Geography

With a total land area of about 2.8 million sq km, excluding the South Atlantic Islands and the Antarctic, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, only slightly smaller than India. This is equivalent to 29% of Europe. Considering the South American continent, only neighbouring Brazil is larger. The distance from La Quiaca at the Bolivian border to Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego is nearly 3,700km. The widest stretch from East to West is 1,580km. Apart from the estuary of the river de la Plata its coastline is 4,575km long.

The main characteristic in the configuration of Argentina is the enormous contrast between the immense eastern plains and the imposing mountain range of the Andes in the west. This range is the frontier with Chile and has the highest peak in America, mount Aconcagua (6,959m).

To the north, Chaco is a forested area through which the rivers Bermejo, Salado, and Pilcomayo flow. Between the rivers Paraná and Uruguay, the “Mesopotamia” of Argentina is formed by low hills where pools and marshlands show the ancient courses of these great rivers. Occasionally there are fissures, which provide such spectacular phenomenon as the incomparable Iguazú falls.

La Pampa, in the centre of Argentina, is the largest and best-known plain. Its principal activity consists of agriculture and livestock. Its landscape is broken to the south by the little mountains of Tandil and La Ventana and to the west by the mountain ranges of Córdoba. Towards the south and from the Andes to the sea, there are the sterile and stony plateaux of Patagonia swept by the wind most of the year.