Argentina remains one of the favorite destinations of tourists from all over the world. From the Andes mountain ranges to football, the country is definitely a tempting recipe for adventure, arts, culture and charming architecture. Its natural resources are teeming with brilliance, which helped fauna to thrive and become part of the sights in this South American country. The Argentine culture offers a plethora of cuisines, sports, literature, arts, music and cinema to the New World. The city life also complements its rich history well, so you can see 20th century metallic facades in line with age- old cemeteries and churches.
Important and Interesting Facts about Argentina
- Argentine beef is famous around the world and Asado (an Argentine barbecue) is very popular in the country which has the highest consumption of red meat in the world.
- Home to 57,000 residents, Ushuaia, Argentina is the southernmost city in the world. Despite its unique geographical positioning, Ushuaia is not subjected to extreme weather conditions.
- Falls are comprised of over 275 cascades in the north of the country, on the border between Brazil and Argentina.
- Moving south to Patagonia brings us up against another extreme in landscape, the glaciers of Patagonia. One such glacier is the Perito Moreno Glacier, which is the third-largest reserve of fresh water in the world and one of only three glaciers in Patagonia that are growing and not shrinking.
- Located in the Mendoza province, the Aconcagua is the tallest mountain in both North and South America, measuring upwards of 6,962 meters (22,841.2 ft). It is considered a non-technical climb, and because of its height, many mountaineers consider it the highest non-technical climb on Earth.
- Penguins in Patagonia are the largest of the warm-weather penguins. These penguins were named after Ferdinand Magellan who first saw them in 1519 on his first voyage around the tip of South America. They live on the coast of Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands.
- Malbec is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. It is increasingly celebrated as an Argentine varietal wine and is being grown around the world.
- Argentina is the second largest country of South America after Brazil, and the 8th largest country in the world. Its total area is approximately 2.7 million km².
- There are over 30 national parks in Argentina.
Cool, Funny, and Fun Facts about Argentina
- The national sport of Argentina is Pato a game played on horseback. It takes aspects from polo and basketball. The word Pato is Spanish for ‘duck’ as early games used a live duck inside a basket instead of a ball.
- Argentina boasts the highest number of psychiatrists per capita of anywhere on earth. Buenos Aires even has its own psychoanalytic district – the appropriately named “Ville Freud”. It was determined that Argentina had 145 psychologists per 100,000 residents, far ahead of second place Denmark, Which boasts 85.
- Since Argentina is located in the Southern Hemisphere its climates are completely opposite than the climates in the Northern Hemisphere. When it is summer time in the United States, it is winter in Argentina.
- Do not give knives or scissors as they indicate a desire to sever the relationship. Gifts are opened immediately.
- Arrive 30 to 45 minutes later than invited for a dinner party. Arriving on time is not the norm. Telephone your hosts the following day to thank them.
- Always keep your hands visible when eating, but do not rest your elbows on the table. It is considered polite to leave a small amount of food on your plate when you have finished eating.
- Streets are Named After Dates. This can be very confusing when following a map and conversing about it to your travel partner. “Where do we turn?” “9th of October.” “I asked where do we turn at?” The dates are usually significant to the region, such as independence day and other holidays.
- Security Guards stand outside banks, museums, clothing stores, gas stations and sometimes even restaurants and they carry big menacing shotguns. This can be a bit intimidating at first, but it’s a safety precaution and quite normal.
- The rather scary sounding Argentine Vampire Duck has the tendency of taking off lice from other ducks and Christian missionaries thought that it was an act of vampirism!
- Argentina doesn’t have a tooth fairy; instead during the night a mouse called ‘El Raton Perez’ comes and takes the tooth in exchange for coins.
- The nation’s president automatically becomes the godparent of the seventh born son to any family in the country. In 1907 a Russian immigrant believed that this would reverse the curse of the werewolf in his family.
Historical and Cultural Facts about Argentina
- The latin dance and music known as tango originated in the slaughterhouse district of Buenos Aires at the end of the nineteenth century. Combining African rhythms with Argentine Milonga music (a fast-paced version of the polka), the sensual dance was initially looked upon with disdain by Argentina’s high society.
- Argentina is the Latin American country that has the most Nobel Prize winners. Five people from Argentina have won Nobel Prizes in the categories of science and peace.
- Argentine cartoonist Quirino Cristiani made and released the world’s first two animated feature films in 1917 and 1918.
- The most popular sport in Argentina is football (soccer), the Argentine national team has won the football World Cup twice in 1978 and 1986.
- Friend’s Day is an official holiday in Buenos Aires, although it is not a national public holiday. In the early 1970s, an Argentinian scholar founded Dia del Amigo after he felt connected to everyone on Earth when Apollo 11 landed on the moon.
- Paleontologists flock to Argentina each year to participate in archeological digs. The oldest dinosaur species ever to be identified was traced back to both Argentina and Brazil. For this reason, many paleontologists travel to Argentina to search for more clues about this rare dinosaur and others.
- Argentina was the first country to utilize fingerprinting in order to determine if a person was guilty of a crime. The first instance of fingerprinting occurred after a particularly gruesome murder occurred in a small Argentinean town. The murder was not witnessed by anyone; however the murderer left a bloody fingerprint at the crime scene. The police used the bloody fingerprint to correctly identify the murderer.
- In 1931, Quirino Cristiani created the very first animated film with sound. Peludópoliswas another political satire made with Cristiani’s trademark cardboard cutout technique.
- Cuban revolutionary and counter-culture idol Che Guevarra is not actually of Cuban descent having been born in Argentina’s third largest City Rosario.
- Argentina was one of the first countries in the world to have radio broadcasting. The country’s first broadcast was made in August 1920. At that time only 20 people had a receiver!
- Adults and children both travel home after lunch each day to take a siesta. Siestas are short naps that people all around the country partake in. During siestas many businesses and schools close down, and everyone in the country relaxes. There are even a few hotels in the capital city that rent rooms specifically for siestas.
