COOL FACTS ABOUT ARGENTINA

THE NAME ARGENTINA COMES FROM THE

LATIN WORD FOR SILVER, ARGENTUM. THE

ORIGINAL EUROPEAN SETTLERS BELIEVED

THE COUNTRY WAS FULL OF SILVER, BUT

THE RUMOUR WAS NEVER VERIFIED

STATISTICALLY, ARGENTINA HAS THE LARGEST

WHITE (OF EUROPEAN ANCESTRY) POPULATION

OF ANY NATION IN THE AMERICAS. ACCORDING

TO THE NATION’S 2010 CENSUS, NEARLY NINETY

SEVEN PERCENT OF ARGENTINA’S POPULATION

(38 MILLION OUT OF 40) WAS FOUND TO BE OF

EUROPEAN OR MOSTLY EUROPEAN DESCENT

LIONEL MESSI IS WIDELY CONSIDERED THE

GREATEST FOOTBALLER IN THE WORLD FOR

THIS GENERATION, BUT THIS IS COMMON

KNOWLEDGE AMONG SPORTS FANS. WHAT

MOST DON’T KNOW, HOWEVER, IS THAT

OFFICIALS IN ROSARIO, MESSI’S HOMETOWN,

HAVE BANNED PARENTS FROM NAMING THEIR

CHILDREN “MESSI” BECAUSE THEY WERE

AFRAID IT WOULD CAUSE TOO MUCH

CONFUSION FOR THE LOCALS

ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR DANCES IN THE

WORLD, THE TANGO ORIGINATED IN THE

SLAUGHTERHOUSE DISTRICT OF BUENOS AIRES

AROUND THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

SOMETIMES DESCRIBED AS “MAKING LOVE IN

A VERTICAL POSITION,” IT WAS THOUGHT TO

ORIGINALLY BE A DANCE FOR MEN. HOWEVER,

IN THE PORT COMMUNITY OF BUENOS AIRES,

FEMALE PROSTITUTES BECAME THE FIRST

OFFICIAL TANGO DANCERS IN HISTORY TO

SEDUCE THEIR CLIENTS

BETWEEN 1974 AND 1983, UP TO THIRTY THOUSAND

PEOPLE WENT “MISSING” IN ARGENTINA. MOST

WERE KILLED BY THE MILITARY JUNTA RUNNING

THE COUNTRY. ALSO, DURING THAT

DICTATORSHIP, OPPONENTS WERE PUSHED

OUT OF PLANES ALIVE WITH WEIGHTS

ATTACHED TO THEIR FEET SO NO BODIES

WOULD BE FOUND AS EVIDENCE

ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS FIRST LADIES IN

HISTORY AND THE MOST ADMIRED AND LOVED

IN ARGENTINA, EVA PERON (PORTRAYED BY

MADONNA IN THE 1996 FILM EVITA), BECAME A

GLOBAL SYMBOL OF FREEDOM AND FEMINISM

FOR HER POLITICAL BATTLES. CRISTINA

FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER, THE FIRST

ELECTED FEMALE PRESIDENT OF ARGENTINA

(2007–15), ONCE STATED THAT WOMEN OF

HER GENERATION OWE A DEBT TO EVA FOR

“HER EXAMPLE OF PASSION AND COMBATIVENESS.”

TO GET AN IDEA HOW MUCH THE ARGENTINES

LOVED EVA PERON, EIGHT PEOPLE WERE CRUSHED

TO DEATH AND MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND

INJURED FOLLOWING HER FUNERAL PROCESSION

ARGENTINA IS THE THIRD-BIGGEST PRODUCER

OF BEEF IN THE WORLD. IT PRODUCES

AROUND 2.8 TO 3.5 MILLION TONS A YEAR,

WHILE THE ARGENTINE STEAK IS FAMOUS

FOR BEING ONE OF THE BIGGEST AND

TASTIEST IN THE WORLD

ACONCAGUA MOUNTAIN IS NOT ONLY THE HIGHEST

POINT IN ARGENTINA BUT ALSO THE TALLEST

MOUNTAIN IN THE AMERICAS, MEASURING 22,841

FEET (6,962 METRES) HIGH. ACONCAGUA MEANS

“STONE GUARD” IN AN INDIGENOUS DIALECT