then destroyed by natives

populated by mainly Spanish settlers

1811- the country was united independently

lots of fighting took place between all the South American states

between 1880-1929, Argentina emerged as one of the ten richest countries in the world

History

General Juan Perón ruled between 1946-1955 when he was then exiled

Returned in 1974 to take office one more time

“Dirty War”- many political oppositions “disappeared” because they were killed

Current president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was the 1st woman elected president of Argentina

She took over the presidency from her husband after 4 years of the country growing

Sources

www.wikipedia.org