Long-form name: Argentine Republic

Type: republic

Capital: Buenos Aires (tentative plans to move to Viedma by 1990)

Administrative divisions: 22 provinces (provincias, singular--provincia), 1 national territory* (territorio nacional), and 1 district** (distrito); Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes, Distrito Federal**, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego and Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur*, Tucuman

Independence: 9 July 1816 (from Spain)

Constitution: 1 May 1853

Legal system: mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: National Day, 25 May (1810)

Branches: executive (president, vice president, Cabinet); legislative (National Congress--Senate, Chamber of Deputies); national judiciary

Leader: @m5Chief of State and Head of Government--President Carlos Saul MENEM (since 8 July 1989)

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections: senate election held November 1986; gubernatorial and congressional elections held 6 September 1987; general election held 14 May 1989

Political parties: operate under statute passed in 1983 that sets out criteria for participation in national elections; Radical Civic Union (UCR)--moderately left of center; Justicialist Party (JP)--Peronist umbrella political organization; Intransigent Party (PI)--leftist party; Union of the Democratic Center (UCEDE)--conservative party; several provincial parties

Voting strength: 1987 congressional election--JP 41.4% (107 seats), UCR 37.3% (117 seats), UDC 5.7% (7 seats), PI 2%

Communists: some 70,000 members in various party organizations, including a small nucleus of activists

Other political or pressure groups: Peronist-dominated labor movement, General Confederation of Labor (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization), Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association), Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association), business organizations, students, the Roman Catholic Church, the Armed Forces

Member of: CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, ISO, ITU, IWC--International Whaling Commission, IWC--International Wheat Council, LAIA, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO, WSG

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Enrique J. A. CANDIOTI; Chancery at 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 939-6400 through 6403; there are Argentine Consulates General in Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Consulates in Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles; US--Ambassador Theodore E. GILDRED; Embassy at 4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires (mailing address is APO Miami 34034); telephone �54� (1) 774-7611 or 8811, 9911

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of light blue (top), white, and light blue; centered in the white band is a radiant yellow sun with a human face known as the Sun of May

NOTE: The information regarding Argentina on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Argentina Government 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Argentina Government 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.