: 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 (located on Peninsula Valdes)
highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,960 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: environmental problems (urban and rural)
typical of an industrializing economy such as soil degradation,
desertification, air pollution, and water pollution
note: Argentina is a world leader in setting voluntary greenhouse gas
targets

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, Whaling
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)

@Argentina:People

Population: 36,955,182 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 27% (male 5,061,588; female 4,827,582)
15-64 years: 63% (male 11,625,574; female 11,613,358)
65 years and over: 10% (male 1,582,861; female 2,244,219) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.16% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 18.59 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 7.59 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female