The Provinces have each a Governor and a Legislative Assembly of its own choosing. The Governors of Territories are appointed by the President. A Territory has the privilege of becoming a Province when it has 50,000 inhabitants, but for some reason this right has not been exercised. The Federal District, the City of Buenos Aires, is governed by a Mayor and a Council elected by tax paying residents.
Male citizens have the right of suffrage at the age of 18. The passage of a law, at the initiative of President Dr. Roque Saenz Peña, made the exercise of the franchise obligatory upon all native born citizens, and on foreigners after two years of residence, thus inaugurating a great change. At the first election under the new law in 1916, Dr. Hipolito Irigoyen of the Radical Party was chosen President by the Electoral College, the first person outside of the previously governing class to be elected.
There are 14 Provinces corresponding to our States, and 10 Territories, besides the Federal District, Buenos Aires. The best obtainable figures of the area and population of the Provinces and Territories with those of the population and altitude of their capitals follow. The Provinces are named in order from the north across from west to east in four rows, thus beginning at the northwest:
| Provinces | Area, in square miles | Population | Capitals | Population | Altitudes, in feet | Distance from Buenos Aires, in miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jujuy | 15,800 | 78,000 | Jujuy | 25,000 | 3,675 | 937 |
| Salta | 62,160 | 160,000 | Salta | 40,000 | 5,200 | 925 |
| Catamarca | 37,000 | 110,000 | Catamarca | 15,000 | 1,663 | 833 |
| Tucumán | 10,400 | 350,000 | Tucumán | 100,000 | 1,522 | 718 |
| Santiago del Estero | 75,000 | 265,000 | Santiago | 35,000 | 593 | 630 |
| San Juan | 38,000 | 130,000 | San Juan | 20,000 | 2,077 | 750 |
| La Rioja | 38,000 | 85,000 | La Rioja | 13,000 | 1,650 | 506 |
| Córdoba | 67,000 | 750,000 | Córdoba | 135,000 | 1,428 | 432 |
| Santa Fé | 50,000 | 1,000,000 | Santa Fé | 80,000 | 52 | 298 |
| Corrientes | 33,000 | 400,000 | Corrientes | 40,000 | .... | 838 |
| Entre Rios | 30,000 | 450,000 | Paraná | 80,000 | .... | 356 |
| Mendoza | 55,370 | 300,000 | Mendoza | 65,000 | 2,470 | 651 |
| San Luis | 30,000 | 127,000 | San Luis | 25,000 | 2,513 | 488 |
| Buenos Aires | 117,800 | 2,200,000 | La Plata | 135,000 | 34 | |
| Federal District | 72 | 1,800,000 | Buenos Aires | 1,800,000 | ||
| Territories | ||||||
| Los Andes | 35,000 | 2,600 | San Antonio | 1,000 | 11,000 | 1,056 |
| Formosa | 44,000 | 52,000 | Formosa | 4,200 | 208 | |
| Chaco | 386,000 | 65,000 | Resistencia | 12,000 | 144 | 840 |
| Misiones | 11,880 | 52,000 | Posadas | 10,000 | 407 | 700 |
| Pampa Central | 58,000 | 110,000 | Sta. Rosa de Toay | 5,400 | .... | 376 |
| Neuquen | 42,470 | 31,500 | Neuquen | 4,500 | 870 | 740 |
| Rio Negro | 77,220 | 42,000 | Viedma | 7,500 | .... | 577 |
| Chubut | 946,000 | 23,000 | Rawson | 8,000 | ||
| Santa Cruz | 111,000 | 10,000 | Puerto Gallegos | 3,000 | ||
| Tierra del Fuego | 8,300 | 2,500 | Ushuaiá | 1,600 | .... | 1,600 |
The Territories are four at the extreme north, and the remaining six south of a line from Mendoza to the City of Buenos Aires.
Population
With an estimated population of at least 8,600,000, Argentina suffered a large decrease in its previously great immigration, as well as a considerable emigration, during the Great War, which in other ways at first gravely interrupted its prosperity. In the 50 years preceding 1912, over 4,000,000 immigrants had entered the country, more than 3,000,000 remaining. Of those entering, the Italians numbered over 2,000,000, Spanish over 1,000,000; those of any other nationality except 200,000 French were each fewer than 100,000. The Negroes and the Indians of earlier days, except perhaps 100,000 of the latter in remote sections, have become assimilated or killed. The Chaco Indians, it is said, are not difficult to domesticate, especially the Tobas living near the Bermejo River. The people are generally considered the most homogeneous of any of the South American countries except Uruguay, as nearly all are of European descent. Here as in Chile we observe the effect of location in the temperate zone, all of the country being so situated except a small section at the north.
A great preponderance of population is in the cities, one fifth of the whole in the city of Buenos Aires. While the people are proud of its greatness they have begun to realize that this concentration is not for the general welfare. Forty-three per cent of the urban and 25 per cent of the entire population is said to be foreign born. Aside from the Capital of the Republic, there are in the Province of Buenos Aires five cities with a population above 50,000 and a dozen more with over 30,000. In Buenos Aires there is a large social circle of wealth and culture, as well as a laboring class with strong radical elements.
Education
Education receives much attention and $25,000,000 are annually devoted to this purpose. Primary education is free and called compulsory. There are primary and secondary schools, Universities, Normal Schools, Technical Colleges, Schools Agrarian and Veterinary, of Viticulture, Mines, Arts, and Music. The Universities are at Buenos Aires, La Plata, Córdoba, Tucumán, and Santa Fé; there are three Schools of Commerce at Buenos Aires, and one each at Rosario and Concordia. In various towns are private schools, some English and American. The schools generally are of high grade, and it was said by a former Argentine Ambassador, corroborated by other persons familiar with Buenos Aires, that their school children knew more about the United States than most of our business men and Members of Congress knew about Argentina. Many of their school buildings, though usually smaller than ours, are superior in architectural beauty.