Brief History

Officially known as Republica Argentina in Spanish, Argentina has a long history, dating way back to the Palaeolithic period, to when there was the first recording of a human presence.  By the time the Spanish came to conquer in the early 16^th century there was not the many native people roaming the land. The natives at the time and before that were mainly the Inca’s of the ancient Inca Empire. When the Spanish came and conquered, they ruled over the land for a number of century’s until the people gained independence from the Spanish in the early 19^th century.

National Flag

The national flag of Argentina came into place at the time of the war of independence. The 3-stripe blue and white horizontal flag was used then as a war flag in 1812, and later adopted as the national flag, with the sun added to the white stripe in 1816. The blue stripes are believed to represent the sky, with the sun representing the Inca sun god. The completed flag represents united provinces of Argentina.

Geography

The geography of Argentina is very diverse and quite unique. Where the country is situated in the world, makes for a megadiverse ecosystem. Located at the bottom of South America, the county is one of the largest in the world, which makes up a lot of space for different terrain. Sharing land borders with Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chile. Also sharing the Andes mountains with Bolivia and Chile. Argentina also hosts the second largest river in South America (Parana) after the Amazon river. Argentina is also blessed with an abundance of beautiful plains, lakes, jungle and glaciers to the south.

World Land Mass Ranking. 8th largest.
Highest Mountain. Aconcagua. 6,960. 22,837ft.
Longest River. Parana River.

 

Main Languages

Spanish is the main and official language of Argentina. This is due to the colonization of Argentina by the Spanish. There are also other languages spoken in Argentina including some indigenous such as Aymara, Guarani, Mapuche, Toba and Quechua.

Argentina Population:
44.9 million (as of 2019).
Capital City: Buenos Aires.
Capital City Population:
15 million (as of 2019).

Climate

Four seasons and four climate types. The types are: Arid, Cold, Moderate and Warm. These climates are diverse throughout regions, throughout seasons, and throughout the year. With where the country is situated and with the country being so vast that the northern part of the country subtropical, and the southern part of the country, Polar. Average temperatures yearly are a cool 5 degrees C (41F) in the south, to 25 degrees (77F) in the north. The country is a land of contrast with tropical juggles and glaciers affecting the climate.

Key People

• Diego Maradona
• Eva Peron
• Pope Francis
• Alfredo Di Stefano
• Lionel Messi
• Che Guevara
• Cristina Fernandez De Kirchner
• Juan Martín del Potro
• Gabriela Sabatini
• Adolfo Cambiaso

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  Cuisine

  The cuisine of Argentina is quite rich and diverse, with a European influence based on the colonization of the land by the Spanish. Also, Argentina is famous for the production and consumption of beef. They love their red meat and eat the most amount of it in the whole world.
  The national dish of Argentina is a dish called ‘Asados’ which is barbecued meats grilled on a large grill or open fire. The dish is usually served with red wine, which is another thing that Argentina produces a lot of and is well known for.

  Left is a picture of Asados, the national dish of Argentina.

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  Sports

  The people of Argentina are sports crazy, and it is a huge part of their culture, like many other south American countries. They are the world’s best at Polo which is a field game played with a ball and sticks while riding horses. It is no wonder that they are so good at this sport, as their national sport is a sport called ‘Pato’ which is a sport that is similar. Other popular sports that the people love and excel in are Boxing, Rugby, Formula One, Tennis, Basketball, Hockey and of course Football / soccer. Football is the most popular sport in Argentina. The people go nuts for this sport. The national football team has won the football world cup twice, in 1978 & 1986. Two of their most famous players are Diego Maradona & Lionel Messi who are national heroes in Argentina and also considered to be the greatest football players of all time.

  Left are pictures of football players Diego Maradona (left) and Lionel Messi (right) The two greatest players in Argentina’s football history.

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  Culture

  The culture of Argentina is heavily influenced on the Spanish culture, as it was the Spanish that colonized the land and region. The culture also has ties to the Italian culture, as this culture is also closely tied to the Spanish culture. The culture in general is called Latin, or the Latin culture, and with some countries other than Argentina colonized the European’s with ties to the Latin culture, the larger region is known as ‘Latin America’ The Latin culture is one of Fire and Passion, and this is expressed in Argentina in that of dance. The main and most popular dance is the ‘Tango’ and as the saying goes, ‘it takes two to Tango’ so the Tango is a dance that is done in partnership with two people. The competition for the Tango in the country is big.
  Argentina is a beautiful country with wonderful people.

  left is a picture of the dance called the Tango, which is a large part of the culture in Argentina.

   

  Download questions about the Argentina here:  (answers are on this page)

  Teachers. For more in depth work sheets on Argentina. Click on Kidskonnect Worksheets

  For further reading and more info on the Argentina visit https://kids.kiddle.co/Argentina