376 kms and the coast, on the Atlantic Ocean, is 5.117 kms long.
SOME GEOGRAPHY
The fundamental characteristic of Argentina is the enormous contrast between the immense eastern plains and the imposing mountain range of the Andes to the west. This is the frontier with Chile and has the highest peak in the west, the Aconcagua, 6 959 metres long.
In it's passage from Jujuy to Tierra del Fuego the range presents marvellous contrasts, the plateaus of the nortwest, the lake region, the forest and the glaciers of the Patagonian Andes.
To the north, Chaco is a forested area which follows the rivers Bermejo, Sabado and Pilcomayo. Between the Parana and Uruguay, the Mesopotamia Argentina (the provinces of Entre Rios, Corrientes and Misiones) is formed by low hills where pools and marshlands show the ancient courses of these great rivers.
Occasionally there are fissures which provide such spectacular phenomena as the Falls of Iguazu.
La Pampa, in the centre of Argentina, is the largest and best known area of plains. It has a large amount of agriculture and livestock and includes the provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, the south of Santa Fe and the east of Cordoba. It's landscape is broken to the south by the small mountains of Tandil and La Ventana and to the west by the Cordoba mountain ranges.
Towards the south, from the Andes to the sea, are the sterile and stony plateaus of Patagonia, swept by the wind during most of the year. The Atlantic coast, lined with high cliffs, forms massive indentations like the Valdes Peninsula, with it's spectacular and unique colonies of marine animals.
POPULATION
The curent population of Argentina is estimated to be some 36 million of which almost half live in the Federal Capital and the province of Buenos Aires.
These figures give us a population density of 12.9 inhabitants per square kilometre. 95 % of Argentineans are white and principally descendants of Italians and Spaniards. With the massive European immigration, the white and indian half castes became slowly diluted until today these people only amount to 4.
