Map of Argentina
Argentina’s landscape varies dramatically throughout the country. The rugged Andes Mountains stretch along the country’s western border. A bare, windswept plateau called Patagonia extends across the south. The Pampas, a fertile, grassy plain, lies near the center of the country. Scrub forests cover much of the north.
Citation:
Jokisch, B. D., & Milanesio, N. (2021). Argentina. In World Book Advanced. https://www.worldbookonline.com/advanced/article?id=ar029320#tab=homepage
Images of Argentina from World Book Online
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina. It is also the country's chief port and leading industrial center. About a third of Argentina's people live in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city lies in eastern Argentina, along a broad, muddy, funnel-shaped bay called the Rio de la Plata (Silver River).
The name Buenos Aires is Spanish for fair winds. Early Spanish sailors named the broad harbor at the site for the patron saint of fair winds, Nuestra Senora Santa Maria del Buen Aire (Our Lady Saint Mary of the Fair Wind).
La Casa Rosada
Buenos Aires reflects a variety of architectural influences. Modern skyscrapers stand side-by-side with Victorian-style houses built in the 1800’s. Spanish colonial patios and plazas adjoin classic French monuments and government buildings. Broad avenues and many parks and plazas give the city a sense of spaciousness.
The Plaza de Mayo, in the oldest part of Buenos Aires, is the city’s historic and political center. The Casa Rosada (Pink House), which houses the offices of the president of Argentina, stands at the east end of the plaza.
Caminito Street, Buenos Aires
Most Argentines are of European ancestry, chiefly Italian and Spanish. After Spain colonized Argentina, several waves of European immigrants arrived. The largest wave of immigration occurred in the late 1800’s as the result of a government plan to encourage European settlement. The indigenous population is small compared to that of other Latin American countries and is concentrated mainly in isolated areas in the north and the southwest. Argentina has one of the largest Jewish populations in the Americas. Other groups include Asians and Middle Easterners.
The Pampas Region
The Pampas is a fertile plain that fans out around Buenos Aires. It extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Andes and covers about a fifth of Argentina. The Pampas has some of the world’s richest topsoil and is Argentina’s most important agricultural region. Fields of corn, soybeans, and wheat cover much of the land. Great herds of cattle graze on the pastures of the Pampas.
Andes Mountains
The Andes Mountains separate Argentina from Chile. Their highest peaks include the tallest mountain in the Western Hemisphere, Aconcagua. It towers 22,835 feet (6,960 meters) above sea level just inside the Argentine border. A small Indian population raises sheep in an area of broad plateaus called the Puna in the northern part of the Argentine Andes. In the south, snow-capped peaks, active glaciers, and beautiful lakes attract crowds of vacationers who come to ski and hike.
Patagonia
Patagonia is a dry, windswept plateau in the south. It occupies more than a quarter of Argentina but has only about 5 percent of the population. Poor soil and scarce rainfall make most of Patagonia unsuitable for crop farming. The extraction of oil and natural gas and sheep ranching are the major economic activities. Wildlife enthusiasts visit Patagonia's rugged coast to see penguins, sea lions, whales, and other animals.
Tierra del Fuego
The island of Tierra del Fuego lies at the southern tip of South America. The Strait of Magellan separates it from the mainland. The island is divided between Argentina and Chile. Ushuaia, one of the southernmost towns in the world, is on Argentina's part of the island. [It] lies only about 600 miles (970 kilometers) from Antarctica.
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi, in full Lionel Andrés Messi, also called Leo Messi, (born June 24, 1987, Rosario, Argentina), Argentine-born football (soccer) player who was named Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) world player of the year five times (2009–12 and 2015).
Messi started playing football as a boy and in 1995 joined the youth team of Newell’s Old Boys (a Rosario-based top-division football club). Messi’s phenomenal skills garnered the attention of prestigious clubs on both sides of the Atlantic. At age 13 Messi and his family relocated to Barcelona, and he began playing for FC Barcelona's under-14 team. He scored 21 goals in 14 games for the junior team, and he quickly graduated through the higher-level teams until at age 16 he was given his informal debut with FC Barcelona in a friendly match.
