Facts | South America | 19 Amazing Facts about Argentina

1. Located in southeastern South America, Argentina is bordered by Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay and the Atlantic Ocean.
2. It has a total area of 1,073,518 square miles (2,780,400 square kilometres) – one third of the size of the USA.
3. Argentina’s population was 44.49 million in 2018.

Flag of Argentina

4. The average life expectancy is 76.37 years (2017).
5. The coordinates of Argentina’s capital city, Buenos Aires, are 34.6033° S, 58.3817° W.
6. Agriculturally, Argentina produces oil grains, cereal, rice, seeds, sugar, fruit, wine, tea, tobacco, cotton and beef.

7. The capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires.
8. This beautiful metropolitan city has a total area of 78.5 square miles (203.3 square kilometres) and an estimated population of 2,891,000 (2013); it’s the fourth largest city on the planet and is well worth a visit if you’re in the area!
9. Europeans first arrived in Argentina in 1502.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

10. The country declared independence from Spain on July 9th 1816.
11. Each year on July 20th, Buenos Aires celebrates ‘Friend’s Day’, a charming day of celebrating friendships – how lovely!
12. You’ll need to change your money into Argentine pesos if you intend on taking spending money – brush up on your Spanish too, as this is their official language.

13. In 1917, an Argentinian man called Quirino Cristiani created a film called ‘El Apostol’. It had over 58,000 frames and was 70 minutes long – it was, essentially, the first ever animated film!
14. Argentina was the first known country to utilise fingerprints as evidence – during a tragic murder, a bloody fingerprint was left on a door knob and the police used it to identify the murderer and free an innocent individual who had been wrongly accused.
15. Argentinians love to dance – the Tango was born in an 1890s Argentina by the 180 mile (290 kilometres) long Rio de la Plata river that separates Argentina from Uruguay.

Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

16. Part of the Andes mountain range are located in Argentina, so if you like hiking, trekking, skiing and climbing you’ll have plenty to do!
17. Argentina also has 31 National Parks! The top 5 are said to be Talampaya (described as a mini Grand Canyon), Ischigualasto (also known as ‘Valley of the Moon’, it’s a fossil-finder’s paradise), Nahuel Huapi (the oldest national park in the country and home to the largest and deepest clear water lake in the country), Los Glaciares (home to the largest ice cap outside of Antartica, 47 glaciers and 1,000 different species of birds), and finally Iguazu Falls (home to the most amazing waterfalls located in tropical rainforests on the borders with Paraguay and Brazil).
18. If you’re a Palaeontologist or a sucker for Jurassic history and (geeky) facts like us, you’ll love all that Argentina has to offer! There have been several species of dinosaurs found here such as the Giganotosaurus who was larger than T. rex (clue is in the name!) and the Argentinosaurus who was one of the largest herbivore dinosaurs ever found! The oldest carnivore dinosaur, called the Eoraptor, was also found here, dating back 230 million years… but he/she is only the size of a small dog!
19. Want to call your friends or family in Argentina?  You’ll need to use the international dialling code is +54.

Do you have any fun or interesting facts about Argentina that we’ve missed?  Share them with us in the comments section below!