conventional long form: Argentine Republic
conventional short form: Argentina
local long form: Republica Argentina
local short form: Argentina

AR

republic

Buenos Aires

23 provinces (provincias, singular -
provincia), and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Buenos Aires;
Catamarca; Chaco; Chubut; Cordoba; Corrientes; Distrito Federal*;
Entre Rios; Formosa; Jujuy; La Pampa; La Rioja; Mendoza; Misiones;
Neuquen; Rio Negro; Salta; San Juan; San Luis; Santa Cruz; Santa Fe;
Santiago del Estero; Tierra del Fuego, Antartica e Islas del Atlantico
Sur; Tucuman
note: the US does not recognize any claims to Antarctica

9 July 1816 (from Spain)

Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)

1 May 1853; revised August 1994

mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

chief of state: President Fernando DE LA RUA (since 10 December 1999);
Vice President Carlos Alberto ALVAREZ (since 10 December 1999); note -
the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Fernando DE LA RUA (since 10 December
1999); Vice President Carlos Alberto ALVAREZ (since 10 December 1999);
note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by
popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 24 October 1999
(next to be held NA October 2003)
election results: Fernando DE LA RUA elected president; percent of
vote - 48.5%

bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional
consists of the Senate (72 seats; formerly, three members appointed by
each of the provincial legislatures; presently transitioning to
one-third of the members being elected every two years to six-year
terms) and the Chamber of Deputies (257 seats; one-half of the members
elected every two years to four-year terms)
elections: Senate - transition phase will begin in 2001 elections when
all seats will be fully contested; winners will randomly draw to
determine whether they will serve a two-year, four-year, or full
six-year term, beginning a rotating cycle renovating a third of the
body every two years; Chamber of Deputies - last held 24 October 1999
(next to be held NA October 2001)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA;
seats by bloc or party - Peronist 40, UCR 20, Frepaso 1, other 11;
Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA; seats by
bloc or party - Alliance 124 (UCR 85, Frepaso 36, others 3), Peronist
101, AR 12, other 20

Supreme Court (Corte Suprema), the nine Supreme Court
judges are appointed by the president with approval of the Senate

Action for the Republic or AR [Domingo
CAVALLO]; Alliance (UCR, Frepaso and others) ; Front for a
Country in Solidarity or Frepaso (a four-party coalition) [Carlos
ALVAREZ]; Justicialist Party or PJ  (Peronist
umbrella political organization); Radical Civic Union or UCR [Raul
ALFONSIN]; several provincial parties

Argentine Association of
Pharmaceutical Labs (CILFA); Argentine Industrial Union
(manufacturers' association); Argentine Rural Society (large
landowners' association); Armed Forces; business organizations;
General Confederation of Labor or CGT (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor
organization); Peronist-dominated labor movement; Roman Catholic
Church; students

AfDB, Australia Group, BCIE,
CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G- 6, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA,
Mercosur, MINURSO, MIPONUH, MTCR, NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN,
UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR,
UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNU, UPU,
WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

chief of mission: Ambassador Guillermo GONZALEZ Enrique
chancery: 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone:  (202) 238-6400
FAX:  (202) 238-6471
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami,
New York

chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
embassy: 4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires
mailing address: international mail: use street address; APO address:
Unit 4334, APO AA 34034
telephone:  (1) 777-4533, 4534
FAX:  (1) 777-0197

three equal horizontal bands of light blue (top),
white, and light blue; centered in the white band is a radiant yellow
sun with a human face known as the Sun of May