Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring in other foods. The cacao tree has been used as a source of food for at least 5,300 years, starting with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is present-day Ecuador. Later, Mesoamerican civilizations consumed cacao beverages, of which one, chocolate, was introduced to Europe in the 16th century.
The seeds of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) have an intense bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavor. After fermentation, the seeds are dried, cleaned, and roasted. The shell is removed to produce nibs, which are then ground to cocoa mass, unadulterated chocolate in rough form. Once the cocoa mass is liquefied by heating, it is called chocolate liquor. The liquor may also be cooled and processed into its two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Baking chocolate, also called bitter chocolate, contains cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions without any added sugar. Powdered baking cocoa, which contains more fiber than cocoa butter, can be processed with alkali to produce Dutch cocoa. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, a combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter, and added vegetable oils and sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk, but no cocoa solids.
Chocolate is one of the most popular food types and flavors in the world, and many foodstuffs involving chocolate exist, particularly desserts, including cakes, pudding, mousse, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies. Many candies are filled with or coated with sweetened chocolate. Chocolate bars, either made of solid chocolate or other ingredients coated in chocolate, are eaten as snacks. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes (such as eggs, hearts, and coins) are traditional on certain Western holidays, including Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Hanukkah. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, such as chocolate milk and hot chocolate, and in some alcoholic drinks, such as crème de cacao.
Although cocoa originated in the Americas, West African countries, particularly Ivory Coast and Ghana, are the leading producers of cocoa in the 21st century, accounting for some 60% of the world cocoa supply. A 2020 report estimated that more than 1.5 million children are involved in the farming of cocoa in Ivory Coast and Ghana.[1] Child slavery and trafficking associated with the cocoa trade remain major concerns. A 2018 report argued that international attempts to improve conditions for children were doomed to failure because of persistent poverty, the absence of schools, increasing world cocoa demand, more intensive farming of cocoa, and continued exploitation of child labor.
Cocoa is a variant of cacao, likely arising from a confusion with the word coco.[2] Through cacao, it is ultimately derived from kakaw(a), but whether that word originates in Nahuatl or a Mixe-Zoquean language is the subject of substantial linguistic debate.[2][3] Chocolate is a Spanish loanword, first recorded in English in 1604,[4] and first recorded in Spanish in 1579.[5] The word for chocolate drink in early Nahuatl texts is cacahuatl meaning “cacao water”, which chocolate does not immediately derive from.[6]
Despite theories that chocolate is derived from xocoatl meaning “bitter drink” or chocolatl meaning “hot water”[7][8] and uncertainty around the Nahuatl origin, there is a consensus that it likely derives from chicolatl.[9] Whether chicolatl means “cacao beater”, however, is contested, due to difficulty knowing what chico means.[10]
The term “chocolatier“, for a chocolate confection maker, is recorded from 1859.[11]
Evidence for the domestication of the cacao tree exists as early as 5300 BP in South America, in present-day southeast Ecuador by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture, before it was introduced to Mesoamerica.[12] It is unknown when chocolate was first consumed as opposed to other cacao-based drinks, and there is evidence the Olmecs, the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization, fermented the sweet pulp surrounding the cacao beans into an alcoholic beverage.[13][14] Chocolate was extremely important to several Mesoamerican societies,[15] and cacao was considered a gift from the gods by the Mayans and the Aztecs.[16][17] The cocoa bean was used as a currency across civilizations and was used in ceremonies, as a tribute to leaders and gods and as a medicine.[18][19][20][21][22][23] Chocolate in Mesoamerica was a bitter drink, flavored with additives such as vanilla, earflower and chili, and was capped with a dark brown foam created by pouring the liquid from a height between containers.[24][25][26]
While Spanish conquistadorHernán Cortés may have been the first European to encounter chocolate when he observed it in the court of Moctezuma II in 1520,[27][28] it proved to be an acquired taste,[29][30] and it took until 1585 for the first official recording of a shipment of cocoa beans to Europe.[31] Chocolate was believed to be an aphrodisiac and medicine, and spread across Europe in the 17th century, sweetened, served warm and flavored with familiar spices.[32][33][34] It was initially primarily consumed by the elite, with expensive cocoa supplied by colonial plantations in the Americas.[32] In the 18th century, it was considered southern European, aristocratic and Catholic and was still produced in a similar way to the way it had been produced by the Aztecs.[35]
Starting in the 18th century, chocolate production was improved. In the 19th century, engine-powered milling was developed,[38][39] and in 1828, Coenraad Johannes van Houten received a patent for a process making Dutch cocoa. This removed cocoa butter from chocolate liquor (the product of milling), and permitted large scale production of chocolate.[40] Other developments in the 19th century, including the melanger (a mixing machine), modern milk chocolate, the conching process to make chocolate smoother and change the flavor meant a worker in 1890 could produce fifty times more chocolate with the same labor than they could before the Industrial Revolution, and chocolate became a food to be eaten rather than drunk.[41] As production moved from the Americas to Asia and Africa, mass markets in Western nations for chocolate opened up.[42]
In the early 20th century, British chocolate producers including Cadbury and Fry’s faced controversy over the labor conditions in the Portuguese cacao industry in Africa. A 1908 report by a Cadbury agent described conditions as “de facto slavery.”[43] While conditions somewhat improved with a boycott by chocolate makers,[39][44] slave labor among African cacao growers again gained public attention in the early 21st century.[45] During the 20th century, chocolate production further developed, with development of the tempering technique to improve the snap and gloss of chocolate and the addition of lecithin to improve texture and consistency.[46][47]White and couverture chocolate were developed in the 20th century and the bean-to-bar trade model began.[48][49][50]
Several types of chocolate can be distinguished. Pure, unsweetened chocolate, often called “baking chocolate”, contains primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, which combines chocolate with sugar.
Eating chocolate
The traditional types of chocolate are dark, milk and white. All of them contain cocoa butter, which is the ingredient defining the physical properties of chocolate (consistency and melting temperature). Plain (or dark) chocolate, as it name suggests, is a form of chocolate that is similar to pure cocoa liquor, although is usually made with a slightly higher proportion of cocoa butter.[51] It is simply defined by its cocoa percentage. In milk chocolate, the non-fat cocoa solids are partly or mostly replaced by milk solids.[52] In white chocolate, they are all replaced by milk solids, hence its ivory color.[53]
Other forms of eating chocolate exist, these include raw chocolate (made with unroasted beans) and ruby chocolate. An additional popular form of eating chocolate, gianduja, is made by incorporating nut paste (typically hazelnut) to the chocolate paste.[54]
Chocolate is created from the cocoa bean. A cacao tree with fruit pods in various stages of ripening.
Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, the dried and fermented seeds of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), a small, 4–8 m tall (15–26 ft tall) evergreen tree native to the deep tropical region of the Americas.
Recent genetic studies suggest the most common genotype of the plant originated in the Amazon basin and was gradually transported by humans throughout South and Central America. Early forms of another genotype have also been found in what is now Venezuela. The scientific name, Theobroma, means “food of the gods”.[56] The fruit, called a cocoa pod, is ovoid, 15–30 cm (6–12 in) long and 8–10 cm (3–4 in) wide, ripening yellow to orange, and weighing about 500 g (1.1 lb) when ripe.
Cacao trees are small, understory trees that need rich, well-drained soils. They naturally grow within 20° of either side of the equator because they need about 2000 mm of rainfall a year, and temperatures in the range of 21 to 32 °C (70 to 90 °F). Cacao trees cannot tolerate a temperature lower than 15 °C (59 °F).[57]
Genome
The sequencing in 2010 of the genome of the cacao tree may allow yields to be improved.[58] Due to concerns about global warming effects on lowland climate in the narrow band of latitudes where cocoa is grown (20 degrees north and south of the equator), the commercial company Mars, Incorporated and the University of California, Berkeley, are conducting genomic research in 2017–18 to improve the survivability of cacao plants in hot climates.[59]
Cocoa pods are harvested by cutting them from the tree using a machete, or by knocking them off the tree using a stick. It is important to harvest the pods when they are fully ripe, because if the pod is unripe, the beans will have a low cocoa butter content, or low sugar content, reducing the ultimate flavor.
The beans (which are sterile within their pods) and their surrounding pulp are removed from the pods and placed in piles or bins to ferment. Micro-organisms, present naturally in the environment, ferment the pectin-containing material. Yeasts produce ethanol, lactic acid bacteria produce lactic acid, and acetic acid bacteria produce acetic acid. In some cocoa-producing regions an association between filamentous fungi and bacteria (called “cocobiota”) acts to produce metabolites beneficial to human health when consumed.[60] The fermentation process, which takes up to seven days, also produces several flavor precursors, that eventually provide the chocolate taste.[61]
After fermentation, the beans must be dried to prevent mold growth. Climate and weather permitting, this is done by spreading the beans out in the sun from five to seven days.[62] In some growing regions (for example, Tobago), the dried beans are then polished for sale by “dancing the cocoa”: spreading the beans onto a floor, adding oil or water, and shuffling the beans against each other using bare feet.[63]
In an alternative process known as moist incubation, the beans are dried without fermentation. The nibs are then removed and hydrated in an acidic solution. They are heated for 72 hours and dried again. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry showed that the incubated chocolate had higher levels of Strecker aldehydes, and lower levels of pyrazines.[64][65]
Grinding and blending
A chocolate mill (right) grinds and heats cocoa kernels into chocolate liquor. A melanger (left) mixes milk, sugar, and other ingredients into the liquor.
The dried beans are then transported to a chocolate manufacturing facility. The beans are cleaned (removing twigs, stones, and other debris), roasted, and graded. Next, the shell of each bean is removed to extract the nib. The nibs are ground and liquefied, resulting in pure chocolate liquor.[66] The liquor can be further processed into cocoa solids and cocoa butter.[67]
Producers of high-quality, small-batch chocolate argue that mass production produces bad-quality chocolate.[68] Some mass-produced chocolate contains much less cocoa (as low as 7% in many cases), and fats other than cocoa butter. Vegetable oils and artificial vanilla flavor are often used in cheaper chocolate to mask poorly fermented and/or roasted beans.[68]
The penultimate process is called conching. A conche is a container filled with metal beads, which act as grinders. The refined and blended chocolate mass is kept in a liquid state by frictional heat. Chocolate before conching has an uneven and gritty texture. The conching process produces cocoa and sugar particles smaller than the tongue can detect (typically around 20 μm) and reduces rough edges, hence the smooth feel in the mouth. The length of the conching process determines the final smoothness and quality of the chocolate. High-quality chocolate is conched for about 72 hours, and lesser grades about four to six hours. After the process is complete, the chocolate mass is stored in tanks heated to about 45 to 50 °C (113 to 122 °F) until final processing.[69]
After conching, chocolate is tempered. This process aims to create a crystallize a small amount of fat in a particularly stable formation. Around this small amount of crystals, the rest of the fats crystallize, creating a glossy chocolate, with a crisp break.[70][71]
Chocolate is molded in different shapes for different uses:[72]
Chocolate bars (tablets) are rectangular blocks of chocolate meant to be broken down to cubes (or other predefined shapes), which can then be used for consumption, cooking and baking. The term is also used for combination bars, which are a type of candy bars
Chocolate chips are small pieces of chocolate, usually drop-like, which are meant for decoration and baking
Pistoles, callets and fèves are small, coin-like or bean-like pieces of chocolate meant for baking and patisserie applications (see also: Pistole and Fève)
Chocolate blocks are large, cuboid chunks of chocolate meant for professional use and further processing
Other, more specialized shapes for chocolate include sticks, curls and hollow semi-spheres
Storage
Chocolate is very sensitive to temperature and humidity. Ideal storage temperatures are between 15 and 17 °C (59 and 63 °F), with a relative humidity of less than 50%. If refrigerated or frozen without containment, chocolate can absorb enough moisture to cause a whitish discoloration, the result of fat or sugar crystals rising to the surface. Various types of “blooming” effects can occur if chocolate is stored or served improperly.[73]
Chocolate bloom is caused by storage temperature fluctuating or exceeding 24 °C (75 °F), while sugar bloom is caused by temperature below 15 °C (59 °F) or excess humidity. To distinguish between different types of bloom, one can rub the surface of the chocolate lightly, and if the bloom disappears, it is fat bloom. Moving chocolate between temperature extremes, can result in an oily texture. Although visually unappealing, chocolate suffering from bloom is safe for consumption and taste is unaffected.[74][75][76] Bloom can be reversed by retempering the chocolate or using it for any use that requires melting the chocolate.[77]
Chocolate is generally stored away from other foods, as it can absorb different aromas. Ideally, chocolates are packed or wrapped, and placed in proper storage with the correct humidity and temperature. Additionally, chocolate is frequently stored in a dark place or protected from light by wrapping paper. The glossy shine, snap, aroma, texture, and taste of the chocolate can show the quality and whether it was stored well.[78]
It is unlikely that chocolate consumption in small amounts causes lead poisoning. Some studies have shown that lead may bind to cocoa shells, and contamination may occur during the manufacturing process.[85] One study showed the mean lead level in milk chocolate candy bars was 0.027 μg lead per gram of candy;[85] another study found that some chocolate purchased at U.S. supermarkets contained up to 0.965 μg per gram, close to the international (voluntary) standard limit for lead in cocoa powder or beans, which is 1 μg of lead per gram.[86] In 2006, the U.S. FDA lowered by one-fifth the amount of lead permissible in candy, but compliance is only voluntary.[87] Studies concluded that “children, who are big consumers of chocolates, may be at risk of exceeding the daily limit of lead, [as] one 10 g cube of dark chocolate may contain as much as 20% of the daily lead oral limit. Moreover chocolate may not be the only source of lead in their nutrition”[88] and “chocolate might be a significant source of cadmium and lead ingestion, particularly for children.”[89] According to a 2005 study, the average lead concentration of cocoa beans is ≤ 0.5 ng/g, which is one of the lowest reported values for a natural food.[85] However, during cultivation and production, chocolate may absorb lead from the environment (such as in atmospheric emissions of now unused leaded gasoline).[85][90]
The European Food Safety Authority recommended a tolerable weekly intake for cadmium of 2.5 micrograms per kg of body weight for Europeans, indicating that consuming chocolate products caused exposure of about 4% among all foods eaten.[91][92] Maximum levels for baby foods and chocolate/cocoa products were established under Commission Regulation (EU) No 488/2014.[93]1986 California Proposition 65 requires a warning label on chocolate products having more than 4.1 mg of cadmium per daily serving of a single product.[94][95][96]
Caffeine
One tablespoonful (5 grams) of dry unsweetened cocoa powder has 12.1 mg of caffeine[97] and a 25-g single serving of dark chocolate has 22.4 mg of caffeine.[98] Although a single 7 oz. (200 ml) serving of coffee may contain 80–175 mg,[99] studies have shown psychoactive effects in caffeine doses as low as 9 mg, and a dose as low as 12.5 mg was shown to have effects on cognitive performance.[100]
Theobromine and oxalate
Chocolate may be a factor for heartburn in some people because one of its constituents, theobromine, may affect the esophageal sphincter muscle in a way that permits stomach acids to enter the esophagus.[101]Theobromine poisoning is an overdosage reaction to the bitter alkaloid, which happens more frequently in domestic animals than humans. However, daily intake of 50–100 g cocoa (0.8–1.5 g theobromine) by humans has been associated with sweating, trembling, and severe headache.[102]
A typical 20-kilogram (44 lb) dog will normally experience great intestinal distress after eating less than 240 grams (8.5 oz) of dark chocolate, but will not necessarily experience bradycardia or tachycardia unless it eats at least a half a kilogram (1.1 lb) of milk chocolate. Dark chocolate has 2 to 5 times more theobromine and thus is more dangerous to dogs. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, approximately 1.3 grams of baker’s chocolate per kilogram of a dog’s body weight (0.02 oz/lb) is sufficient to cause symptoms of toxicity. For example, a typical 25-gram (0.88 oz) baker’s chocolate bar would be enough to bring about symptoms in a 20-kilogram (44 lb) dog. In the 20th century, there were reports that mulch made from cocoa bean shells is dangerous to dogs and livestock.[107][108]
Research
Commonly consumed chocolate is high in fat and sugar, which are associated with an increased risk for obesity when chocolate is consumed in excess.[109]
Overall evidence is insufficient to determine the relationship between chocolate consumption and acne.[110][111] Various studies point not to chocolate, but to the high glycemic nature of certain foods, like sugar, corn syrup, and other simple carbohydrates, as potential causes of acne,[110][111][112][113] along with other possible dietary factors.[110][114]
Food, including chocolate, is not typically viewed as addictive.[115] Some people, however, may want or crave chocolate,[115] leading to a self-described term, chocoholic.[115][116]
By some popular myths, chocolate is considered to be a mood enhancer, such as by increasing sex drive or stimulating cognition, but there is little scientific evidence that such effects are consistent among all chocolate consumers.[117][118] If mood improvement from eating chocolate occurs, there is not enough research to indicate whether it results from the favorable flavor or from the stimulant effects of its constituents, such as caffeine, theobromine, or their parent molecule, methylxanthine.[118] A 2019 review reported that chocolate consumption does not improve depressive mood.[119]
Reviews support a short-term effect of lowering blood pressure by consuming cocoa products, but there is no evidence of long-term cardiovascular health benefit.[120][121] Chocolate and cocoa are under preliminary research to determine if consumption affects the risk of certain cardiovascular diseases[122] or enhances cognitive abilities.[123] While daily consumption of cocoa flavanols (minimum dose of 200 mg) appears to benefit platelet and vascular function,[124] there is no good evidence to indicate an effect on heart attacks or strokes.[124][125] Research has also shown that consuming dark chocolate does not substantially affect blood pressure.[126]
Swiss researchers found out in 2024 that they could separate and dry the fibrous endocarp and turn it into powder then combine it with juice from the pulp that surrounds the cacao seeds creating a sweet gel that could help lessen the use of so much refined sugar, as well as utilize more of the plant.[127] This healthier option was inspired by looking at the fundamentals of making chocolate. Prior, the public accepted the use of the sweet herb stevia to replace sugar in chocolate, according to a 2017 study[128] and several such chocolate products are on the market.
Labeling
Some manufacturers provide the percentage of chocolate in a finished chocolate confection as a label quoting percentage of “cocoa” or “cacao”. This refers to the combined percentage of both cocoa solids and cocoa butter in the bar, not just the percentage of cocoa solids.[129] The Belgian AMBAO certification mark indicates that no non-cocoa vegetable fats have been used in making the chocolate.[130][131] A long-standing dispute between Britain on the one hand and Belgium and France over British use of vegetable fats in chocolate ended in 2000 with the adoption of new standards which permitted the use of up to five percent vegetable fats in clearly labelled products.[132] This British style of chocolate has sometimes been pejoratively referred to as “vegelate”.[132]
In 2007, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association in the United States, whose members include Hershey, Nestlé, and Archer Daniels Midland, lobbied the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to change the legal definition of chocolate to let them substitute partially hydrogenated vegetable oils for cocoa butter, in addition to using artificial sweeteners and milk substitutes.[135] Currently, the FDA does not allow a product to be referred to as “chocolate” if the product contains any of these ingredients.[136][137]
In the United States, some large chocolate manufacturers lobbied the federal government to permit confections containing cheaper hydrogenated vegetable oil in place of cocoa butter to be sold as “chocolate”. In June 2007, in response to consumer concern about the proposal, the FDA reiterated “Cacao fat, as one of the signature characteristics of the product, will remain a principal component of standardized chocolate.”[138]
In the EU a product can be sold as chocolate if it contains up to 5% vegetable oil, and must be labeled as “family milk chocolate” rather than “milk chocolate” if it contains 20% milk.[139]
According to Canadian Food and Drug Regulations, a “chocolate product” is a food product that is sourced from at least one “cocoa product” and contains at least one of the following: “chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, dark chocolate, sweet chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate”. A “cocoa product” is defined as a food product that is sourced from cocoa beans and contains “cocoa nibs, cocoa liquor, cocoa mass, unsweetened chocolate, bitter chocolate, chocolate liquor, cocoa, low-fat cocoa, cocoa powder, or low-fat cocoa powder”.[140]
Chocolate, prevalent throughout the world, is a steadily growing, US$50 billion-a-year worldwide business as of 2009.[141] As of 2006, Europe accounted for 45% of the world’s chocolate revenue,[142] and the US spent $20 billion in 2013.[143]Big Chocolate is a grouping of major international chocolate companies in Europe and the US. In 2004, Mars and Hershey’s alone accounted for two-thirds of US production.[144]
As of 2007, roughly two-thirds of the world’s cocoa was produced in West Africa, with 43% sourced from Ivory Coast,[145] which commonly used child labor.[146][147] That year some 50 million people around the world depended on cocoa as a source of livelihood.[148] As of 2007 in the UK, most chocolatiers purchase their chocolate from them, to melt, mold and package to their own design.[149] As of 2012, the Ivory Coast is the largest producer of cocoa in the world.[150]
The two main jobs associated with creating chocolate candy are chocolate makers and chocolatiers. Chocolate makers use harvested cocoa beans and other ingredients to produce couverture chocolate (covering). Chocolatiers use the finished couverture to make chocolate candies (bars, truffles, etc.).[151]
Production costs can be decreased by reducing cocoa solids content or by substituting cocoa butter with another fat. Cocoa growers object to allowing the resulting food to be called “chocolate”, due to the risk of lower demand for their crops.[148]
Guylian is best known for its chocolate sea shells; Cadbury for its Dairy Milk and Creme Egg. The Hershey Company, the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America, produces the Hershey Bar and Hershey’s Kisses.[152] Mars Incorporated, a large privately owned U.S. corporation, produces Mars Bar, Milky Way, M&M’s, Twix, and Snickers. Lindt is known for its truffle balls and gold foil-wrapped Easter bunnies.
Food conglomerates Nestlé SA and Kraft Foods both have chocolate brands. Nestlé acquired Rowntree’s in 1988 and now markets chocolates under their brand, including Smarties (a chocolate candy) and Kit Kat (a chocolate bar); Kraft Foods through its 1990 acquisition of Jacobs Suchard, now owns Milka and Suchard. In February 2010, Kraft also acquired British-based Cadbury;[153] Fry’s, Trebor Basset and the fair trade brand Green & Black’s also belongs to the group.
The widespread use of children in cocoa production is controversial, not only for the concerns about child labor and exploitation, but also because according to a 2002 estimate, up to 12,000 of the 200,000 children then working in the Ivory Coast cocoa industry[154] may have been victims of trafficking or slavery.[155] Most attention on this subject has focused on West Africa, which collectively supplies 69 percent of the world’s cocoa,[156] and the Ivory Coast in particular, which supplies 35 percent of the world’s cocoa.[156] Thirty percent of children under age 15 in sub-Saharan Africa are child laborers, mostly in agricultural activities including cocoa farming.[157] Major chocolate producers, such as Nestlé, buy cocoa at commodities exchanges where Ivorian cocoa is mixed with other cocoa.[158]
As of 2017, approximately 2.1 million children in Ghana and Ivory Coast were involved in farming cocoa, carrying heavy loads, clearing forests, and being exposed to pesticides.[159] According to the former secretary-general of the Alliance of Cocoa Producing Countries: “I think child labor cannot be just the responsibility of industry to solve. I think it’s the proverbial all-hands-on-deck: government, civil society, the private sector. And there, you need leadership.”[155] Reported in 2018, a 3-year pilot program – conducted by Nestlé with 26,000 farmers mostly located in Ivory Coast – observed a 51% decrease in the number of children doing hazardous jobs in cocoa farming.[160] The US Department of Labor formed the Child Labor Cocoa Coordinating Group as a public-private partnership with the governments of Ghana and Ivory Coast to address child labor practices in the cocoa industry.[161] The International Cocoa Initiative involving major cocoa manufacturers established the Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System intended to monitor thousands of farms in Ghana and Ivory Coast for child labor conditions,[160][159] but the program reached less than 20% of the child laborers.[162] Despite these efforts, goals to reduce child labor in West Africa by 70% before 2020 are frustrated by persistent poverty, absence of schools, expansion of cocoa farmland, and increased demand for cocoa.[160][163]
In April 2018, the Cocoa Barometer report stated: “Not a single company or government is anywhere near reaching the sector-wide objective of the elimination of child labor, and not even near their commitments of a 70% reduction of child labor by 2020”. They cited persistent poverty, the absence of schools, increasing world cocoa demand, more intensive farming of cocoa, and continued exploitation of child labor.[160][163]
In the 2000s, some chocolate producers began to engage in fair trade initiatives, to address concerns about the marginalization of cocoa laborers in developing countries. Traditionally, Africa and other developing countries received low prices for their exported commodities such as cocoa, which caused poverty to abound. Fairtrade seeks to establish a system of direct trade from developing countries to counteract this system.[164] One solution for fair labor practices is for farmers to become part of an Agricultural cooperative. Cooperatives pay farmers a fair price for their cocoa so farmers have enough money for food, clothes, and school fees.[165] One of the main tenets of fair trade is that farmers receive a fair price, but this does not mean that the larger amount of money paid for fair trade cocoa goes directly to the farmers. The effectiveness of fair trade has been questioned. In a 2014 article, The Economist stated that workers on fair trade farms have a lower standard of living than on similar farms outside the fair trade system[166] based on a study of tea and coffee farmers in Uganda and Ethiopia.[167]
Chocolate is sold in chocolate bars, which come in dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate varieties. Some bars that are mostly chocolate have other ingredients blended into the chocolate, such as nuts, raisins, or crisped rice. Chocolate is used as an ingredient in a huge variety of bars, which typically contain various confectionary ingredients (e.g., nougat, wafers, caramel, nuts, etc.) which are coated in chocolate.
Chocolate is perceived to be different things at different times, including a sweet treat, a luxury product, a consumer good and a mood enhancer,[168] the latter reputation in part driven by marketing.[169] Chocolate is a popular metaphor for the black racial category.[170] It has connotations of transgression and sexuality[171][172] and is gendered as feminine.[173] In the US there is a cultural practice of women consuming chocolate in secret; alone and with other women.[174] Children use chocolate as a euphemism for feces.[175] Chocolate is popularly understood to have “exotic” origins,[176] In China, chocolate is considered “heaty“, and avoided in hot weather.[177]
A gift box of chocolates, which is a common gift for Valentine’s Day
Chocolate is associated with festivals such as Easter, when molded chocolate rabbits and eggs are traditionally given in Christian communities, and Hanukkah, when chocolate coins are given in Jewish communities. Chocolate hearts and chocolate in heart-shaped boxes are popular on Valentine’s Day and are often presented along with flowers and a greeting card[36][178] Boxes of filled chocolates quickly became associated with the holiday.[36] Chocolate is an acceptable gift on other holidays and on occasions such as birthdays. Many confectioners make holiday-specific chocolate candies. Chocolate Easter eggs or rabbits and Santa Claus figures are two examples. Such confections can be solid, hollow, or filled with sweets or fondant.
Some artists have utilized chocolate in their art; Dieter Roth was influential in this beginning with his works in the 1960s casting human and animal figures in chocolate, which used the chocolate’s inevitable decay to comment on contemporary attitudes towards the permanence of museum displays. Other works have played on the audience’s ability to consume displayed chocolate, encouraged in Sonja Alhäuser‘s Exhibition Basics (2001) and painfully disallowed in Edward Ruscha‘s Chocolate Room (1970). In the 1980s and 90s, performance artists Karen Finley and Janine Antoni used chocolate’s cultural popular associations of excrement and consumption, and desirability respectively to comment on the status of women in society
The description of the region by the word Argentina has been found on a Venetian map in 1536.[26]
In English, the name Argentina comes from the Spanish language; however, the naming itself is not Spanish, but Italian. Argentina (masculineargentino) means in Italian ‘(made) of silver, silver coloured’, derived from the Latin argentum for silver. In Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said l’Argentina.
The name Argentina was probably first given by the Venetian and Genoese navigators, such as Giovanni Caboto. In Spanish and Portuguese, the words for ‘silver’ are respectively plata and prata and ‘(made) of silver’ is plateado and prateado, although argento for ‘silver’ and argentado for ‘covered in silver’ exist in Spanish. Argentina was first associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin.[27]
The 1826 constitution included the first use of the name “Argentine Republic” in legal documents.[29] The name “Argentine Confederation” was also commonly used and was formalized in the Argentine Constitution of 1853.[30] In 1860 a presidential decree settled the country’s name as “Argentine Republic”,[31] and that year’s constitutional amendment ruled all the names since 1810 as legally valid.[32][F]
In English, the country was traditionally called “the Argentine”, mimicking the typical Spanish usage la Argentina[33] and perhaps resulting from a mistaken shortening of the fuller name ‘Argentine Republic’. ‘The Argentine’ fell out of fashion during the mid-to-late 20th century, and now the country is referred to as “Argentina”.
