ge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: short section of the boundary with Uruguay
is in dispute; short section of the boundary with Chile is
indefinite; claims British-administered Falkland Islands (Islas
Malvinas); claims British-administered South Georgia and the South
Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica

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
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: 4%
meadows and pastures: 52%
forest and woodland: 22%
other: 13%

Irrigated land: 17,600 sq km (1989 est.)

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
natural hazards: Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to
earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the
Pampas and northeast; heavy flooding
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

Geographic 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)

People
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Population: 34,672,997 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 28% (male 4,904,380; female 4,707,293)
15-64 years: 63% (male 10,851,004; female 10,834,593)
65 years and over: 9% (male 1,414,412; female 1,961,315) (July 1996
est.)

Population growth rate: 1.1% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 19.41 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: