ARGENTINA
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LAND
2,771,300 km2; 57% agricultural (11% crops, improved pasture and fallow, 46% natural grazing land), 25% forested, 18% mountain, urban, or waste
Land boundaries: 9,414 km
WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 200 nm (continental shelf, including sovereignty over superjacent waters)
Coastline: 4,989 km
PEOPLE
Population: 28,593,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.6%
Nationality: noun—Argentine(s); adjective—Argentine
Ethnic divisions: approximately 85% white, 15% mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups
Religion: 90% nominally Roman Catholic (less than 20% practicing), 2% Protestant, 2% Jewish, 6% other
'Language: Spanish
Literacy: 85% (90% in Buenos Aires)
Labor force: 10.8 million; 19% agriculture, 25% manufacturing, 20% services, 11% commerce, 6% transport and communications, 19% other; 2.2% estimated unemployment (1978 est.)
Organized labor: 25% of labor force (est.)
GOVERNMENT
Official name: Argentine Republic
Type: republic; under military rule since 1976
Capital: Buenos Aires
Political subdivisions: 22 provinces, 1 district (Federal Capital), and 1 territory
Legal system: based on Spanish and French civil codes; constitution adopted 1853 partially superseded in 1966 by the Statute of the Revolution, which takes precedence over the constitution when the two are in conflict; further changes may be made by new government; judicial review of legislative acts; legal education at University of Buenos Aires and other public and private universities; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 25 May
Branches: presidency; national judiciary
Government leader: President, Lt. Gen. Leopoldo Fortunato GALTIERI, chosen in December 1981 by the military junta that took power on 24 March 1976
Government structure: the President and the junta, composed of the chiefs of the three armed services, retain supreme authority; active duty or retired officers fill three Cabinet posts and administer all provincial and many local governments; in addition, the military now oversees the nation's principal labor confederation and unions, as well as other civilian pressure groups; Congress has been disbanded and all political activity suspended; a five-man Legislative Council, composed of senior officers, advises the junta on lawmaking
Political parties: several civilian political groupings remain potentially influential, despite the suspension of all partisan activity; these include Justicialist Party (Peronist coalition that formerly governed) and the Radical Civic Union, center-left party providing the chief civilian opposition to the Peronists; the Moscow-oriented Communist Party remains legal, but extreme leftist splinter groups have been outlawed
Communists: some 70,000 members in various party organizations, including a small nucleus of activists
Other political or pressure groups: Peronist-dominated labor movement, General Economic Confederation (Peronist-leaning association of small businessmen), Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association), Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association), business organizations, students, and the Catholic Church
Member of: FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, IFAD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMCO, IMF, IOOC, ISO, ITU, IWC—International Whaling Commission, IWC—International Wheat Council, LAFTA, NAM, OAS, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO, WSG
ECONOMY
GNP: $143 billion (1980), $5,257 per capita; 69% consumption, 26% investment, 6% net foreign demand (1979); real GDP growth rate 1980, -0.3%
Agriculture: main products—cereals, oilseed, livestock products; Argentina is a major world exporter of temperate zone foodstuffs