The earliest traces of human life in the area now known as Argentina are dated from the Paleolithic period, with further traces in the Mesolithic and Neolithic.[14] Until the period of European colonization, Argentina was relatively sparsely populated by a wide number of diverse cultures with different social organizations,[34] which can be divided into three main groups.[35]
The first group are basic hunters and food gatherers without the development of pottery, such as the Selkʼnam and Yaghan in the extreme south. The second group are advanced hunters and food gatherers which include the Puelche, Querandí and Serranos in the centre-east; and the Tehuelche in the south—all of them conquered by the Mapuche spreading from Chile[36]—and the Kom and Wichi in the north. The last group are farmers with pottery, such as the Charrúa, Minuane and Guaraní in the northeast, with slash and burn semisedentary existence;[34] the advanced Diaguita sedentary trading culture in the northwest, which was conquered by the Inca Empire around 1480; the Toconoté and Hênîa and Kâmîare in the country’s centre, and the Huarpe in the centre-west, a culture that raised llama cattle and was strongly influenced by the Incas.[34]
The Spanish Empire subordinated the economic potential of the Argentine territory to the immediate wealth of the silver and gold mines in Bolivia and Peru, and as such it became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru until the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776 with Buenos Aires as its capital.[42]
Beginning a process from which Argentina was to emerge as successor state to the Viceroyalty,[16] the 1810 May Revolution replaced the viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros with the First Junta, a new government in Buenos Aires made up from locals.[44] In the first clashes of the Independence War the Junta crushed a royalist counter-revolution in Córdoba,[46] but failed to overcome those of the Banda Oriental, Upper Peru and Paraguay, which later became independent states.[47] The French-Argentine Hippolyte Bouchard then brought his fleet to wage war against Spain overseas and attacked Spanish California, Spanish Peru and Spanish Philippines. He secured the allegiance of escaped Filipinos in San Blas who defected from the Spanish to join the Argentine navy, due to common Argentine and Philippine grievances against Spanish colonization.[48][49] Jose de San Martin’s brother, Juan Fermín de San Martín, was already in the Philippines and drumming up revolutionary fervor prior to this.[50] At a later date, the Argentine sign of Inca origin, the Sun of May was adopted as a symbol by the Filipinos in the Philippine Revolution against Spain. He also secured the diplomatic recognition of Argentina from King Kamehameha I of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Historian Pacho O’Donnell affirms that Hawaii was the first state that recognized Argentina’s independence.[51] He was finally arrested in 1819 by Chilean patriots.
The 1820 Battle of Cepeda, fought between the Centralists and the Federalists, resulted in the end of the Supreme Director rule. In 1826 Buenos Aires enacted another centralist constitution, with Bernardino Rivadavia being appointed as the first president of the country. However, the interior provinces soon rose against him, forced his resignation and discarded the constitution.[61] Centralists and Federalists resumed the civil war; the latter prevailed and formed the Argentine Confederation in 1831, led by Juan Manuel de Rosas.[62] During his regime he faced a French blockade (1838–1840), the War of the Confederation (1836–1839), and an Anglo-French blockade (1845–1850), but remained undefeated and prevented further loss of national territory.[63] His trade restriction policies, however, angered the interior provinces and in 1852 Justo José de Urquiza, another powerful caudillo, beat him out of power. As the new president of the Confederation, Urquiza enacted the liberal and federal 1853 Constitution. Buenos Aires seceded but was forced back into the Confederation after being defeated in the 1859 Battle of Cepeda.[64]
Overpowering Urquiza in the 1861 Battle of Pavón, Bartolomé Mitre secured Buenos Aires’ predominance and was elected as the first president of the reunified country. He was followed by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Nicolás Avellaneda; these three presidencies set up the basis of the modern Argentine State.[65]
Starting with Julio Argentino Roca in 1880, ten consecutive federal governments emphasized liberal economic policies. The massive wave of European immigration they promoted—second only to the United States’—led to a near-reinvention of Argentine society and economy that by 1908 had placed the country as the seventh wealthiest[66] developed nation[67] in the world. Driven by this immigration wave and decreasing mortality, the Argentine population grew fivefold and the economy 15-fold:[68] from 1870 to 1910, Argentina’s wheat exports went from 100,000 to 2,500,000 t (110,000 to 2,760,000 short tons) per year, while frozen beef exports increased from 25,000 to 365,000 t (28,000 to 402,000 short tons) per year,[69] placing Argentina as one of the world’s top five exporters.[70] Its railway mileage rose from 503 to 31,104 km (313 to 19,327 mi).[71] Fostered by a new public, compulsory, free and secular education system, literacy quickly increased from 22% to 65%, a level higher than most Latin American nations would reach even fifty years later.[70] Furthermore, real GDP grew so fast that despite the huge immigration influx, per capita income between 1862 and 1920 went from 67% of developed country levels to 100%:[71] In 1865, Argentina was already one of the top 25 nations by per capita income. By 1908, it had surpassed Denmark, Canada and the Netherlands to reach 7th place—behind Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Belgium. Argentina’s per capita income was 70% higher than Italy’s, 90% higher than Spain’s, 180% higher than Japan’s and 400% higher than Brazil‘s.[66] Despite these unique achievements, the country was slow to meet its original goals of industrialization:[72] after the steep development of capital-intensive local industries in the 1920s, a significant part of the manufacturing sector remained labour-intensive in the 1930s.[73]
Between 1878 and 1884, the so-called Conquest of the Desert occurred, with the purpose of tripling the Argentine territory by means of the constant confrontations between natives and Criollos in the border,[75] and the appropriation of the indigenous territories. The first conquest consisted of a series of military incursions into the Pampa and Patagonian territories dominated by the indigenous peoples,[76] distributing them among the members of the Sociedad Rural Argentina, financiers of the expeditions.[77] The conquest of Chaco lasted up to the end of the century,[78] since its full ownership of the national economic system only took place when the mere extraction of wood and tannin was replaced by the production of cotton.[79] The Argentine government considered indigenous people as inferior beings, without the same rights as Criollos and Europeans.[80]
In 1930, Yrigoyen was ousted from power by the military led by José Félix Uriburu. Although Argentina remained among the fifteen richest countries until mid-century,[66] this coup d’état marks the start of the steady economic and social decline that pushed the country back into underdevelopment.[82]
During the Rawson dictatorship a relatively unknown military colonel named Juan Perón was named head of the Labour Department. Perón quickly managed to climb the political ladder, being named defence minister in 1944. Being perceived as a political threat by rivals in the military and the conservative camp, he was forced to resign in 1945, and was arrested days later. He was finally released under mounting pressure from both his base and several allied unions.[83] He later became president after a landslide victory over the UCR in the 1946 general election as the Labour candidate.[84]
The Labour Party (later renamed Justicialist Party), the most powerful and influential party in Argentine history, came into power with the rise of Juan Perón to the presidency in 1946. He nationalized strategic industries and services, improved wages and working conditions, paid the full external debt and claimed he achieved nearly full employment. He pushed Congress to enact women’s suffrage in 1947,[85] and developed a system of social assistance for the most vulnerable sectors of society.[86] The economy began to decline in 1950 due in part to government expenditures and the protectionist economic policies.[87]
He also engaged in a campaign of political suppression. Anyone who was perceived to be a political dissident or potential rival was subject to threats, physical violence and harassment. The Argentine intelligentsia, the middle-class, university students, and professors were seen as particularly troublesome. Perón fired over 2,000 university professors and faculty members from all major public education institutions.[88]
Perón tried to bring most trade and labour unions under his thumb, regularly resorting to violence when needed. For instance, the meat-packers union leader, Cipriano Reyes, organized strikes in protest against the government after elected labour movement officials were forcefully replaced by Peronist puppets from the Peronist Party. Reyes was soon arrested on charges of terrorism, though the allegations were never substantiated. Reyes, who was never formally charged, was tortured in prison for five years and only released after the regime’s downfall in 1955.[89]
Perón managed to get re-elected in 1951. His wife Eva Perón, who played a critical role in the party, died of cancer in 1952. As the economy continued to tank, Perón started losing popular support, and came to be seen as a threat to the national process. The Navy took advantage of Perón’s withering political power, and bombed the Plaza de Mayo in 1955. Perón survived the attack, but a few months later, during the Liberating Revolution coup, he was deposed and went into exile in Spain.[90]
The new head of State, Pedro Eugenio Aramburu, proscribed Peronism and banned the party from any future elections. Arturo Frondizi from the UCR won the 1958 general election.[91] He encouraged investment to achieve energetic and industrial self-sufficiency, reversed a chronic trade deficit and lifted the ban on Peronism; yet his efforts to stay on good terms with both the Peronists and the military earned him the rejection of both and a new coup forced him out.[92] Amidst the political turmoil, Senate leader José María Guido reacted swiftly and applied anti-power vacuum legislation, ascending to the presidency himself; elections were repealed and Peronism was prohibited once again. Arturo Illia was elected in 1963 and led an increase in prosperity across the board; however he was overthrown in 1966 by another military coup d’état led by General Juan Carlos Onganía in the self-proclaimed Argentine Revolution, creating a new military government that sought to rule indefinitely.[93]
Perón’s return and death
Following several years of military rule, Alejandro Agustín Lanusse was appointed president by the military junta in 1971. Under increasing political pressure for the return of democracy, Lanusse called for elections in 1973. Perón was banned from running but the Peronist party was allowed to participate. The presidential elections were won by Perón’s surrogate candidate, Hector Cámpora, a left-wing Peronist, who took office on 25 May 1973. A month later, in June, Perón returned from Spain. One of Cámpora’s first presidential actions was to grant amnesty to members of organizations that had carried out political assassinations and terrorist attacks, and to those who had been tried and sentenced to prison by judges. Cámpora’s months-long tenure in government was beset by political and social unrest. Over 600 social conflicts, strikes, and factory occupations took place within a single month.[94] Even though far-left terrorist organizations had suspended their armed struggle, their joining with the participatory democracy process was interpreted as a direct threat by the Peronist right-wing faction.[95]
Amid a state of political, social, and economic upheaval, Cámpora and Vice President Vicente Solano Lima resigned in July 1973, calling for new elections, but this time with Perón as the Justicialist Party nominee. Perón won the election with his wife Isabel Perón as vice president. Perón’s third term was marked by escalating conflict between left and right-wing factions within the Peronist party, as well as the return of armed terror guerrilla groups such as the Guevarist ERP, leftist Peronist Montoneros, and the state-backed far-right Triple A. After a series of heart attacks and signs of pneumonia in 1974, Perón’s health deteriorated quickly. He suffered a final heart attack on Monday, 1 July 1974, and died at 13:15. He was 78 years old. After his death, Isabel Perón, his wife and vice president, succeeded him in office. During her presidency, a military junta, along with the Peronists’ far-right fascist faction, once again became the de factohead of state. Isabel Perón served as President of Argentina from 1974 until 1976, when she was ousted by the military. Her short presidency was marked by the collapse of Argentine political and social systems, leading to a constitutional crisis that paved the way for a decade of instability, left-wing terrorist guerrilla attacks, and state-sponsored terrorism.[87][96][97]
The “Dirty War” (Spanish: Guerra Sucia) was part of Operation Condor, which included the participation of other right-wing dictatorships in the Southern Cone. The Dirty War involved state terrorism in Argentina and elsewhere in the Southern Cone against political dissidents, with military and security forces employing urban and rural violence against left-wing guerrillas, political dissidents, and anyone believed to be associated with socialism or somehow contrary to the neoliberal economic policies of the regime.[98][99][100] Victims of the violence in Argentina alone included an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 left-wing activists and militants, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronistguerrillas,[101] and alleged sympathizers. Most of the victims were casualties of state terrorism. The opposing guerrillas’ victims numbered nearly 500–540 military and police officials[102] and up to 230 civilians.[103] Argentina received technical support and military aid from the United States government during the Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations.
