- Argentina is the world’s eighth-largest nation by area, with 2.8 million square kilometres, though with a population of just over 40 million – one-third of whom live in Greater Buenos Aires – it is one of the least densely populated countries in the world (India’s density is 26 times greater, Singapore’s over 500 times).
- Argentina not only produces the finest beef on earth, but it also is one of the world’s leading producers of lemons, wheat, wine and genetically modified soya. Around half of the country’s arable land is planted with the latter crop.
- Five Argentines have been honoured with Nobel Prizes, including three in the sciences: Bernardo A. Houssay (Medicine and Physiology, 1947), Luis F. Leloir (Chemistry, 1970) and César Milstein (Medicine and Physiology, 1984). Two Argentines have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: Carlos Saavedra Lamas (politician, 1936) and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (architect, sculptor and human-rights activist, 1980).
- Argentina has one of the world’s most vibrant film industries and has twice carried off an Oscar for best foreign language film: La historia oficial (The Official Story) in 1985 and El secreto de sus ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes) in 2010.
- Just over two-fifths of Argentina’s lower house of parliament (following 2009 elections) is female – the sixth-highest ratio in the world, according to Inter-Parliamentary Union figures.
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