ARGENTINA
Basic Info:
Population 2017(millions) 44.293
GDP per capita 2017 (PPI, US$)... 20,900
GDP 2017 (Atlas method, US$ billions) $920.2
Unemployment 2017 8.1%
Total Area 2,780,400 sq km
Urban Population 91.9%
Life expectancy at birth (years) 77.3
Mortality rate, (per 1,000 live births) 9.8
Illiteracy (% of population age 15+) 1.9%
History:
Europeans first discovered Argentina in 1502 during the voyage of Amerigo Vespucci. In 1580 the Spanish founded a colony in Buenos Aires. By 1800 Buenos Aires had a population of 50,000. In 1816 Argentina declared it independence from Spain. In 1824 a constitutional assembly passed a constitution. Conservative political forces for the rest of the 19th century dominated Argentina. During this period the country grew rapidly.
In 1916 Radical forces took control of the government. They were ousted in 1935. In 1946 Juan Peron took control of the government. Peron was ousted in 1955 by the military. The military maintained power until 1973, when violence forced the military to allow the return of Peron. He died the next year and his third wife Isabella Peron took over. She was able to maintain power for only two years. The military regained power and instituted a very repressive regime in which 20,000 leftist disappeared.
When Argentina occupied the Falkland Islands in 1982 the British defeated the Argentineans and reoccupied the Falklands. The defeat resulted in the fall of military government. In 1989 Carlos Memen became the President of the country and began serious economic and political reform.
Government:
Government type:
presidential republic
Capital:
name: Buenos Aires
Administrative divisions:
23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 autonomous city*; Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires*, Cordoba, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego - Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur (Tierra del Fuego - Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands), Tucuman
note: the US does not recognize any claims to Antarctica
Independence:
9 July 1816 (from Spain)
National holiday:
Revolution Day (May Revolution Day), 25 May (1810)
Constitution:
several previous; latest effective 11 May 1853; amended many times, last in 1994 (2016)
Legal system:
civil law system based on West European legal systems; note - in mid-2015, Argentina adopted a new civil code, replacing the old one in force since 1871
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Citizenship:
citizenship by birth: yes
citizenship by descent: yes
dual citizenship recognized: yes
residency requirement for naturalization: 2 years
Suffrage:
18-70 years of age; universal and compulsory; 16-17 years of age - optional for national elections
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Mauricio MACRI (since 10 December 2015); Vice President Gabriela MICHETTI (since 10 December 2015); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Mauricio MACRI (since 10 December 2015); Vice President Gabriela MICHETTI (since 10 December 2015)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
elections/appointments: president and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by qualified majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second consecutive term); election last held in 2 rounds on 25 October and 22 November 2015 (next to be held in October 2019)
election results: Mauricio MACRI elected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - Daniel SCIOLI (PJ) 37.1%, Mauricio MACRI (PRO) 34.2%, Sergio MASSA (FR/PJ) 21.4%, other 7.3%; percent of vote in second round - Mauricio MACRI (PRO) 51.4%, Daniel SCIOLI (PJ) 48.6%
Legislative branch:
description: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of:
Senate (72 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 6-year terms with one-third of the membership elected every 2 years)
Chamber of Deputies (257 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms with one-half of the membership renewed every 2 years)
elections: Senate - last held on 22 October 2017 (next to be held in October 2019)
Chamber of Deputies - last held on 22 October 2017 (next to be held in October 2019)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA; seats by bloc or party - Cambiemos 12, UC 6, PJ 4, FRC 2
Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA; seats by bloc or party - Cambiemos 61, UC 28, PJ 18, FR 7, FCS 3, FRC 2, other 8
Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (consists of the court president, vice-president, and 5 judges)
judge selection and term of office: judges nominated by the president and approved by the Senate; judges can serve until mandatory retirement at age 75
subordinate courts: federal level appellate, district, and territorial courts; provincial level supreme, appellate, and first instance courts
Political parties and leaders:
Cambiemos [Mauricio MACRI] (coalition of CC-ARI, PRO, and UCR)
Citizen's Unity or UC [Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER]
Civic Coalition ARI or CC-ARI [ Elisa CARRIO]
Civic Front for Santiago or FCS [Gerardo ZAMORA]
Dissident Peronists (PJ Disidente) or Federal Peronism (a right-wing faction of PJ which is opposed to the Kirchners) [Eduardo DUHALDE]
Front for the Renewal of Concord or FRC
Front for Victory or FpV (left-wing faction of PJ) [Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER]
Justicialist Party or PJ [Jose Luis GIOJA]
Progresistas [Margarita STOLBIZER]
Radical Civic Union or UCR [Lilia PUIG DE STUBRIN]
Renewal Front (Frente Renovador) or FR [Sergio MASSA]
Republican Proposal or PRO [Mauricio MACRI]
Socialist Party or PS [Antonio BONFATTI]
United for a New Alternative or UNA (includes FR)
numerous provincial parties
People:
Argentina is a land of immigrants. The majority of its people descend from early Spanish and Italian immigrants. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries immigrants from many parts of Europe arrived in the country. 3% of Argentina's population is native indian or meztizo, the rest of the population is white.
