Basic Information

Information for the Tourist

Basic Information

Official Name
Argentine Republic

Capital
Buenos Aires

Symbols

Geographical Situation 

Argentina is located in the southern extreme of South America. With a continental  extension of 2.791.810 Km2.(including Malvinas Islands, other South Atlantic Islands and part of Antarctica). Argentina is the second largest country in South America and the eighth in the world. Including the Antarctic Sector, Argentina claims a total area of 3.761.274 Km2  It  is some 1425 Km across at its widest  from east to west and  stretches 3.800 Km from the north to the south. it is bounded by Bolivia and Paraguay on the north,  Brasil, Uruguay and the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and by the Atlantic Ocean and Chile on the west and south.

Relief

The western part of Argentina is occupied by the Andes mountain range, the great mountain system of the South American continent. Here we find the  Aconcagua (6.959 m), the highest peak in the world outside those existing in the Himalaya. There also exists several parallel ranges to the east of the Andes, such as the Eastern Mountain range and the Sub-Andean sierras to the north ,The Pampean Sierras to the north and centre from the Aconquija up to the  Sierras of Córdoba and San Luis, and Buenos Aires sierras systems such as Tandilia and Ventania The central part and the east of Argentina (except for the parallel groups to the Andes already mentioned) consist almost entirely of a flat or gently undulating plain.

Climate and  Regions

Argentina has exceptional natural beauties, for it comprises a diverse territory of mountains, plateaux and plains with all the climatic variations 
There are several climatic and landscape regions

Population
Argentina has a low demographic density. It consists of around 36 millon people, mainly established in the urban centres. The 85% of the population is descendant of inmigrants from Europe. As opposed to most Latin American countries, in Argentina there are relatively few Indian half castes (people of mixed races: european and indian).

Almost half of the population of the country live in the Federal Capital  and the province of  Buenos Aires. The urban population makes up the  88% of the whole whereas  the rural population represents the 22%.

Main Cities:

Language
Spanish is the official language and is spoken by the great majority of Argentinians. 
English, French and Italian are, in lesser or greater degree, widespread languages within the country

Culture

Argentina's cultural roots are mainly europeans and that is clearly reflected in its arquitecture, music, literature and lifestyle. 

It has an intense cultural activity. It is seen in the festivities, expositions, cinemas, theatres, and concerts that take place in the principal cities.
Buenos Aires has aproximately 100 cinemas and 90 theatres with a great diversity of spectacles that turn it into one of the cities with the major theatrical activity in Latin America 
In the Borges, Recoleta y General San Martín cultural centres the cultural dynamics of the country and the world are exposed.  
The Colon Theatre, which is among the best three lyrical theatres, stands out for its arquitecture and its perfect acoustics. It is visited by the most outstanding personalities of the classical music, ballet and drama of the world.
Other important theatres are the  National Cervantes and the Municipal Gral. San Martín Theatres.
Painting and Sculpture are given great importance. This is reflected in the prestigious art galleries existing in the principal cities of the country.

The characteristic music of the city of  Buenos Aires is the world-famous tango. Folklore includes several and varid rythms and styles according to the different regions of the country. 
The typical Argentine food is asado (barbecue: meat cooked over live coals), appart from empanadas ( a sort of turnover meat pie or pastry that comes with a variety of other stuffings), tamales ( a dish made of corn meal, chicken or meat wrapped in corn husks), humita (dish made of grated corn, sweet peppers and tomatoes wrapped in the green leaves of corn) and locro ( dish made of meat, potato, pumpkin, corn and sweet pepper). 
However, and due to the important migrating current that populated the country , there exists a quite varied international cuisine: Spanish, Italian, French, German, Scandinavian, Greek, English, Sweddish, Hungarian, Dutch, Chilean, Mexican, Basque, Jewish, Russian, Ukranian, Chinese, Japanese, Thailander and Arabian.

Our country characteristic drink is mate (infusion). 
The quality of its wines and meats is worldly known and the new Argentine cuisine has reached an international level standing out due to its qualified chefs.

Sports
Even though several sports are practised,  futball is the most outstanding one. In the city of Buenos Aires there are a large number of stadiums, some of them with a capacity of more than 40.000 people.
Pato is the autoctonuos sport and Polo  has reached international importance due to the quality of its players.
Other important sports practised by a large number of people are: tennis, rugby, hockey, volleyball, basquetball, motorsports, golf, water sports and beach sports.
The ski enthusiasts can choose from numerous winter centres  to practise it.

