• Argentina has an area of 2.77 million sq. km, which gives it a great variety of climates and landscapes. Known as the `land of ice and fire' it can be simultaneously hot in one region and cold in another.
• The name `Argentina' comes from the Latin word argentum, which means silver.
• The population of Argentina is 39,538,000 (2005 est).
• Argentina has more than 20 national parks, which help to preserve the country's unique wildlife. Puma, Guanaco (a relative of the llama), Andean Condor and Magellanic penguin are just a few of Argentina's protected species.
• The population density of Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires is more than 2,500 people per square km. Compare this with the population density of Patagonia which averages fewer than 3 inhabitants per square km.
• If you thought marsupial mammals (pouched animals) first evolved in Australia you would be wrong! Pouched animals first evolved in the Americas and reached Australia by spreading out across Gondwanaland, an ancient super-continent that joined South America, Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica together. Marsupials still live in Argentina, but your chances of seeing any are very small.
• Argentina is a world leader in setting voluntary greenhouse gas targets.
• Cerro Aconcagua at 6,959m is the highest mountain in The Americas and the Southern Hemisphere

Cerro Aconcagua

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