flight
capital and investing in domestic industry. Growth slowed somewhat in
1993 but Argentina still registered an impressive 6% advance, fueled
largely by inflows of foreign capital and strong domestic consumption
spending. The government's major short term objective is encouraging
exports, e.g., by reducing domestic costs of production. Much remains
to be done in the 1990s in dismantling the old statist barriers to
growth and in solidifying the recent economic gains.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $185 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
6% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
$5,500 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
7.4% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate:
10% (1993)
Budget:
revenues:
$33.1 billion
expenditures:
$35.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.5 billion (1992)
Exports:
$12.7 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.)
commodities:
meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, hides, wool
partners:
US 12%, Brazil, Italy, Japan, Netherlands
Imports:
$16 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.)
commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, fuels and lubricants,
agricultural products
partners:
US 22%, Brazil, Germany, Bolivia, Japan, Italy, Netherlands
External debt:
$73 billion (April 1994)
Industrial production:
growth rate 10% (1992 est.); accounts for 31% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity:
17,911,000 kW
production:
51.305 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
1,559 kWh (1992)
Industries:
food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles,
chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel
Agriculture:
accounts for 8% of GDP (including fishing); produces abundant food for
both domestic consumption and exports; among world's top five
exporters of grain and beef; principal crops - wheat, corn, sorghum,
soybeans, sugar beets
Illicit drugs:
increasing use as a transshipment country for cocaine headed for the
US and Europe
Economic aid:
recipient:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70–89), $1 billion; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970–89), $4.4
billion; Communist countries (1970–89), $718 million
Currency:
1 nuevo peso argentino = 100 centavos
Exchange rates:
pesos per US$1 - 0.99850 (January 1994), 0.99895 (1993), 0.99064
(1992), 0.95355 (1991), 0.48759 (1990), 0.04233 (1989)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
@Argentina, Communications
Railroads:
34,172 km total (includes 209 km electrified); includes a mixture of
1.435-meter standard gauge, 1.676-meter broad gauge, 1.000-meter
narrow gauge, and 0.750-meter narrow gauge
Highways:
total:
208,350 km
paved:
57,000 km
unpaved:
gravel 39,500 km; improved/unimproved earth 111,850 km
Inland waterways:
11,000 km navigable
Pipelines:
crude oil 4,090 km; petroleum products 2,900 km; natural gas 9,918 km
Ports:
Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia, La Plata, Rosario,
Santa Fe
Merchant marine:
57 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 656,289 GRT/1,008,792 DWT, bulk
3, cargo 29, container 4, oil tanker 14, railcar carrier 1,
refrigerated cargo 5, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1
Airports:
total:
1,649
usable:
1,394
with permanent-surface runways:
139
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440–3,659 m:
31
with runways 1,220–2,439 m:
332
Telecommunications:
extensive modern system but many families do not have telephones;
2,650,000 telephones (12,000 public telephones); telephone density 78
per 1000 persons; microwave widely used; broadcast stations - 171 AM,
no FM, 231 TV, 13 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations;
domestic satellite network has 40 earth stations
@Argentina, Defense Forces
Branches:
Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic, Argentine Air Force,
National Gendarmerie, Argentine Naval Prefecture (Coast Guard only),
National Aeronautical Police Force
Manpower availability:
males age 15–49 8,417,880; fit for military service 6,825,795; reach
military age (20) annually 292,725 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
$NA, NA% of GDP
@Armenia, Geography
Location:
Southwestern Asia, between Turkey and Azerbaijan
Map references:
Africa, Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - European States,
Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
29,800 sq km
land area:
28,400 sq km
comparative area: