Argentina
The Argentine Republic, or Argentina as it is more widely known, is a South American country, second largest in size to Brazil. The country stretches from the Andes Mountain range to the Atlantic Ocean in the East and South.
Geography:
Argentina is bordered in the North by Paraguay and Bolivia , by Brazil and Uruguay in the North-East, and by Chile in the West and South. The country is divided into twenty-three provinces which are further divided into 376 departments (depatamentos). Some of the major cities in Argentina include Buenos Aires , the capital, Rosario and Santa Fe .
The country has roughly four regions:
• the fertile plains of the Pampas located in the center of Argentina which is the main source of the country's wealth.
• the oil rich plateau of Patagonia in the South.
• the subtropical flats in the North at the Gran Chaco , and,
• the rugged mountain range of the Andes along the border shared with Chile in the West.
The climate is predominantly temperate and extreme temperatures range from subtropical in the North to sub-polar in the far South.
Northern Argentina is characterized by very hot and humid summers and mild, dry winters. Central Argentina enjoys hot summers with thunderstorms and cool winters and Southern regions have warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall and extremely long periods of daylight from November to February, often reaching up to 19 hours of daylight.
Did You Know?
- Argentina means argentum in Latin, which translates to silver - it was named this due to explorers' discovery of a silver trail in the later 16th Century.
- Argentine Independence Day occurs on July 9th.
© Written by E.J.Clarke.
|