The exact chronology of the repression is still debated, yet the roots of the long political war may have started in 1969 when trade unionists were targeted for assassination by Peronist and Marxist paramilitaries. Individual cases of state-sponsored terrorism against Peronism and the left can be traced back even further to the Bombing of Plaza de Mayo in 1955. The Trelew massacre of 1972, the actions of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance commencing in 1973, and Isabel Perón‘s “annihilation decrees” against left-wing guerrillas during Operativo Independencia (Operation Independence) in 1975, are also possible events signaling the beginning of the Dirty War.[H]
Onganía shut down Congress, banned all political parties, and dismantled student and worker unions. In 1969, popular discontent led to two massive protests: the Cordobazo and the Rosariazo. The terrorist guerrilla organization Montoneros kidnapped and executed Aramburu.[107] The newly chosen head of government, Alejandro Agustín Lanusse, seeking to ease the growing political pressure, allowed Héctor José Cámpora to become the Peronist candidate instead of Perón. Cámpora won the March 1973 election, issued pardons for condemned guerrilla members, and then secured Perón’s return from his exile in Spain.[108]
Perón died in July 1974 and was succeeded by his wife, who signed a secret decree empowering the military and the police to “annihilate” the left-wing subversion,[112]stopping ERP’s attempt to start a rural insurgence in Tucumán province.[113]Isabel Perón was ousted one year later by a junta of the combined armed forces, led by army general Jorge Rafael Videla. They initiated the National Reorganization Process, often shortened to Proceso.[114]
The Proceso shut down Congress, removed the judges on the Supreme Court, banned political parties and unions, and resorted to employing the forced disappearance of suspected guerrilla members including individuals suspected of being associated with the left-wing. By the end of 1976, the Montoneros had lost nearly 2,000 members and by 1977, the ERP was completely subdued. Nevertheless, the severely weakened Montoneros launched a counterattack in 1979, which was quickly put down, effectively ending the guerrilla threat and securing the junta’s position in power.[citation needed]
In March 1982, an Argentine force took control of the British territory of South Georgia and, on 2 April, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. The United Kingdom dispatched a task force to regain possession. Argentina surrendered on 14 June and its forces were taken home. Street riots in Buenos Aires followed the humiliating defeat and the military leadership stood down.[115][116]Reynaldo Bignone replaced Galtieri and began to organize the transition to democratic governance.[117]
De la Rúa left Menem’s economic plan in effect despite the worsening crisis, which led to growing social discontent.[122] Massive capital flight from the country was responded to with a freezing of bank accounts, generating further turmoil. The December 2001 riots forced him to resign.[124] Congress appointed Eduardo Duhalde as acting president, who revoked the fixed exchange rate established by Menem,[125] causing many working- and middle-class Argentines to lose a significant portion of their savings. By late 2002, the economic crisis began to recede, but the assassination of two piqueteros by the police caused political unrest, prompting Duhalde to move elections forward.[126]Néstor Kirchner was elected as the new president. On 26 May 2003, he was sworn in.[127][128]
Boosting the neo-Keynesian economic policies[126] laid by Duhalde, Kirchner ended the economic crisis attaining significant fiscal and trade surpluses, and rapid GDP growth.[129] Under his administration, Argentina restructured its defaulted debt with an unprecedented discount of about 70% on most bonds, paid off debts with the International Monetary Fund,[130] purged the military of officers with dubious human rights records,[131]nullified and voided the Full Stop and Due Obedience laws,[132][I] ruled them as unconstitutional, and resumed legal prosecution of the Junta’s crimes. He did not run for reelection, promoting instead the candidacy of his wife, senator Cristina Kirchner who won the 2007 and 2011 elections.[134] During Kirchner’s presidecy promoted foreign relations with countries such as Venezuela, Iran, and Cuba, whilst US and UK relations increasingly strained. Despite increased renewable energy production and subsidies during her tenure, the overall economy had been sluggish since 2011.[135]
On 22 November 2015, after a tie in the first round of presidential elections on 25 October, centre-right coalition candidate Mauricio Macri won the first ballotage in Argentina’s history, beating Front for Victory candidate Daniel Scioli and becoming president-elect.[136] Macri was the first democratically elected non-peronist president since 1916 that managed to complete his term in office without being overthrown.[137] He took office on 10 December 2015 and inherited an economy with a high inflation rate and in a poor shape.[138] In April 2016, the Macri government introduced neoliberal austerity measures intended to tackle inflation and overblown public deficits.[139] Under Macri’s administration, economic recovery remained elusive with GDP shrinking 3.4%, inflation totaling 240%, billions of US dollars issued in sovereign debt, and mass poverty increasing by the end of his term.[140][141] He ran for re-election in 2019 but lost by nearly eight percentage points to Alberto Fernández, the Justicialist Party candidate.[142]
Fernández and vice president Cristina Kirchner took office in December 2019,[143] just months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Argentina and among accusations of corruption, bribery and misuse of public funds during Néstor and Cristina Kirchner’s presidencies.[144][145] In November 2021, the centre-left coalition of Argentina’s ruling Peronist party, Frente de Todos (Front for Everyone), lost its majority in Congress, for the first time in almost 40 years, in midterm legislative elections. The election victory of the centre-right coalition, Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change) limited Fernández’ power during his final two years in office. Losing control of the Senate made it difficult for him to make key appointments, including to the judiciary. It also forced him to negotiate with the opposition on every initiative send to the legislature.[146][147]
Argentina is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world[161] hosting one of the greatest ecosystem varieties in the world: 15 continental zones, 2 marine zones, and the Antarctic region are all represented in its territory.[161] This huge ecosystem variety has led to a biological diversity that is among the world’s largest:[161][162] 9,372 catalogued vascular plant species (ranked 24th);[J] 1,038 catalogued bird species (ranked 14th);[K] 375 catalogued mammal species (ranked 12th);[L] 338 catalogued reptilian species (ranked 16th); and 162 catalogued amphibian species (ranked 19th).
In Argentina forest cover is around 10% of the total land area, equivalent to 28,573,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 35,204,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 27,137,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 1,436,000 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 7% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 0% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership, 4% private ownership and 96% with ownership listed as other or unknown.[163][164]
The original pampa had virtually no trees; some imported species such as the American sycamore or eucalyptus are present along roads or in towns and country estates (estancias). The only tree-like plant native to the pampa is the evergreen Ombú. The surface soils of the pampa are a deep black colour, primarily mollisols, known commonly as humus. This makes the region one of the most agriculturally productive on Earth; however, this is also responsible for decimating much of the original ecosystem, to make way for commercial agriculture.[citation needed] The western pampas receive less rainfall, this dry pampa is a plain of short grasses or steppe.[165][166]
In general, Argentina has four main climate types: warm humid subtropical, moderate humid subtropical, arid, and cold, all determined by the expanse across latitude, range in altitude, and relief features.[170][171] Although the most populated areas are generally temperate, Argentina has an exceptional amount of climate diversity,[172] ranging from subtropical in the north to polar in the far south.[173] Consequently, there is a wide variety of biomes in the country, including Subtropical rainforests, semi-arid and arid regions, temperate plains in the Pampas, and cold subantarctic in the south.[174] The average annual precipitation ranges from 150 millimetres (6 in) in the driest parts of Patagonia to over 2,000 millimetres (79 in) in the westernmost parts of Patagonia and the northeastern parts of the country.[172] Mean annual temperatures range from 5 °C (41 °F) in the far south to 25 °C (77 °F) in the north.[172]
Major wind currents include the cool Pampero Winds blowing on the flat plains of Patagonia and the Pampas; following the cold front, warm currents blow from the north in middle and late winter, creating mild conditions.[175] The Sudestada usually moderates cold temperatures but brings very heavy rains, rough seas and coastal flooding. It is most common in late autumn and winter along the central coast and in the Río de la Plata estuary.[175] The Zonda, a hot dry wind, affects Cuyo and the central Pampas. Squeezed of all moisture during the 6,000 m (19,685 ft) descent from the Andes, Zonda winds can blow for hours with gusts up to 120 km/h (75 mph), fueling wildfires and causing damage; between June and November, when the Zonda blows, snowstorms and blizzard (viento blanco) conditions usually affect higher elevations.[176]
Climate change in Argentina is predicted to have significant effects on the living conditions in Argentina.[177]: 30 The climate of Argentina is changing with regards to precipitation patterns and temperatures. The highest increases in precipitation (from the period 1960–2010) have occurred in the eastern parts of the country. The increase in precipitation has led to more variability in precipitation from year to year in the northern parts of the country, with a higher risk of prolonged droughts, disfavouring agriculture in these regions.