ECONOMICS:
Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Although one of the world's wealthiest countries 100 years ago, Argentina suffered during most of the 20th century from recurring economic crises, persistent fiscal and current account deficits, high inflation, mounting external debt, and capital flight. In 2016, the World Bank downgraded Argentina from a high-income to upper-middle-income economy, on par with Colombia.
A severe depression, growing public and external indebtedness, and an unprecedented bank run culminated in 2001 in the most serious economic, social, and political crisis in the country's turbulent history. Interim President Adolfo RODRIGUEZ SAA declared a default - at the time the largest ever - on the government's foreign debt in December of that year, and abruptly resigned only a few days after taking office. His successor, Eduardo DUHALDE, announced an end to the peso's decade-long 1-to-1 peg to the US dollar in early 2002. The economy bottomed out that year, with real GDP 18% smaller than in 1998 and almost 60% of Argentines below the poverty line. Real GDP rebounded to grow by an average 8.5% annually over the subsequent six years, taking advantage of previously idled industrial capacity and labor, and expansionary monetary and fiscal policies. Inflation also increased, however, during the administration of President Nestor KIRCHNER, which responded with price restraints on businesses, as well as export taxes and restraints, and beginning in 2007, with understating inflation data.
Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER succeeded her husband as president in late 2007, and the rapid economic growth of previous years began to slow sharply the following year as government policies held back exports and the world economy fell into recession. The economy in 2010 rebounded strongly from the 2009 recession, but slowed in late 2011 even as the government continued to rely on expansionary fiscal and monetary policies, which kept inflation in the double digits.
In order to deal with these problems, the government expanded state intervention in the economy: it nationalized the oil company YPF from Spain's Repsol, expanded measures to restrict imports, and further tightened currency controls in an effort to bolster foreign reserves and stem capital flight. Between 2011 and 2013, Central Bank foreign reserves dropped $21.3 billion from a high of $52.7 billion. In July 2014, Argentina and China agreed on an $11 billion currency swap; the Argentine Central Bank has received the equivalent of $3.2 billion in Chinese yuan, which it counts as international reserves.
With the election of President Mauricio MACRI in November 2015, Argentina began a historic political and economic transformation, as his administration took steps to liberalize the Argentine economy, lifting capital controls, floating the peso, removing export controls on some commodities, cutting some energy subsidies, and reforming the country’s official statistics. Argentina negotiated debt payments with holdout bond creditors and returned to international capital markets in April 2016. In September 2016, Argentina completed its first IMF Article IV Consultation since 2006.
After contracting by more than 2.0% in 2016, Argentina’s economy emerged from recession in 2017 with GDP growth of nearly 3.0%. Argentina passed important pension, tax, and fiscal reforms in 2017. After years of international isolation, Argentina took on several international leadership roles in 2017, including hosting the World Economic Forum on Latin America and the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference, and is set to assume the presidency of the G-20 in 2018.
Tourism:
Tourism is a growing and important industry in Argentina. In 2016 Argentina hosted 6 million tourist. It hopes to grow that to 9 million by 2019.
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