Sporting fishing can be practised in the whole country, giving the major importance to the obtention of the huge Dorados and the varieties of Salmonidae .
Due to its extension and diversity of climates Argentina offer the opportunity to practise any kinds of traditional and adventure sports such as motonautic, wind sailing, boating, kayak, rafting, scuba diving, trekking, mountain climbing, mountain bike, parashuting, hang gliding, ski, snowboard, small and big game hunting among others 

Religion
The official religion of Argentina is the Apostolic Roman Catholic, but there is complete religious freedom. Other religions practised, in a lesser degree though, are Protestantism, Judaism, Islamism, and the Greek and Russian Orthodox religion among others. 

The percentual distribution is as follows

Currency
The Argentine Peso is the official currency. 

Bills come in 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pesos. One pesos equals one hundred cents.

2 pesos are blue (Bartolomé Mitre 1821-1906), 5 pesos are green (José de San Martín 1778-1850), 10 pesos are brown (Manuel Belgrano 1770-1820), 20 pesos are red (Juan Manuel de Rosas 1793-1877), 50 pesos are grey (Domingo Faustino Sarmiento 1811-1888) and 100 pesos are violet (Julio Argentino Roca 1843-1914).

Coins are 1 peso and then there are coins from 50,25,5 and 1 cents.

1 peso coins are golden and silver plated; 50 cents coins are golden; 25,10 and 5 cents coins may be either golden or silver plated. Finally copper 1 cent coins are rarely used.

Banking hours are from Monday to tuesday from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

To see photos of bills and coins click here.

Politic Division

Argentina is a democratic republic consisting of 23 provinces, the autonomous Federal Capital (whose limits coincide with those of the city of  Buenos Aires), the Antarctic sector claimed to be Argentine, the Malvinas Islands, and several South Atlantic Islands.

Information for the Tourist

How to get there and travel

 Argentina offers modern means of transport: air, sea, river,overland and urban.
The main airlines of the world travel to Argentina arriving, most of them, at the Internacional Ministro Pistarini Airport (located in  Ezeiza), connected to the city of Buenos Aires by means of a motorway (35 Km). It is also possible to arrive at the cities of Cordoba and Mendoza by air from some bordering countries. Or even, you can reach Argentina by overland transport from these countries.

To travel by car within our country there exists an important paving railway system perfectly signalled (if you are from abroad you must have international driving license). 

Several bus companies work along the whole country reaching, in general, all the cities in comfortable units  (some of them are cimatized including colour TV, toilette and hostess service).
There are several airlines that perform domestic flights to the main cities of Argentina, with the possibility of making combinations later on with overland transports to go to other smaller urban centres either by bus, taxis or remisses.
The underground system in Buenos Aires (founded in 1913, was the first subway of Latin America), is one of the quickest ways of travelling within the city. This system currently comprises around 46 km, includes 80 stations and moves more than 250 millon passengers per year. The ticket fare is $ 0,70 and subway services operate from 6:00 AM to 11:00 PM Monday throught Saturday and 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM on Sundays. Tickets or subtepass are purchased in the subway stations.
Within the city of Buenos Aires there are 32.000 taxis. There are painted yellow and black. The exact fare is displayed on an electronical meter that stars al $ 1,12 an adds $ 0,14 for every two hundred meters (two blocks aproximately).

There are many radiotaxis companies. They are ordered by telephone and pick up passengers anywhere. They do not charge extra and they are safer depending on the hour and the place.

The remise is a service similar to the radiotaxi, only the cars have no markings and they calculate the fare based on the distance.

As long as buses are concerned, the tariff is related to the stations travelled and it must be payed by introducing coins (according to the value of your trip) in automatic machines. It is not necessary to hace exact change because the machines return money, but it is necesary to hace coins because the driver does not change bills. You must get on by the front door and get off by the back or central door depending on the bus model. The vehicles are painted in different colours according to the line they belong to, which, by the way, make up more than a hundred.

The train is a good alternative to get out of the metropolitan area. Lines going north depart from Retiro station and lines headed south leave from Constitución station. The Federico Lacroze and Once stations are the starting points for trains headed northwest and southeast respectively.

If you want to know how to reach the tourist destinations available in this guide, refer to those cities to get more details. 

When to travel

Remember that in the Southern hemisphere the seasons are the opposite to those in the Northern hemisphere. 

The high season in Argentina takes place during the months of January and February (summer holidays) and July (winter holidays). During those periods the local tourism grows and prices get generally higher. 

You can enjoy Buenos Aires the whole year even though in summer (especially January and February), it is too hot.

Summer (January, February and part of December and March), is the most favourable season to visit the Patagonia (Andean and Atlantic); the central Sierras (Cordoba and San Luis); and the Sierras and beaches of the Buenos Aires cost. 

