Geography Report On Argentina: Economic, Environmental, And Population Aspects

For you chosen country you will include the following items in your report:

1) Description of the Country, include where it is in the world and a brief introduction.

You will then discuss the country in terms of 5 aspects of Geography: physical geography, cultural geography, economic geography, environmental geography and population geography. 

1) Physical Geography - Identify 2 unique landforms found in the country, describe them and identify how they were formed. 
2) Cultural Geography - Identify 2 unique cultural features of the country and describe them. This could Include language, religion, traditions, etc. 
3) Economic Geography - Identify and describe the main economic industry of the country and describe how the economics have changed over time for that country. For example, has the main industry changed or has the GDP changed and why has it changed. 
4) Environmental Geography - Identify and describe 2 environmental issues of the country. Describe why they are occurring and the impact that they are having on the country. 
5) Population Geography-Describe 2 important population features of the country. This could be population growth trends, population distribution, ethnic population demographics, etc. 

Economic Geography

Argentina is a country situated in the southern half of South America. It shares the southern cone bulk with Chile and also borders Paraguay and Bolivia to the north. Other bordering countries include Brazil and Uruguay. It has an approximated mainland area of 2780400 square kilometers thus rated as the eighth largest country in the world. The country has 23provincesand an autonomous city, the Buenos Aires, which is also the country’s capital city. The national language for the country is Spanish. Up to 92% of the locals are of the Roman Catholic religion, followed by the protestant and Jewish religion each making up of 2% of the population. The white Mestizo is the largest ethnic group in the country accounting for up to 96.7%. The country is governed through a federal president elected constitutionally. The country is known for several specific cultural practices that are mainly associated with the argentines.

Argentina is mainly regarded as a mixed economy. The country has been witnessing both highs and lows in their economy over the past years. It is classified by the World Bank as a high income economy which implies that their income per capita exceeds $12,475. The gross national product (GDP) for Argentina during the year 2015 was measured at $630.4 billion and a GDP per capita of $14,617. The country’s economy is dependent on diverse sectors. The largest contributor towards GDP is the business, service and social sector that represents up to 33.3% of the total GDP. Manufacturing sector follows making up of 17.2% of the GDP. The leading industries within the country are the food processing, pharmaceuticals, appliances and electronics, textiles, cement as well as tobacco products.  The cities of Cordoba and Buenos Aires are the major industrial areas. The annual growth rate of the largest industry in the country has been experiencing rises and falls over the past decades. In 2001, the industry accounted for up to 16% of the country’s total GDP. In 2002, the value rose to 20%. A similar increase rate has been witnessed over the years symbolizing how valuable the industry is to the country’s economy. There still exist a number of challenges that face the economy of Argentina. The business and service sector mainly relies on agricultural products, agriculture therefore plays a major role towards the country’s economy given that both livestock and crops account for much of the processing that are required by these industries. Increasing the investment in agricultural sector will therefore play a major role in improving the country’s economy. The economy has constantly experienced recessions that have prevented the growth of the economy from making relevant and important advances. This has therefore led to increased gap that exists between the poor and the rich. The challenges also account for the decline in the country’s GDP in different years. The changes in the country’s GDP may also be due to the change in the main economic industry of the country that is mainly facilitated by the increasing investments in the agricultural sector.

Environmental Geography

The major environmental issues that Argentina faces are pollution and deforestation.

Argentina experiences a massive percentage of environment pollution that is not common with most countries with upper-middle income development. Environmental pollution in this country mainly arises from the steady increase in industrial development and urban population. Besides the above two factors, it is also worthy to note that the country does not have proper regulatory framework put in place to help reduce the cases of environmental pollution. The also still exists a big margin in setting up and maintenance of sanitary and waste management infrastructure. Other causes of pollution, for instance the city of Buenos Aires, is the high concentration of unregulated cars that continuously releases emissions during peak hours when it mixes with nearby power station emissions. This greatly contributes to air pollution that is commonly faced by city dwellers. The major types of pollution witnessed in the country are soil and air pollution. The increased agricultural activities have led to soil contamination. There is frequent use of pesticides and destruction of more ecosystems and environments in order to facilitate more agricultural practices (Cincotta, Wisnewski & Engelman, 2016).