In the 20th century, Argentina experienced significant political turmoil and democratic reversals.[178][179] Between 1930 and 1976, the armed forces overthrew six governments in Argentina;[179] and the country alternated periods of democracy (1912–1930, 1946–1955, and 1973–1976) with periods of restricted democracy and military rule.[178] Following a transition that began in 1983,[180] full-scale democracy in Argentina was reestablished.[178][179] Argentina’s democracy endured through the 2001–02 crisis and to the present day; it is regarded as more robust than both its pre-1983 predecessors and other democracies in Latin America.[179] According to the V-Dem Democracy indices, Argentina in 2023 was the second most electoral democratic country in Latin America.[181]
The federal government is composed of three branches. The Legislative branch consists of the bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The Congress makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties and has the power of the purse and of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government.[187] The Chamber of Deputies represents the people and has 257 voting members elected to a four-year term. Seats are apportioned among the provinces by population every tenth year.[188] As of 2014 ten provinces have just five deputies while the Buenos Aires Province, being the most populous one, has 70. The Chamber of Senators represents the provinces, and has 72 members elected at-large to six-year terms, with each province having three seats; one-third of Senate seats are up for election every other year.[189] At least one-third of the candidates presented by the parties must be women.
In the Executive branch, the President is the commander-in-chief of the military, can vetolegislative bills before they become law—subject to Congressional override—and appoints the members of the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.[190] The President is elected directly by the vote of the people, serves a four-year term and may be elected to office no more than twice in a row.[191]
The Judicial branch includes the Supreme Court and lower federal courts interpret laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional.[192] The Judicial is independent of the Executive and the Legislative. The Supreme Court has seven members appointed by the President—subject to Senate approval—who serve for life. The lower courts’ judges are proposed by the Council of Magistracy (a secretariat composed of representatives of judges, lawyers, researchers, the Executive and the Legislative), and appointed by the president on Senate approval.[193]
Argentina is a federation of twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. Provinces are divided for administration purposes into departments and municipalities, except for Buenos Aires Province, which is divided into partidos. The City of Buenos Aires is divided into communes.
Provinces hold all the power that they chose not to delegate to the federal government;[194] they must be representative republics and must not contradict the Constitution.[195] Beyond this they are fully autonomous: they enact their own constitutions,[196] freely organize their local governments,[197] and own and manage their natural and financial resources.[198] Some provinces have bicameral legislatures, while others have unicameral ones.[N]
La Pampa and Chaco became provinces in 1951. Misiones did so in 1953, and Formosa, Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz, in 1955. The last national territory, Tierra del Fuego, became the Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province in 1990.[200] It has three components, although two are nominal because they are not under Argentine sovereignty. The first is the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego; the second is an area of Antarctica claimed by Argentina that overlaps with similar areas claimed by the UK and Chile; the third comprises the two disputed British Overseas Territories of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.[201]
A prominent Latin American[22] and Southern Cone[23]regional power, Argentina co-founded OEI and CELAC. It is also a founding member of the Mercosur block, having Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela as partners. Since 2002 the country has emphasized its key role in Latin American integration, and the block—which has some supranational legislative functions—is its first international priority.[204]
The president holds the title of commander-in-chief of the Argentine Armed Forces, as part of a legal framework that imposes a strict separation between national defence and internal security systems:[210][211] The National Defence System, an exclusive responsibility of the federal government,[212] coordinated by the Ministry of Defence, and comprising the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.[213] Ruled and monitored by Congress[214] through the Houses’ Defence Committees,[215] it is organized on the essential principle of legitimate self-defence: the repelling of any external military aggression in order to guarantee freedom of the people, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity.[215] Its secondary missions include committing to multinational operations within the framework of the United Nations, participating in internal support missions, assisting friendly countries, and establishing a sub-regional defence system.[215]
Military service is voluntary, with enlistment age between 18 and 24 years old and no conscription.[216] Argentina’s defence has historically been one of the best equipped in the region, even managing its own weapon research facilities, shipyards, ordnance, tank and plane factories.[217] However, real military expenditures declined steadily after the defeat in the Falklands/Malvinas War and the defence budget in 2011 was only about 0.74% of GDP, a historical minimum,[218] below the Latin American average. Within the defence budget itself, funding for training and even basic maintenance has been significantly cut, a factor contributing to the accidental loss of the Argentine submarine San Juan in 2017. The result has been a steady erosion of Argentine military capabilities, with some arguing that Argentina had, by the end of the 2010s, ceased to be a capable military power.[219]
The Interior Security System is jointly administered by the federal and subscribing provincial governments.[211] At the federal level it is coordinated by the Interior, Security and Justice ministries, and monitored by Congress.[211] It is enforced by the Federal Police; the Prefecture, which fulfills coast guard duties; the Gendarmerie, which serves border guard tasks; and the Airport Security Police.[220] At the provincial level it is coordinated by the respective internal security ministries and enforced by local police agencies.[211]
Argentina was the only South American country to send warships and cargo planes in 1991 to the Gulf War under UN mandate and has remained involved in peacekeeping efforts in multiple locations such as UNPROFOR in Croatia/Bosnia, Gulf of Fonseca, UNFICYP in Cyprus (where among Army and Marines troops the Air Force provided the UN Air contingent since 1994) and MINUSTAH in Haiti. Argentina is the only Latin American country to maintain troops in Kosovo during SFOR (and later EUFOR) operations where combat engineers of the Argentine Armed Forces are embedded in an Italian brigade.
In 2007, an Argentine contingent including helicopters, boats and water purification plants was sent to help Bolivia against their worst floods in decades.[221] In 2010 the Armed Forces were also involved in Haiti and Chile humanitarian responses after their respective earthquakes.
Benefiting from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, a diversified industrial base, and an export-oriented agricultural sector, the economy of Argentina is Latin America’s third-largest,[222] and the second-largest in South America.[223] Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world, on the 20th century in 1913 it was one of the wealthiest countries in the world by GDP per capita[224] It has a “very high” rating on the Human Development Index[13] and ranks 66th by nominal GDP per capita,[225] with a considerable internal market size and a growing share of the high-tech sector. As a middle emerging economy and one of the world’s top developing nations, it is a member of the G-20 major economies.[226][O]
Argentina is the largest producer in the world of yerba-maté (due to the large domestic consumption of maté), one of the five largest producers in the world of soybeans, maize, sunflower seed, lemon and pear, one of the ten largest producers in the world of barley, grape, artichoke, tobacco and cotton, and one of the 15 largest producers in the world of wheat, sugarcane, sorghum and grapefruit. It is the largest producer in South America of wheat, sunflower seed, barley, lemon and pear.[228][229] In wine, Argentina is usually among the ten largest producers in the world.[230] Argentina is also a traditional meat exporter, having been, in 2019, the 4th world producer of beef, with a production of 3 million tons (only behind US, Brazil and China), the 4th world producer of honey, and the 10th world producer of wool, in addition to other relevant productions.[231][232]
The mining industry of Argentina is less prominent compared to other countries but stands out as the fourth-largest producer of lithium,[233] the 11th-largest of silver[234] and 17th-largest of gold[235] worldwide. The country also excels in natural gas production, being the largest producer in South America and the 18th-largest globally. Additionally Argentina produces an average of 500,000 barrels/day of petroleum, despite the under-utilization of the Vaca Muerta field due to technical and financial limitations in resource extraction.[236][237]
In 2012, manufacturing accounted for 20.3% of GDP—the largest sector in the nation’s economy.[238] Well-integrated into Argentine agriculture, half of the industrial exports have rural origin.[238] With a 6.5% production growth rate in 2011,[239] the diversified manufacturing sector rests on a steadily growing network of industrial parks (314 as of 2013)[240][241] In 2012 the leading sectors by volume were: food processing, beverages and tobacco products; motor vehicles and auto parts; textiles and leather; refinery products and biodiesel; chemicals and pharmaceuticals; steel, aluminium and iron; industrial and farm machinery; home appliances and furniture; plastics and tires; glass and cement; and recording and print media.[238] In addition, Argentina has since long been one of the top five wine-producing countries in the world.[238]
High inflation—a weakness of the Argentine economy for decades—has become a trouble once again,[242] with an annual rate of 24.8% in 2017.[243] In 2023 the inflation reached 102.5% among the highest inflation rates in the world.[244] Approximately 43% of the Argentina’s population lives below the poverty line as of 2023.[245] To deter it and support the peso, the government imposed foreign currency control.[246]Income distribution, having improved since 2002, is classified as “medium”, although it is still considerably unequal.[12] In January 2024, Argentina’s poverty rate reached 57.4%, the highest poverty rate in the country since 2004.[247]
Argentina ranks 85th out of 180 countries in the Transparency International‘s 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index,[248] an improvement of 22 positions over its 2014 rankings.[249] Argentina settled its long-standing debt default crisis in 2016 with the so-called vulture funds after the election of Mauricio Macri, allowing Argentina to enter capital markets for the first time in a decade.[250] The government of Argentina defaulted on 22 May 2020 by failing to pay a $500 million bill by its due date to its creditors. Negotiations for the restructuring of $66 billion of its debt continue.[251]
Poverty in Argentina was 41.7 percent at the end of the second half of 2023.[252] However, in November 2024, Argentina’s monthly inflation rate slowed to 2.4%, the lowest in over four years. Annual inflation was expected to end 2024 closer to 100%.[253] Favourable results and normalization in Argentina’s economy are expected to continue in 2025. The annual inflation rate, which was 211% in 2023, is expected to be below 30% in 2025. Economic activity has also begun to recover after the severe recession at the beginning of 2024. The economy is expected to expand by more than 4% in 2025.[254]
The country had 5.57 million visitors in 2013, ranking in terms of international tourist arrivals as the top destination in South America, and second in Latin America after Mexico.[255] Revenues from international tourists reached US$4.41 billion in 2013, down from US$4.89 billion in 2012.[255] The country’s capital city, Buenos Aires, is the most visited city in South America.[256] There are 30 National Parks of Argentina including many World Heritage Sites.