Winter (June, July and August), is advisable to travel to the North and Northwest for the rains are less frequent and the tropical temperature drops a few degrees.

Autumm and Spring are ideal for the Cuyo Region even though summer is a good time to visit it too. 

July and August are the most convenient months for the practice of ski in the varid Winter Ski Centres that our country offers. 

Winter and Spring are appropiate to visit Misiones and its Iguazu Falls (Summer is too hot).
Choose your clothes according to the time of the year and the region you visit. 

Admitance Requirements

Foreign tourists coming from bordering countries only need an identity card to enter the country. People from abroad must show their passports. Tourists from abroad can stay in the country up to 90 days at most. 

Money Handling

The legal tender currency in our country is the Argentine Peso. Several shops accept Dollars, however, it is convenient to exchange them in Banks and authorized Exchange Bureaux.

The legal tender notes are  100, 50, 20, 10, 5 y 2 Pesos, and the coins 1 Peso, 50, 25, 10 y 5 cents (there are also 1 cent coins but they are rarely used).

The most well known and accepted credit cards are: American Express, Master Card, VISA and Diners.

Vat Return 
At the airport you can recover the 21% of the value paid in concept of the Added Value Tax (VAT), if you have purchased local products for an amount greater than $ 70 (per invoice) in the shops which are members of this scheme (that show in their show window the logo added here).
This process is arranged by GLOBAL REFUND, world lider in tax refund services.

Shops that provide this service display in their windows a Global Refund logo. The tourist customer must request from the sales person the invoice and forms, which comes as a refund chekc and it has to be completed at the time of the purchase. Before leaving the country  theses checks must be presented at customs for validation. There are many ways of receiving the refund, it can be cashed upon leaving the country or credited to your credit card, also a check can be mailed to your personal address, finally it can also be cashed in any of the tax return offices that the Global Refund company has around the world.

Referencial Prices

Tips

It is customary to leave the equivalent to 10 % of the value paid in cafeterias and restaurants. It is also usual to tip doormen, ushers and porters.

Working Hours

Holidays
National Holidays in Argentina are the following:

The movable holidays are moved to promote tourism  (they are moved to Monday). Ask your travel Agent at the time of travelling.

Phone Calls

Public telephones work with cards that can be bought either in kiosks and telephone booths (the offices of the telephone companies), and/or with legal tender coins. 
To call to the interior of the country you must dial 0 (zero) and the prefix of the correponding locality before the number.
To call abroad you must dial 00 (double zero)and the prefix of the respective country before the number

The prefix of Argentina to call from abroad is 54 and to call to telephones located in the city of Buenos Aires you must add the local code 11.

Useful Telephones: 

Tourist Information
Tourism Secretariat of the Nation, Tourism Information Centre: Av. Santa Fe 883, (1059) Buenos Aires, tel. 4312-2232 ó 0-800-555-0016 (free call)

Aeropuertos Argentina 2000: Aut. Tte. Gral. Ricchieri s/n. Phone: 4576-5300. Information: 4576-5111

Jorge Newbery Airport: R. Obligado s/n. Tel: 4514-1515 al 23 (8 AM to 9 PM)

Ezeiza International Airport: Aut. Tte. Gral. Ricchieri s/n. Information: 5480-6111 (8 AM to 8 PM)

Information Centres of the City of  Buenos Aires in: 

La Boca - Caminito: Vapor de la Carrera in Pedro de Mendoza 1851 (Friday to Sunday 10 AM to 6 PM)
Puerto Madero: Dock 4 Grúa 8 (Monday to Friday 11 AM to 8 PM. Saturday and Sunday 10 AM to 8 PM. Phone: 4313-0187)
San Nicolás: Florida and Diagonal Roque Sáenz Peña (Monday to Friday 9 AM to 5 PM), Sarmiento 1551 PB (Monday to Friday 10 AM to 5 PM. Phone: 4372-3612), Carlos Pellegrini between Perón and Sarmiento (Monday to Friday 10 AM to 6 PM)
Monserrat: Café Tortoni in Av. de Mayo 829 (Monday to Friday 2 PM to 6 PM. Phone: 4342-4328)
Retiro: Galerías Pacífico in Av. Córdoba and Florida (First level Shopping) (Monday to Friday 10 AM to 7 PM, Saturday 11 AM to 7 PM). Bus Station in Av. Antártida Argentina y Calle 10 Local 83 (Monday to Friday 10 AM to 6 PM)

In the Province Houses you can get more detailed information about each region:

In the following countries you can get information about  Argentina (representations abroad):

Travellers Assistance

Embassys and Consulates