ederal*; Catamarca; Chaco; Chubut; 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, Antartica e Islas
del Atlantico Sur; Tucuman

note: the US does not recognize any claims to Antarctica

Independence: 9 July 1816 (from Spain)

National holiday: Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)

Constitution: 1 May 1853; revised August 1994

Legal system: mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and mandatory

Executive branch: chief of state: President Fernando DE LA RUA
(since 10 December 1999); Vice President Carlos "Chacho" ALVAREZ
resigned 6 October 2000 and a replacement has not yet been named;
note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government

head of government: President Fernando DE LA RUA (since 10 December
1999); Vice President Carlos "Chacho" ALVAREZ resigned 6 October
2000 and a replacement has not yet been named; note - the president
is both the chief of state and head of government

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president

elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket
by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 24 October
1999 (next to be held NA October 2003)

election results: Fernando DE LA RUA elected president; percent of
vote - 48.5%

Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional
consists of the Senate (72 seats; formerly, three members appointed
by each of the provincial legislatures; presently transitioning to
one-third of the members being elected every two years to six-year
terms) and the Chamber of Deputies (257 seats; one-half of the
members elected every two years to four-year terms)

elections: Senate - transition phase will begin in the 2001
elections when all seats will be fully contested; winners will
randomly draw to determine whether they will serve a two-year,
four-year, or full six-year term, beginning a rotating cycle
renovating one-third of the body every two years; Chamber of
Deputies - last held 24 October 1999 (next to be held NA October
2001)

election results: Senate - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA%;
seats by bloc or party - Peronist 40, UCR 20, Frepaso 1, other 11;
Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA%; seats
by bloc or party -