Location Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay

Geographic coordinates 34 00 S, 64 00 W

Map references South America

Area
total: 2,766,890 sq km
land: 2,736,690 sq km
water: 30,200 sq km

Area - comparative slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US

Land boundaries
total: 9,665 km
border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km

Coastline 4,989 km

Maritime claims
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest

Terrain rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border

Elevation extremes
lowest point: Salinas Chicas -40 m
highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,962 m

Natural resources fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium

Land use
arable land: 9%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 52%
forests and woodland: 19%
other: 19% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land 17,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards San Miguel de Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the Pampas and northeast; heavy flooding

Environment - current issues erosion results from inadequate flood controls and improper land use practices; irrigated soil degradation; desertification; air pollution in Buenos Aires and other major cities; water pollution in urban areas; rivers becoming polluted due to increased pesticide and fertilizer use

Environment - international agreements
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)

NOTE: The information regarding Argentina on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Argentina Geography 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Argentina Geography 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.