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, 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: Desertification, 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)

@Argentina:People

Population: 35,797,985 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 28% (male 5,042,521; female 4,855,874)
15-64 years : 62% (male 11,133,884; female 11,155,104)
65 years and over: 10% (male 1,499,538; female 2,111,064) (July 1997
est.)

Population growth rate: 1.3% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 20.01 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 7.68 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.67 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 19.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 74.31 years
male: 70.67 years
female: 78.12 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.69 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Argentine(s)
adjective: Argentine

Ethnic groups: white 85%, mestizo, Amerindian, or other nonwhite
groups 15%

Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20% practicing),
Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 6%

Languages: Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can re