From: Erin Callan & Ethan Hutson
Date: March 7, 2013
Subject: Business Report on Argentina
INTRODUCTION
Argentina is located in South America and borders Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Argentina has a total size of 2,780,400 square kilometers, with 2,736,690 of those square kilometers being land, 43,710 square kilometers being water and 4,989 kilometers being coastline. Based on its total size, Argentina is the second largest country in South America, and the eighth largest country in the world (state.gov). The terrain of Argentina includes rich plains of the Pampas in the northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in the south, rugged Andes along the western border. The highest point in Argentina is Cerro Aconcagua which is 6,960 meters and the lowest point is Laguna del Carbon, which is -105 meters. The natural resources found in Argentina include lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, and uranium (Country Profile).
History
Europeans arrived in what is present day Argentina in 1516 at the hands of Spanish navigator, Juan Diaz de Solias. Spain established a permanent colony in present day Buenos Aires in 1580. On July 9, 1816 Argentina formally declared independence from Spain and in 1853 a modern constitution was officially declared and a national unity government was established in 1861. Between 1880 and 1930 Argentina was one of the ten wealthiest nations because of the expansion of agriculture and foreign investment in infrastructure. The Great Depression halted Argentina’s expansion and brought with it a period of a less stable governance. In 1973, Argentina held its first general election in ten years and in 1983 Argentina returned to a democracy (Encyclopedia Britannica). The Argentinean flag consists of three equal horizontal bands of light blue, white, and light blue. Centered in the white middle band is a sun with human face. This sun is known as the Sun of May. The light