The 2008 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

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      total: 31,902 km broad gauge: 20,858 km 1.676-m gauge (141 km electrified) standard gauge: 2,885 km 1.435-m gauge (26 km electrified) narrow gauge: 7,922 km 1.000-m gauge; 237 km 0.750-m gauge (2006)

      Roadways:

      total: 231,374 km paved: 69,412 km (includes 734 km of expressways) unpaved: 161,962 km (2004)

      Waterways:

      11,000 km (2006)

      Merchant marine:

      total: 46 by type: bulk carrier 3, cargo 9, chemical tanker 2, container 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 24, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: 14 (Brazil 1, Chile 7, Spain 2, UK 4) registered in other countries: 19 (Liberia 3, Panama 8, Paraguay 5, Uruguay 3) (2008)

      Ports and terminals:

      Arroyo Seco, Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, La Plata, Punta Colorada,

       Rosario, San Lorenzo-San Martin

      Military

       Argentina

      Military branches:

      Argentine Army (Ejercito Argentino), Navy of the Argentine Republic

       (Armada Republica; includes naval aviation and naval infantry),

       Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Argentina, FAA) (2008)

      Military service age and obligation:

      18–24 years of age for voluntary military service (18–21 requires parental permission); no conscription (2001)

      Manpower available for military service:

      males age 16–49: 10,029,488 females age 16–49: 9,889,002 (2008 est.)

      Manpower fit for military service:

      males age 16–49: 8,352,147 females age 16–49: 8,366,781 (2008 est.)

      Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

      male: 348,310 female: 332,944 (2008 est.)

      Military expenditures:

      1.3% of GDP (2005 est.)

      Military - note:

      the Argentine military is a well-organized force constrained by the country's prolonged economic hardship; the country has recently experienced a strong recovery, and the military is implementing a modernization plan aimed at making the ground forces lighter and more responsive (2008)

      Transnational Issues

       Argentina

      Disputes - international:

      Argentina continues to assert its claims to the UK-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands in its constitution, forcibly occupying the Falklands in 1982, but in 1995 agreed no longer to seek settlement by force; territorial claim in Antarctica partially overlaps UK and Chilean claims; unruly region at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay borders is locus of money laundering, smuggling, arms and illegal narcotics trafficking, and fundraising for extremist organizations; uncontested dispute between Brazil and Uruguay over Braziliera/Brasiliera Island in the Quarai/Cuareim River leaves the tripoint with Argentina in question; in 2006, Argentina went to the ICJ to protest, on environmental grounds, the construction of two pulp mills in Uruguay on the Uruguay River, which forms the boundary; both parties presented their pleadings in 2007 with Argentina's reply in January and Uruguay's rejoinder in July 2008; the joint boundary commission, established by Chile and Argentina in 2001 has yet to map and demarcate the delimited boundary in the inhospitable Andean Southern Ice Field (Campo de Hielo Sur)

      Trafficking in persons:

      current situation: Argentina is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; most victims are trafficked within the country, from rural to urban areas; child sex tourism is a problem; foreign women and children, primarily from Paraguay, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic, are trafficked to Argentina for commercial sexual exploitation; Argentine women and girls are also trafficked to neighboring countries, Mexico, and Western Europe for sexual exploitation; a significant number of Bolivians, Peruvians, and Paraguayans are trafficked into the country for forced labor in sweatshops, agriculture, and as domestic servants tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - despite some progress, Argentina remains on the Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly in terms of providing adequate assistance to victims and curbing official complicity with trafficking activity, especially on the provincial and local levels; the Argentine Congress has demonstrated progress by enacting much-needed and first-ever federal anti-trafficking legislation (2008)

      Illicit drugs:

      a transshipment country for cocaine headed for Europe; some money-laundering activity, especially in the Tri-Border Area; law enforcement corruption; a source for precursor chemicals; increasing domestic consumption of drugs in urban centers, especially cocaine base and synthetic drugs

      This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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      @Armenia

      Introduction

       Armenia

      Background:

      Armenia prides itself on being the first nation to formally adopt Christianity (early 4th century). Despite periods of autonomy, over the centuries Armenia came under the sway of various empires including the Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Persian, and Ottoman. During World War I in the western portion of Armenia, Ottoman Turkey instituted a policy of forced resettlement coupled with other harsh practices that resulted in an estimated 1 million Armenian deaths. The eastern area of Armenia was ceded by the Ottomans to Russia in 1828; this portion declared its independence in 1918, but was conquered by the Soviet Red Army in 1920. Armenian leaders remain preoccupied by the long conflict with Muslim Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily Armenian-populated region, assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Moscow. Armenia and Azerbaijan began fighting over the area in 1988; the struggle escalated after both countries attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By May 1994, when a cease-fire took hold, Armenian forces held not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also a significant portion of Azerbaijan proper. The economies of both sides have been hurt by their inability to make substantial progress toward a peaceful resolution. Turkey imposed an economic blockade on Armenia and closed the common border because of the Armenian separatists' control of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas.

      Geography

       Armenia

      Location:

      Southwestern Asia, east of Turkey

      Geographic coordinates:

      40 00 N, 45 00 E

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