Argentina - Tourism South America

Argentina is a nation of diversity, where ice fields contrast with arid zones; mountains with valleys or plateaus; fluvial streams and lakes with large oceans, broad grassy plains with woods and forests.

After the independence from Spain, In 1816, the country's population and culture were heavily shaped by immigrants from throughout Europe, but most particularly Italy and Spain, which provided the largest percentage of newcomers from 1860 to 1930.

The main types of climate in Argentina are four: warm, moderate, arid and cold. The extension of the territory and the features of its relief determine the existence of varieties in each of the mentioned types.

The capital is Buenos Aires. See a map of Argentina ►

Iguazu Falls. The falls are part of a nearly virgin jungle ecosystem surrounded by national parks on both the Argentine and the Brazilian sides of the cascades. The Iguazu River begins in Parana state of Brazil, then crosses a 1,200 km plateau before reaching a series of faults forming the falls. Approximately 2.7 km in width and reaching a maximum height of 81 m.

Southern Andes Mountains, Argentina and Chile. The Andes Mountains terminate at the southern end of Chile and Argentina in a jumble of islands and fjords. This low-oblique, south-looking photograph shows the fragmented landscape as the South American continent gradually ends in Tierra del Fuego. Part of the Strait of Magellan is barely visible near the horizon. Numerous glacier lakes can be seen on either side of the north-south axis of the ice-covered Andes Mountains. The mountains gradually decrease in elevation, from approximately 3048 m in this photograph to 1220 meters and less above sea level near the horizon. Lake Viedma (northernmost) and Lake Argentino, the two larger light blue lakes at the northern end of the photograph, constantly receive meltwater from the western glaciers. The brownish-tan terrain east of the Andes Mountains is a plateau where the constantly blowing west wind, coupled with very limited precipitation, produces a harsh, barren, almost nonvegetated landscape in this Argentine region of Patagonia (NASA, April 1993).