Location : Southern South America , bordering the South Atlantic Ocean , between Chile and Uruguay.
Geographic coordinates : 34 00 S, 64 00 W
Map references : South America

Area :
Total : 2,766,890 sq km
Land : 2,736,690 sq km
Water : 30,200 sq km

Area - comparative : slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US.
Land Boundaries :
Total : 9,665 km
Border Countries : Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km.
Coastline : 4,989 km
Maritime Claims :
Contiguous Zone : 24 NM
Territorial Sea : 12 NM
Exclusive Economic Zone : 200 NM
Continental Shelf : 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin.
Climate : mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest.
Terrain : rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border.

Elevation Extremes :
Lowest Point : Salinas Chicas -40 m (located on Peninsula Valdés)
Highest Point : Cerro Aconcagua 6,960 m
Natural Resources : fertile plains of the Pampas , lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium.

Land Use :
Arable Land : 9.14%
Permanent Crops : 0.8%
Other : 90.06% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land : 15,610 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural Hazards : San Miguel de Tucumán and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the Pampas and northeast; heavy flooding.
Environment - current issues : environmental problems (urban and rural) typical of an industrializing economy such as deforestation, soil degradation, desertification, air pollution, and water pollution.
Note : Argentina is a world leader in setting voluntary greenhouse gas targets.

Environment - international agreements :
Party to : Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling.
Signed, but not ratified : Marine Life Conservation.

Geography - Note : second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage); Cerro Aconcagua is South America's tallest mountain, while the Valdés Peninsula is the lowest point on the continent.