GEOGRAPHY
Location:
Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between
Chile and Uruguay
Geographic
coordinates: 34 00 S, 64 00 W
Map
references: South America
Area:
total: 2,766,890 sq km
land: 2,736,690 sq km
water: 30,200 sq km
Area—comparative:
slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US
Land
boundaries:
total: 9,665 km
border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile
5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km
Coastline:
4,989 km
Maritime
claims:
contiguous zone: 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 6,962 m
Natural
resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin,
copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium
Land
use:
arable land: 9%
permanent crops: 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: 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, 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)
