ARGENTINA

GUIDELINES FACTS AND FIGURES AND STATISTICS OF THE COUNTRY CULTURE AND SOCIETY

SOCIETY AND CULTURE

As varied as Argentinas geography is, so is its culture. It is composed of an ethnic mix of foreigners from Europe, including people from Italy, Germany, England, Spain, Basque, and the Irish. Because of the strong European migration, this influenced the demise of pre-Columbian cultures, leaving the present lack of dominant indigenous populations. Each culture established their own role throughout the countrythe Basque and Irish controlled sheep farming, Germans and Italians established farms, and the British predominately invested in developing the countrys infra-structure. Small populations of Japanese, Chileans, Bolivians, Paraguayans, and Uruguayans are also found scattered throughout the country. Due to the array of cultural diversity, a particularly diverse arts, crafts, and music scene exists. There are many cinemas and galleries in major urban centers and are popular with the majority of the eliteseen as a type of status symbol. The Argentina cinema widely respected throughout the world and is used as a vehicle to manifest the horrors of the Dirty War. Tango is the medium of dance and is believed to be one of the most amorous ways of expressing love in Argentina. Folk music is also popular, containing Amerindian influence.

The cities are more modern-styled, complete with colonial influences from throughout Europe giving unique characteristics to each city. More than one third of the countrys 32 million residents live in Buenos Aires, the capitalalmost 90% of the total population. A small population of natives still live in the country, mainly the Quechua in the northwest region and the Mapuche in Patagonia. Other marginal groups include Matacos and Tobas in Chaco and northeastern cities. Soccer is the past-time of choice, where Argentina has won the World Cup twice, once

in 1978 and again in 1986. Diego Maradona is a national hero due to his great soccer skills. Roman Catholicism is the official religion of the country, where spiritualism and devotion to the dead are also deeply engrained in society. Pilgrimages are not uncommon to the grave sites of relations and famous people who have since passed away. Judaism also makes up of a percentage of the religions found in Argentina.

The official language of the country is Spanish where Italian is widely used as well, with pockets of Anglo societies offering English-speaking citizens. 17 native languages include Quechua, Mapuche, Guarani, Tobas, and Matacus. Typical food in Argentina is meatpredominately beef which is cooked on mixed grills known as parrilladas. Vegetarian food is not uncommon either. Ice cream is popular due to its Italian influence, as well as Paraguayan tea which is offered as a special expression of acceptance. The leaves are related to holly and are elaborately prepared in a mixture which is drunk from a shared gourd.

SOCIAL MEETING AND GREETING GIFTING DINNING POLITICAL AND ECONOMY CURRENCY
Economy of Argentina,

The Buenos Aires waterfront and three sectors leading the recent economic recovery: construction, foreign trade and tourism


Freight rail yard in Rosario. The nations' railways move 25 million metric tons of cargo annually.[55]

The British-financed docks and railway system created a dynamic agro-export sector that remains as an economic pillar.

Argentina has a market-oriented economy with abundant natural resources, a well-educated population, an export-oriented agricultural sector and a relatively diversified industrial base. The nation's services sector accounts for around 59% of the economy and 72% of employment, manufacturing is 21% of GDP and 13% of employment, andagriculture is 9% of GDP, with 7% of employment; constructon, mining, and public utilities divide the rest.[55][56] Agriculture, including processed goods, provided 54% of export earnings in 2010, however, while industrial manufactures accounted for 35% (energy staples and metal ores were most of the remainder).[57] High inflation has been a weakness of the Argentine economy for decades.[58] Officially hovering around 9% since 2006, inflation has been privately estimated at over 20%,[59] becoming a contentious issue again. The urban income poverty rate has dropped to 18% as of mid-2008, a third of the peak level observed in 2002, though still above the level prior to 1976. [60][61] Income distribution, having improved since 2002, is still considerably unequal.[62][63] Argentina ranks 106th out of 179 countries in the Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2009.[64] Reported problems include both

government and private-sector corruption, the latter of which include money laundering, trafficking in narcotics and contraband, and tax evasion.[65] The Kirchner administration responded to the Global financial crisis of 2008 2009 with a record public-works program, new tax cuts and subsidies,[66][67] and the transfer of private pensions to the social security system. Private pension plans, which required growing subsidies to cover, were nationalized to shed a budgetary drain as well as to finance high government spending and debt obligations.[68][69] Argentina has, after its neighbour Chile, the second-highest Human Development Index and GDP per capita in purchasing power parity in Latin America. Argentina is one of the G-20 major economies, with the world's 31st largest nominal GDP, and the 23rd largest by purchasing power. The country is classified as uppermiddle income or a secondary emerging market by the World Bank. See also: Economic history of Argentina Argentina's economy developed from 1875 onwards with a surge of agricultural exports, as well European investment and immigration. This boom ended in 1930, after which the economy began to slowly lose ground.[70] Domestic instability and global trends, however, contributed to Argentina's decline from its noteworthy position as the world's 10th wealthiest nation per capita in 1913[71] to 62nd by 2010 (though it remains above the world average in purchasing power parity terms).[5] Though no consensus exists explaining this, systemic problems include burdensome debt, monetary uncertainty, excessive regulation, barriers to free trade, and a weak rule of law with corruption and a large bureaucracy. [71] Even during the long decline from 1930 to 1980 the Argentine economy created Latin America's largest middle class as a proportion of the population.[19] A crisis period of two decades followed Jos Alfredo Martnez de Hoz's financial liberalization policies, leading to an increased debt burden and interrupted industrial development and upward social mobility.[72] Expansionary policies and commodity exports triggered a rebound in GDP beginning in 2003. This trend has been largely maintained, creating millions of jobs and encouraging internal consumption. The socio-economic situation improved steadily, and the economy grew around 9% annually for five consecutive years until 2007, with another 7% in 2008.[55]

History

The global recession of 2007-10 hit the country hard in 2009 with GDP growth slowing to 0.8%.[73] In April 2010, Argentina offered to repay a majority of its almost $100 billion in loans from 2001. The economic minister Amado Boudou said that with the offer, the Argentine government hoped "to end the shame of 2001 once and for all."[74] High GDP growth resumed in 2010, and the economy expanded by 8.5%.[75]

Currency
Argentine peso
Peso argentino (Spanish)

1$

Banknotes

ISO 4217 Code

ARS

User(s)

Argentina

Inflation Source

11.2% INDEC [1]

Subunit 1/100 centavo

Symbol

Coins

1, 5, 10, 25, 50 centavos, 1 peso

Banknotes

2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 pesos

Central bank Website

Central Bank of Argentina http://www.bcra.gov.ar

The peso (originally established as the peso convertible) is the currency of Argentina. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS, and the symbol used locally for it is$ (to avoid confusion, Argentines frequently use U$D, US$, U$, U$S, or U$A to indicate U.S. dollars). It is divided into 100 centavos. The peso was also the name of several earlier currencies of Argentina. The exchange rate hovered around 3 pesos per United States dollar from 2002 to 2008, and around 4 pesos during 2010. The country's current account surplus has required periodic purchases of the latter currency on the part of the Central Bank by way of maintaining the peso relatively undervalued for export competitiveness.[2]

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