By 2004 Buenos Aires, all provincial capitals except Ushuaia, and all medium-sized towns were interconnected by 69,412 km (43,131 mi) of paved roads, out of a total road network of 231,374 km (143,769 mi).[257] In 2021, the country had about 2,800 km (1,740 mi) of dual carriageways, most leaving the capital Buenos Aires, linking it with cities such as Rosario and Córdoba, Santa Fe, Mar del Plata and Paso de los Libres (in border with Brazil), there are also dual carriageways leaving from Mendoza towards the capital, and between Córdoba and Santa Fé, among other locations.[258] Nevertheless, this road infrastructure is still inadequate and cannot handle the sharply growing demand caused by deterioration of the railway system.[259]
Argentina has the largest railway system in Latin America, with 36,966 km (22,970 mi) of operating lines in 2008, out of a full network of almost 48,000 km (29,826 mi).[260] This system links all 23 provinces plus Buenos Aires City, and connects with all neighbouring countries.[259] There are four incompatible gauges in use; this forces virtually all interregional freight traffic to pass through Buenos Aires.[259] The system has been in decline since the 1940s: regularly running up large budgetary deficits, by 1991 it was transporting 1,400 times less goods than it did in 1973.[259] However, in recent years the system has experienced a greater degree of investment from the state, in both commuter rail lines and long-distance lines, renewing rolling stock and infrastructure.[261][262] In April 2015, by overwhelming majority the Argentine Senate passed a law which re-created Ferrocarriles Argentinos (2015), effectively re-nationalizing the country’s railways, a move which saw support from all major political parties on both sides of the political spectrum.[263][264][265]
In 2012 there were about 11,000 km (6,835 mi) of waterways,[266] mostly comprising the La Plata, Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay rivers, with Buenos Aires, Zárate, Campana, Rosario, San Lorenzo, Santa Fe, Barranqueras and San Nicolas de los Arroyos as the main fluvial ports. Some of the largest sea ports are La Plata–Ensenada, Bahía Blanca, Mar del Plata, Quequén–Necochea, Comodoro Rivadavia, Puerto Deseado, Puerto Madryn, Ushuaia and San Antonio Oeste. Buenos Aires has historically been the most important port; however since the 1990s the Up-River port region has become dominant: stretching along 67 km (42 mi) of the Paraná river shore in Santa Fe province, it includes 17 ports and in 2013 accounted for 50% of all exports.
In 2020, more than 60% of Argentina’s electricity came from non-renewable sources such as natural gas, oil and coal. 27% came from hydropower, 7.3% from wind and solar energy and 4.4% from nuclear energy.[271] At the end of 2021 Argentina was the 21st country in the world in terms of installed hydroelectric power (11.3 GW), the 26th country in the world in terms of installed wind energy (3.2 GW) and the 43rd country in the world in terms of installed solar energy (1.0 GW).[272]
The wind potential of the Patagonia region is considered gigantic, with estimates that the area could provide enough electricity to sustain the consumption of a country like Brazil alone. However, Argentina has faces infrastructural challenges in transferring electricity from wind-rich rural areas to its population hubs[273]
In 1974 it was the first country in Latin America to put in-line a commercial nuclear power plant, Atucha I. Although the Argentine-built parts for that station amounted to 10% of the total, the nuclear fuel it uses are since entirely built in the country. Later nuclear power stations employed a higher percentage of Argentine-built components; Embalse, finished in 1983, a 30% and the 2011 Atucha II reactor a 40%.[274]
Argentina’s nuclear programme has been highly successful. In 1957 Argentina was the first country in Latin America to design and build a research reactor with homegrown technology, the RA-1 Enrico Fermi. This reliance on the development of its own nuclear-related technologies, instead of buying them abroad, was a constant of Argentina’s nuclear programme conducted by the civilian National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA). Nuclear facilities with Argentine technology have been built in Peru, Algeria, Australia and Egypt. In 1983, the country admitted having the capability of producing weapon-grade uranium, a major step needed to assemble nuclear weapons; since then, however, Argentina has pledged to use nuclear power only for peaceful purposes.[275] As a member of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Argentina has been a strong voice in support of nuclear non-proliferation efforts[276] and is highly committed to global nuclear security.[277]
Despite its modest budget and numerous setbacks, academics and the sciences in Argentina have enjoyed international respect since the turn of the 1900s, when Luis Agote devised the first safe and effective means of blood transfusion as well as René Favaloro, who was a pioneer in the improvement of the coronary artery bypass surgery. Argentine scientists are still on the cutting edge in fields such as nanotechnology, physics, computer sciences, molecular biology, oncology, ecology and cardiology. Juan Maldacena, an Argentine-American scientist, is a leading figure in string theory.
Space research has also become increasingly active in Argentina. Argentine-built satellites include LUSAT-1 (1990), Víctor-1 (1996), PEHUENSAT-1 (2007),[278] and those developed by CONAE, the Argentine space agency, of the SAC series.[279] Argentina has its own satellite programme, nuclear power station designs (4th generation) and public nuclear energy company INVAP, which provides several countries with nuclear reactors.[280] Established in 1991, the CONAE has since launched two satellites successfully and,[281] in June 2009, secured an agreement with the European Space Agency for the installation of a 35-m diametre antenna and other mission support facilities at the Pierre Auger Observatory, the world’s foremost cosmic ray observatory.[282] The facility will contribute to numerous ESA space probes, as well as CONAE’s own, domestic research projects. Chosen from 20 potential sites and one of only three such ESA installations in the world, the new antenna will create a triangulation which will allow the ESA to ensure mission coverage around the clock[283] Argentina was ranked 76th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024.[284]
Population density map of Argentina in the 2022 census
The 2022 census [INDEC] conducted by the counted 46,044,703 inhabitants, up from 40,117,096 in 2010.[10][285][286] Argentina ranks third in South America in total population, fourth in Latin America and 33rd globally. Its population density of 15 persons per square kilometre of land area is well below the world average of 50 persons. The population growth rate in 2010 was an estimated 1.03% annually, with a birth rate of 17.7 live births per 1,000 inhabitants and a mortality rate of 7.4 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. Since 2010, the crude net migration rate has ranged from below zero to up to four immigrants per 1,000 inhabitants per year.[287]
Argentina is in the midst of a demographic transition to an older and slower-growing population. The proportion of people under 15 is 25.6%, a little below the world average of 28%, and the proportion of people 65 and older is relatively high at 10.8%. In Latin America, this is second only to Uruguay and well above the world average, which is currently 7%. Argentina has a comparatively low infant mortality rate. Its birth rate of 2.3 children per woman is considerably below the high of 7.0 children born per woman in 1895,[288] though still nearly twice as high as in Spain or Italy, which are culturally and demographically similar.[289][290] The median age is 31.9 years and life expectancy at birth is 77.14 years.[291]
Attitudes towards LGBT people are generally positive within Argentina.[292] In 2010, Argentina became the first country in Latin America, the second in the Americas, and the tenth worldwide to legalize same-sex marriage.[293][294]
The cacique QomFélix Díaz meets with then president Mauricio Macri.
Argentina is considered a country of immigrants.[295][296][297] Argentines usually refer to the country as a crisol de razas (crucible of races, or melting pot). A 2010 study conducted on 218 individuals by the Argentine geneticist Daniel Corach established that the average genetic ancestry of Argentines is 79% European (mainly Italian and Spanish), 18% indigenous and 4.3% African; 63.6% of the tested group had at least one ancestor who was Indigenous.[298][299] The majority of Argentines descend from multiple European ethnic groups, primarily of Italian and Spanish descent, with over 25 million Argentines (almost 60% of the population) having some partial Italian origins.[300]
Argentina is also home to a notable Asian population, the majority of whom are descended from either West Asians (namely Lebanese and Syrians)[301] or East Asians (such as the Chinese,[302]Koreans, and the Japanese).[303] The latter of whom number around 180,000 individuals. The total number of Arab Argentines (most of whom are of Lebanese or Syrian origin) is estimated to be 1.3 to 3.5 million. Many immigrated from various Asian countries to Argentina during the 19th century (especially during the latter half of the century) and the first half of the 20th century.[304][305] Most Arab Argentines belong to the Catholic Church (including both the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches) or the Eastern Orthodox Church. A minority are Muslims. There are 180,000 Alawites in Argentina.[306][307]
From the 1970s, immigration has mostly been coming from Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru, with smaller numbers from the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Romania.[308] The Argentine government estimates that 750,000 inhabitants lack official documents and has launched a programme[309] to encourage illegal immigrants to declare their status in return for two-year residence visas—so far over 670,000 applications have been processed under the programme.[310] As of July 2023, more than 18,500 Russians have come to Argentina after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[311]
The de facto[P] official language is Spanish, spoken by almost all Argentines.[312] The country is the largest Spanish-speaking society that universally employs voseo, the use of the pronounvos instead of tú (“you”), which imposes the use of alternative verb forms as well.
