Argentina

Wealth and National Well-Being

Country Comparisons:
2010: see chart
2010: debt and reserves chart

Import/export ratio
2010: 129% favorable balance

Unemployment rate
2010: 7.9%
2009: 9.6%

Argentina produces about twice as much oil as it consumes. It exports other fuels, feed, edible oils, cars, cereals.

Persons per square kilometers estimated in 2005: 14.3, compared to 187 for Switzerland.

Military expenditures as a percentage of GDP
2005: 1.3%

People

Living in an urban area
2010: 92%

Religions
World Factbook (2011): nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%

Geography

South America

Government

The president is both chief of state and head of the government. The president and vice president are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms and eligible for a second term. Capital: Buenos Aires, pronounced EYEres, not AIRes. ;

Recent History

Independence from Spain: July 9, 1816.

A military dictatorship began ruling in 1976. Democracy returned in 1983.

In 2001, in response to its economic crisis, the Argentine government defaulted its foreign debt -- the largest such default in history according to the CIA's World Factbook. There was a recession.

The economy recovered in 2003 with a good amount of exports. Workers took over a few factories abandoned by the owners, to "restart the silent machines," and created worker-cooperatives -- to be contested by former owners. New investment came from Argentines who were either bringing their money home from abroad or from under their mattresses. More money was coming into the country than leaving it. The economy grew 9 percent annually for five years -- a great rebound. China began investing in Argentina.

In 2010 Argentinians are buying more from abroad again than they are selling. And the government is working on settling with those upon whom it defaulted, in order to regain a good standing with the bond investment community and win back more international investment. Former investors will end up with a percentage of their original investment but big losers in that their money will have produced a loss over almost a decade. Meanwhile, worker-cooperatives -- numbering around 200 in the year 2005, are being celebrated by some on the political left.

SOURCES:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook