Argentina takes up most of southern South America, and is bordered by Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Paraguay. The land can be grouped into four regions: The Andes, the North, the Pampas, and the Patagonia. The Andes region is mountainous, with high altitudes, plateaus, and some volcanoes as well. The North is the hottest part of the country, and it has hills and valleys with poor drainage, so they flood in the summer.The Pampas region is a vast area of plains, very flat and without much vegetation. The Patagonia region is south of the Pampas, and it is a region of plateau, and cliffs where the plateau ends to the north and the south.
Climate
As you can see from this temperature map, the north is the hottest part of Argentina, and the south is the coldest. Argentina has summer in December to February, and winter from June to August.
The Andean region has a large range of temperatures. At lower elevations, the average temperature is 36 degrees, but at high up in the mountains, you can get tundra or even polar climates. The highest mountaintops are also covered in snow year-round.
The Pampas region has hot humid summers and cool mild winters. The average temperature in summer is about 22-24 degrees, and the average winter temperatures are 8-13 degrees. Snow is rare, and precipitation varies from 990-500 mm a year.
Argentina is unique because the coastline has an arid or desert climate, unlike any other country in the Southern Hemisphere. This is because the coastline is in the rain shadow zone of the Andes mountains. As you can see in the diagram below, the rain shadow zone is the side of the mountain that gets the dry, descending air from the mountain, and on the other side of the mountain there is lush vegetation and moist, rising air. The center of this rain-shadow zone gets twice the precipitation of the rest of the zone, because it is near the ocean and the ocean regulates the climate somewhat. Overall, it is a very dry, windy, dusty and treeless region.
The Andean region has a large range of temperatures. At lower elevations, the average temperature is 36 degrees, but at high up in the mountains, you can get tundra or even polar climates. The highest mountaintops are also covered in snow year-round.
The Pampas region has hot humid summers and cool mild winters. The average temperature in summer is about 22-24 degrees, and the average winter temperatures are 8-13 degrees. Snow is rare, and precipitation varies from 990-500 mm a year.
Argentina is unique because the coastline has an arid or desert climate, unlike any other country in the Southern Hemisphere. This is because the coastline is in the rain shadow zone of the Andes mountains. As you can see in the diagram below, the rain shadow zone is the side of the mountain that gets the dry, descending air from the mountain, and on the other side of the mountain there is lush vegetation and moist, rising air. The center of this rain-shadow zone gets twice the precipitation of the rest of the zone, because it is near the ocean and the ocean regulates the climate somewhat. Overall, it is a very dry, windy, dusty and treeless region.
Argentina is home to 40,134,425 people. Because of the large population, Argentina is a mainly urban country. The official language is Spanish, and there is also a large population that speak Native American languages like Southern Quecha. Argentina has many people from different ethnic backgrounds, much like the rest of the Americas. Most people are either of Italian or Spanish background. The majority (76.3%) of Argentines are Roman Catholic, 11.3% are not religious, 9% are Protestant, 1.2% Jehovah's Witnesses, and 0.9% are Mormons.