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 Geography & Nature |
Argentina forms the eastern half of South America's long, tapering tail. It's a big country - the eighth largest in the world, and the second largest on the South American Continent. To the west, Argentina borders Chile (separated by the Andes mountain range). Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia share borders with Argentina to the north and east (separated by rivers). Argentina shares the offshore island territory of Tierra del Fuego with Chile, and continues to dispute the ownership of the Islas Malvinas (the Falklands).
The country can be divided into four major parts: the Andes to the west (with arid basins, grape-filled foothills, glacial mountains and the Lake District), the fertile lowland north (with subtropical rainforests), the central Pampas (a flat mix of humid and dry expanses) and Patagonia (a combination of pastoral steppes and glacial regions).
More than twenty national parks preserve large areas of these varied environments and protect wildlife (much of it unique) such as the caiman (or yacaré), puma, guanaco (a lowland relative of the upper-Andean llama), rhea (similar to an ostrich), Andean condor, flamingo, various marine mammals and seabirds such as Magellanic penguins.
(adapted from Lonely Planet Guide, 2004)
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Experiences
Spanish-language Institute