Read full article here:
Lionel Messi. (2018). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Lionel-Messi/487615
Country Profile
The Argentine Republic occupies almost the whole of South America south of the Tropic of Capricorn and east of the Andes. It has a long Atlantic coastline stretching from Uruguay and the River Plate to Tierra del Fuego. To the west lie Chile and the Andes mountains, while to the north are Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil. Argentina also claims the Falkland Islands (known in Argentina as the Islas Malvinas), South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and part of Antarctica. The climate varies from subtropical in the Chaco region of the north to subarctic in Patagonia, generally with moderate summer rainfall. Temperatures in Buenos Aires are usually between 5°C (41°F) and 29°C (84°F). The language is Spanish. The majority of the population profess Christianity; about 76% are Roman Catholics and about 2% Protestants. The national flag (proportions 14 by 9) has three equal horizontal stripes, of light blue (celeste), above white, above light blue. The state flag (proportions 1 by 2) has the same design with, in addition, a gold ‘Sun of May’ in the centre of the white stripe. The capital is Buenos Aires.
Citations:
Image Citation: Country Flag (Argentina), in Europa World online. London, Routledge. University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Retrieved 25 March 2021 from http://www.europaworld.com/entry/ar.FLAG
Text: Argentina, in Europa World online. London, Routledge. University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Retrieved 25 March 2021 from http://www.europaworld.com/entry/ar
Art & Architecture
Pirámide de Mayo
Originally designed by Pedro Vicente Cañete and Juan Gaspar Hernández, current version by Prilidiano Pueyrredon crowned with allegory of Liberty by Joseph Dubourdieu. (1811, Image: October 2012). Pirámide de Mayo, and Mother's of the Plaza de Mayo; overview of the pyramid. Retrieved from http://library.artstor.org/asset/ARTONFILE_DB_10313748317
Museo de Bellas Artes
Citation: (1936, Image: October 2012). Museo de Bellas Artes Benito Quinquela Martin; straight on view showing the Art Deco influences in the design. Retrieved from http://library.artstor.org/asset/ARTONFILE_DB_10313748166
Patio of the Carboneria
Quinquela-Martin, Benito, Argentine. (1918). Patio of the Carboneria. [Painting]. Retrieved from http://library.artstor.org/asset/ABARNITZ_10310363261
Village Houses
Pettoruti, Emilio, 1892-1971. (1916). Village Houses, Casas de Pueblo. Retrieved from http://library.artstor.org/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822003848726
Pettoruti, Emilio, Argentine, 1892-1971. (1917). My Window in Florence. [Painting]. Retrieved from http://library.artstor.org/asset/ABARNITZ_10310365901
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Argentinian Cuisine
Empanadas
Empanadas (em-pah-na-thus) are a popular snack in Argentina. These juicy little pies stuffed with meat can be purchased from a street vendor, delivered to your home like pizza, or made from scratch using a secret family recipe. Dessert empanadas are stuffed with fruit, sweet potato paste, or the thick caramel called dulce de leche (dule-chay duh lay-chay).
Each region of the country has a unique ingredient in their empanadas. In the Andes of the northwest, the meat is llama and goat with peas. Mussels, fish, squid, and crab fill the pies baked in the southern coastal provinces. In Buenos Aires, empanadas can be a mixture of spicy beef, salty green olives, hardboiled egg, and sweet golden raisins or even ham and cheese. Food experts consider the empanadas of Argentina to be the best in the world.
Citation:
Gowan, B. (2015, May-June). Empanada cooking class. Faces: People, Places, and Cultures, 31(8), 30+. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A421322110/ITOF?u=tel_a_utl&sid=ITOF&xid=0960915e
Influential Figures
Eva Duarte de Perón (1919 - 1952), wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón, is remembered for her unofficial political leadership role and social reform movements. Largely through her efforts, women in Argentina won the right to vote in 1947. She formed the Peronista Feminist Party in 1949, and supported the working poor through the funding of unions. She also established the Eva Perón Foundation, which lead to the building of many charitable institutions. She was nominated for vice president in 1951 before her death to cancer. She is remembered endearingly by her nickname, Evita.
Works Cited:
Perón, María Eva Duarte de. In Archivo Biográfico de España, Portugal e Iberoamérica (ABEPI). Retrieved from https://wbis.degruyter.com/biographic-document/S299-691-9.
Eva Perón. (2018). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Eva-Per%C3%B3n/59304
Santa Evita by Call Number: PQ7798.23.A692 S3513 1996ISBN: 0679447040From one of Latin America's finest writers comes a mesmerizing novel about the legendary Eva Peron. Bigger than fiction, Eva Peron was the poor-trash girl who reinvented herself as a beauty, snared Argentina's dictator, reigned as uncrowned queen of the masses, and was struck down by cancer. When her desperate but foxy husband brings Europe's leading embalmer to Eva's deathbed to make her immortal, the fantastical comedy begins.
