Environment - current issues: environmental problems (urban and rural) typical of an industrializing economy such as deforestation, soil degradation, desertification, air pollution, and water pollution note: Argentina is a world leader in setting voluntary greenhouse gas targets
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note:
second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic
location relative to sea lanes between the South Atlantic and the
South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake
Passage); diverse geophysical landscapes range from tropical
climates in the north to tundra in the far south; Cerro Aconcagua is
the Western Hemisphere's tallest mountain, while Laguna del Carbon
is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere
People Argentina
Population:
39,921,833 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 25.2% (male 5,153,164/female 4,921,625)
15-64 years: 64.1% (male 12,804,376/female 12,798,731)
65 years and over: 10.6% (male 1,740,118/female 2,503,819) (2006
est.)
Median age: total: 29.7 years male: 28.8 years female: 30.7 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.96% (2006 est.)
Birth rate:
16.73 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate:
7.55 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)