Argentina: General Information
Argentina is the eighth largest country in the world, and the second in South America after Brazil. The country offers deserts, tundra, forests, mountains, rivers, glaciers, and thousand of kilometers of coasts.
Argentina: The territory
Argentina is shaped like an inverted triangle with its base at the top; it is some 880 miles (1,420 km) across at its widest from east to west and stretches 2,360 miles (3,800 km) from the subtropical north to the subantarctic south. The country is bounded by Chile to the south and west, Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, and Brazil, Uruguay, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Its undulating Atlantic coastline stretches some 2,900 miles (4,700 km).
People: Ethnic groups
Argentina received a grat immigration, particularly from Spain and Italy, that produced in Argentina a people who are almost all of the European ancestry. In the colonial period, though, the Spanish explorers and settlers encountered a number of native peoples.
Language
Spanish is the national language, but in Argentina, Spanish is spoken in several accents and has absorbed many words from other languages, especially Italian due to the hard immigration received from Europe in the last century. During the XIX century, an underworld language called Lunfardo developed in Buenos Aires, composed of words from many languages: like Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German. Lunfardo is now often heard in the lyrics of tango music.
Religion
The main part of Argentina’s people are Catholic but the majority of them are nonpracticing. The Catholic influence is anyway reflected in government and society. Protestants make up about 5 percent of the population. Muslims and Jews account for small minorities. The Jewish community of Argentina is the largest in South America.
Other interesting facts about Argentina
The Yerba Mate is the most popular drink in Argentina: It is deeply ingrained in the culture and is the focal point in social gatherings, handed around for everyone to share. Mate is a black herbal tea made from the yerba mate herb, grown in the Northeast provinces of Misiones and Corrientes. The herb is placed in a gourd (the mate pot), hot water added, then served from a metal straw called a bombilla.
Polo is great, but the national sport is El Pato: Since 1953 the Pato was declared a national sport. It`s a traditional game played by gauchos on horseback which combines elements of polo and basketball.
Argentina has the best steak you can taste in the world: Yes, absolutely with more cows than people, you can taste the best meat. Enjoy the incredible Asado, Bife de Chorizo, and other delicious in restaurants called “parrillas”
Argentinians eat very late in the evening: Yes, usually not before 9 pm and usually 10 or 10.30 hs during summer. Main personalities worldwide known are Diego Maradona, Eva Peron, Pope Francisco, and Lionel Messi
