Portal:Argentina/Intro

The Argentine Republic is a federal republic of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, in southern South America. Argentina has five land borders, with Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Of the 23 provinces, only Tierra del Fuego is not contiguous with any other state. Argentina claims over Antarctica, as well as overlapping claims made by Chile and the United Kingdom, are suspended by the Antarctic Treaty of 1961. Argentina also claims the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Argentina traces its national origin to the May Revolution in Buenos Aires in 1810, the starting point of the Argentine War of Independence. After an economic crisis from 1999 to 2002, the country has had a recent economic recovery. Argentine culture has significant European influences. Buenos Aires, its cultural capital, is largely characterized by both the prevalence of people of European descent, and of conscious imitation of European styles in architecture. The other big influence is the gauchos and their traditional country lifestyle of self-reliance. Finally, indigenous American traditions (like yerba mate infusions) have been absorbed into the general cultural milieu.