Geography of Argentina
Argentina, meaning "land of silver," is a rich and vast land—second largest (after Brazil) in South America and eighth largest in the world. Its heartland is a broad grassy plain known as the Pampas. Argentina is located between the Andes in the west and the southern Atlantic Ocean in the east. It is bordered by Paraguay and Bolivia in the north, Brazil and Uruguay in the northeast and Chile in the west. So we can understand that the geography of Argentina is very interesting. Geography of Argentina means everything from land to water, from boundaries to coastline, from climate to natural resources.
Location: Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay
Geographic coordinates : 34 00 S, 64 00 W
Map references : South America
Area: total : 2,766,890 sq km
Land: 2,736,690 sq km
Water: 30,200 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US
Land boundaries: total: 9,665 km
Border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km
Coastline: 4,989 km
Land claims : Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Argentine Antarctica
Maritime claims : territorial sea: 12 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Climate: mostly temperate; arid in southeast; sub Antarctic in southwest
Terrain: rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border .
Extreme points :
- Northernmost: 21º46' S, 66º13' W, at the junction of rivers Grande de San Juan and Molinete (Jujuy)
- Westernmost: 50º01' S, 73º34' W, at Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (Santa Cruz)
- Easternmost: 26º15' S, 53º38' W, at Bernardo de Irigoyen (Misiones)
- Southernmost : 55º03' S, 66º31' W, at Cape San Pío (Tierra del Fuego)
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Laguna del Carbon -105 m (located between Puerto San Julian and Comandante Luis Piedra Buena in the province of Santa Cruz)
Highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,960 m (located in the northwestern corner of the province of Mendoza)
Natural resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium
Land use: arable land: 12.31%
Permanent crops : 0.48%
Arable land: 9%
Permanent pastures: 52%
Forests and woodland: 19%
Irrigated land: 17,000 km ²
Other: 87.21% (2001)
Irrigated land: 15,610 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards : San Miguel de Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the pampas and northeast; heavy flooding
Environment - current issues: environmental problems (urban and rural) typical of an industrializing economy such as deforestation, soil degradation, desertification, air pollution, and water pollution.
Geography of Argentina
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