Owing to the extensive Argentine geography, Spanish has a strong variation among regions, although the prevalent dialect is Rioplatense, primarily spoken in the Pampean and Patagonian regions and accented similarly to the Neapolitan language.[313] Italian and other European immigrants influenced Lunfardo—the regional slang—permeating the vernacular vocabulary of other Latin American countries as well.
According to a 2008 CONICET poll, Argentines were 76.5% Catholic, 11.3% Agnostics and Atheists, 9% Evangelical Protestants, 1.2% Jehovah’s Witnesses, and 0.9% Mormons, while 1.2% followed other religions, including Islam, Judaism and Buddhism.[321] These figures appear to have changed quite significantly in recent years: data recorded in 2017 indicated that Catholics made up 66% of the population, indicating a drop of 10.5% in nine years, and the nonreligious in the country standing at 21% of the population, indicating an almost doubling over the same period.[322]
Argentines show high individualization and de-institutionalization of religious beliefs;[324] 23.8% claim to always attend religious services; 49.1% seldom do and 26.8% never do.[325]
Healthcare is provided through a combination of employer and labour union-sponsored plans (Obras Sociales), government insurance plans, public hospitals and clinics and through private health insurance plans. Healthcare cooperatives number over 300 (of which 200 are related to labour unions) and provide healthcare for half the population; the national INSSJP (popularly known as PAMI) covers nearly all of the five million senior citizens.[327]
There are more than 153,000 hospital beds, 121,000 physicians and 37,000 dentists (ratios comparable to developed nations).[328][329] The relatively high access to medical care has historically resulted in mortality patterns and trends similar to developed nations’: from 1953 to 2005, deaths from cardiovascular disease increased from 20% to 23% of the total, those from tumors from 14% to 20%, respiratory problems from 7% to 14%, digestive maladies (non-infectious) from 7% to 11%, strokes a steady 7%, injuries, 6%, and infectious diseases, 4%. Causes related to senility led to many of the rest. Infant deaths have fallen from 19% of all deaths in 1953 to 3% in 2005.[328][330]
The availability of healthcare has also reduced infant mortality from 70 per 1000 live births in 1948[331] to 12.1 in 2009[328] and raised life expectancy at birth from 60 years to 76.[331] Though these figures compare favourably with global averages, they fall short of levels in developed nations and in 2006, Argentina ranked fourth in Latin America.[329]
The Argentine education system consists of four levels.[332] An initial level for children between 45 days to 5 years old, with the last two years[333] being compulsory. An elementary or lower school mandatory level lasting 6 or 7 years.[T] In 2010 the literacy rate was 98.07%.[334] A secondary or high school mandatory level lasting 5 or 6 years.[T] In 2010 38.5% of people over age 20 had completed secondary school.[335] A higher level, divided in tertiary, university and post-graduate sub-levels. in 2013 there were 47 national public universities across the country, as well as 46 private ones.[336]
In 2010 7.1% of people over age 20 had graduated from university.[335] The public universities of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, La Plata, Rosario, and the National Technological University are some of the most important. The Argentine state guarantees universal, secular and free-of-charge public education for all levels.[U] Responsibility for educational supervision is organized at the federal and individual provincial states. In the last decades the role of the private sector has grown across all educational stages.
Argentina is highly urbanized, with 92% of its population living in cities:[337] the ten largest metropolitan areas account for half of the population. About 3 million people live in the city of Buenos Aires, and including the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area it totals around 13 million, making it one of the largest urban areas in the world.[338] The metropolitan areas of Córdoba and Rosario have around 1.3 million inhabitants each.[338] Mendoza, San Miguel de Tucumán, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Salta and Santa Fe have at least half a million people each.[338]
The population is unequally distributed: about 60% live in the Pampas region (21% of the total area), including 15 million people in Buenos Aires province. The provinces of Córdoba and Santa Fe, and the city of Buenos Aires have 3 million each. Seven other provinces have over one million people each: Mendoza, Tucumán, Entre Ríos, Salta, Chaco, Corrientes and Misiones. With 64.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (167/sq mi), Tucumán is the only Argentine province more densely populated than the world average; by contrast, the southern province of Santa Cruz has around 1.1/km2 (2.8/sq mi).[339]
vteLargest cities or towns in Argentina (2021 INDEC metro area estimate)[340]
Argentina is a multicultural country with significant European influences. Modern Argentine culture has been largely influenced by Italian, Spanish and other European immigration from France, Russia, United Kingdom, among others. Its cities are largely characterized by both the prevalence of people of European descent, and of conscious imitation of American and European styles in fashion, architecture and design.[341] Museums, cinemas, and galleries are abundant in all the large urban centres, as well as traditional establishments such as literary bars, or bars offering live music of a variety of genres although there are lesser elements of Amerindian and African influences, particularly in the fields of music and art.[342] The other big influence is the gauchos and their traditional country lifestyle of self-reliance.[343] Finally, indigenous American traditions have been absorbed into the general cultural milieu. Argentine writer Ernesto Sabato has reflected on the nature of the culture of Argentina as follows:
With the primitive Hispanic American reality fractured in La Plata Basin due to immigration, its inhabitants have come to be somewhat dual with all the dangers but also with all the advantages of that condition: because of our European roots, we deeply link the nation with the enduring values of the Old World; because of our condition of Americans we link ourselves to the rest of the continent, through the folklore of the interior and the old Castilian that unifies us, feeling somehow the vocation of the Patria Grande San Martín and Bolívar once imagined.
Although Argentina’s rich literary history began around 1550,[345] it reached full independence with Esteban Echeverría‘s El Matadero, a romantic landmark that played a significant role in the development of 19th century’s Argentine narrative,[346] split by the ideological divide between the popular, federalist epic of José Hernández‘ Martín Fierro and the elitist and cultured discourse of Sarmiento‘s masterpiece, Facundo.[347]
Buenos Aires is one of the great theatre capitals of the world,[361] with a scene of international caliber centred on Corrientes Avenue, “the street that never sleeps”, sometimes referred to as the Broadway of Buenos Aires.[362]Teatro Colón is a global landmark for opera and classical performances; its acoustics are considered among the world’s top five.[363][V]
The Argentine film industry has historically been one of the three most developed in Latin American cinema, along with those produced in Mexico and Brazil.[364][365] Started in 1896; by the early 1930s it had already become Latin America’s leading film producer, a place it kept until the early 1950s.[366] The world’s first animated feature films were made and released in Argentina, by cartoonist Quirino Cristiani, in 1917 and 1918.[367]
In 1946 Gyula Košice and others created The Madí Movement in Argentina, which then spread to Europe and the United States, where it had a significant impact.[370] Tomás Maldonado was one of the main theorists of the Ulm Model of design education, still highly influential globally. Other Argentine artists of worldwide fame include Adolfo Bellocq, whose lithographs have been influential since the 1920s, and Benito Quinquela Martín, the quintessential port painter, inspired by the immigrant-bound La Boca neighbourhood. Internationally laureate sculptors Erminio Blotta, Lola Mora and Rogelio Yrurtia authored many of the classical evocative monuments of the Argentine cityscape.[citation needed]
The colonization brought the Spanish Baroque architecture, which can still be appreciated in its simpler Rioplatense style in the reduction of San Ignacio Miní, the Cathedral of Córdoba, and the Cabildo of Luján. Italian and French influences increased at the beginning of the 19th century with strong eclectic overtones that gave the local architecture a unique feeling.[371]
Headquarters of the Channel 7, the first television station in the country
The print media industry is highly developed in Argentina, with more than two hundred newspapers. The major national ones include Clarín (centrist, Latin America’s best-seller and the second most widely circulated in the Spanish-speaking world), La Nación (centre-right, published since 1870), Página/12 (leftist, founded in 1987), La Voz del Interior (centre, founded in 1904).[372][373]
The Argentine television industry is large, diverse and popular across Latin America, with many productions and TV formats having been exported abroad. Since 1999 Argentines enjoy the highest availability of cable and satellite television in Latin America,[376] as of 2014 totaling 87.4% of the country’s households, a rate similar to those in the United States, Canada and Europe.[377]
By 2011 Argentina also had the highest coverage of networked telecommunications among Latin American powers: about 67% of its population had internet access and the ratio of mobile phone subscriptions to population was 137.2%.[378][better source needed]
Besides many of the pasta, sausage and dessert dishes common to continental Europe, Argentines enjoy a wide variety of Indigenous and Criollo creations, including empanadas (a small stuffed pastry), locro (a mixture of corn, beans, meat, bacon, onion, and gourd), humita and mate.[379] In various localities of Argentina, this dish is consumed as a beefmelt.
Tennis has been quite popular among people of all ages. Guillermo Vilas is the greatest Latin American player of the Open Era,[396] while Gabriela Sabatini is the most accomplished Argentine female player of all time—having reached number 3 in the WTA ranking,[397] are both inductees into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.[398] Argentina has won the World Team Cup four times, in 1980, 2002, 2007 and 2010 and has reached the semifinals of the Davis Cup 7 times in the last 10 years, losing the finals against Russia in 2006 and Spain in 2008 and 2011; the Argentine team also played the final in 1981, where they lost against the United States. The national squad won the 2016 Davis Cup.
Argentina reigns undisputed in polo, having won more international championships than any other country and been seldom beaten since the 1930s.[399] The Argentine Polo Championship is the sport’s most important international team trophy. The country is home to most of the world’s top players, among them Adolfo Cambiaso, the best in Polo history.[400]
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