Facts About Argentina

Argentina, which means ‘land of silver’ is a vast country, with great diversity in its geographical features, as well as a very rich and interesting history and culture. It is also referred to as the ‘land of six continents’, with the Pampas, a grassy, broad plain, forming its central region. This is the area in which the gauchos of Argentina, akin to the cowboys of the United States, rode their horses into the folklore of the country. Given below are some interesting facts about Argentina.

South America’s second largest country is Argentina, the largest being Brazil. Located in the southern-most part of South America, the Andes Mountains lies on its west, while it is bounded in the south and east by the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean. In the northeast of Argentina lies Uruguay, and Brazil borders it on the north. Argentina also lays claim to the Falkland Islands.

It is thought that there were inhabitants living in Argentina as long back as 13,000 years back. The evidence is still being studied by archeologists.

It was in 1520 that Ferdinand de Magellan arrived on Patagonia’s shores, before he discovered the strait connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

The Santa Maria del Buen Aire settlement was found by Pedro de Mendoza, in 1536. Today, it is known as Buenos Aires, which is Argentina’s capital.

Spanish explorers who arrived in the Americas in the early part of the 16th century laid claim to several countries in the region, with Argentina being colonized by Pedro de Mendoza.

It was in 1816 that Argentina made a declaration of its independence from Spain.

After Argentina gained its independence, migrants began arriving from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

President Juan Domingo Peron became Argentina’s President in 1946. ‘Evita’, his wife of legendary fame, was given the charge of labor relations, who succumbed to cancer, dying of it in 1952, when she was 33 years of age.

The Argentinean medical doctor, Ernesto Che Guevara, who was also a poet, philosophical writer, and the champion of the revolution in Cuba, became an icon of international fame during the 1960s.

It was in 1976 that General Jorge Videla, the head of the military junta, took control of Argentina. Thousands of people were put to death in the following years during a time that came to be referred as the ‘Dirty War’.

Argentina went to war against the UK over the Falkland Islands, lead by General Galtieri, in 1982.

Spanish is Argentina’s official language, while Roman Catholicism is the country’s formal religion. In fact, until the Constitution of the country was changed in 1994, the elected President of Argentina had to be a Roman Catholic.

Measuring 2,700 in diameter and 80m high, the Iguazu falls of Argentina is one of the largest in the world.

At a depth of 40m, the Salinas Chicas, situated on Peninsula Valdes, is Argentina’s as well as South America’s lowest point.

Measuring 6,960m in height, Mount Aconcagua is Argentina’s as well as South America’s highest point.

The tango dance is an embodiment of Argentinean ethos, having its origins here, which has become so famous and popular today. The Tango Festival, which was begun in 1999, is held in the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires.

Argentina has been the place where some of the oldest and largest fossils of dinosaurs have been unearthed.

Argentina has had several Nobel Laureates: With the Nobel Prize for Peace being given to Carlos Saavedra Lamas in 1936, and in 1980 to Adolfo Perez Esquivel; The Nobel Prize in Chemistry given to Luis Federico Leloir in 1970; the Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to Bernardo Houssay in 1947, and in 1984 to Cesar Milstein.

The second wife of Juan Peron, Isabel Peron, became Argentina’s first woman president, with the second being Christina Fernandez de Kirchner, who was elected to the post in 2007.