                                                   Figure 1: showing pollution causes in Argentina

Argentina is among the leading countries that have high cases of deforestation in the world. Official reports indicate that Argentina has lost over 7 million hectares of forests in the last 20 years which is a worrying statistic. The main cause of deforestation has been linked to the plantation of soybean in many parts of the country. The agricultural a sector in Argentina has made several developments brought by technological advances and in particular, they have adopted the farming of soybean, a genetically modified crop. The country is also the leading global exporter of soy as well as the leading provider of biodiesel and flour that is made from its derivatives. Such advances made towards the growth of soybean have greatly led to the deforestation that is witnessed in the country. The country also experiences extensive cattle raising in many part, especially the north. Such practices have also led to increased deforestation. In order to avert this crisis, the country’s national congress made proposal for the Environmental Protection of Native Forests Law. The proposal, which was later adopted as law, was purposefully drafted to help reduce the alarming deforestation rates. More laws that focus on crimes related to forests have also been proposed that will treat deforestation as a penal violation. Deforestation in Argentina has resulted to lots of severe effects on the economy, environment and the social life of the locals. The practice has led to loss of major forests like the Yunga and Chaco rain forest. The Chaco forest makes up the largest ecosystem in the country just after the Amazon rain forest. Its destruction is therefore a major loss to the ecosystem that mainly relies on the forest. These forests are also home to many people, several species of trees and many wild creatures that also contribute to the environment. The forests also provide several resources that are extremely valuable. The destruction of forests has also led to massive global warming.

Population Geography

Argentina sits on sizable total land area of 2736690 square kilometers equivalent to 1056642 square miles. Its current population as at December 2018 can be approximated at 44866007 representing close to 0.59% of the total world population. The population ranks Argentina at 31 amongst the world most populated countries. The population density of the country is approximated at 16 per square kilometer or 42 people per mi². It is a highly urbanized country with up to 89% of the total population living in urban region. Its 10 largest metropolitan cities accounts for more than half of the total population. The population is distributed unequally within its provinces. The median age of Argentina population can be estimated at 31 years. The largest city is Buenos Aires with an estimated population of close to 14 million. The smallest city is San Luis with an estimated population of 219000. The figure below shows the population distribution of different cities as well as the province where they are located (Grau, Gasparri & Aide, 2014).

                                                           Figure 2: showing population distribution within cities

After achieving its independence, it carried out its first census in 1869. The total population of the country was estimated to be 1830214 during that year. Subsequent results revealed that the country had a consistent growth rate in the population. Argentina experiences one of the lowest growth rates in population in comparison with the all of Latin America. The average growth rate yearly is at 1% meaning that by the year 2030, the country will have a population of up to 47 million.

                                       Figure 3: Showing population of Argentina trends over the years

                                         Figure 4: Forecasting Argentina’s population in the coming years

In accordance to the past population trends in Argentina, it is estimated that the total population of the country will be at 49 million in 2030 and 55 million in 2050. This is by considering the average yearly change for the past years which is at 1%. The forecasted world position will also change meaning the population of Argentina will be improving at a faster rate than other countries.

The population of Argentina is mainly comprised of Europe immigrants, mainly from Italy and Spain. There is just a little mixture of indigenous groups. Recent surveys show that there are an estimated 600000 officially recognized indigenous persons which accounts for a mere 1.4% of the total population that live in Argentina. Up to 97% of the total residents are of European origin. The majority of the communities are the Kollas, Mapuches and Wichis from the northwest and Qom and Guanranis who mostly reside in the northeast.

                                                                       Figure 5: Ethnic distributions

Conclusion

Argentina is largely known for its different cultural, economic and social activities that they have been associated with over the years. Over the past decades, the country has made a lot of investments in the agricultural sector and for instance, they are currently the leading producers of soybeans. A lot of land has been cleared to facilitate more plantation of indigenous crop. There has also been increased cattle keeping activities that also improves the agricultural sector and thus the country’s economy. Such practices, however, do not come without challenges. The clearing of land for farming and cattle keeping has led to increased deforestation and pollution.

References

Cincotta, R. P., Wisnewski, J., & Engelman, R. (2016). Human population in the biodiversity hotspots. Nature, 404(6781), 990.

Grau, H. R., Gasparri, N. I., & Aide, T. M. (2014). Agriculture expansion and deforestation in seasonally dry forests of north-west Argentina. Environmental Conservation, 32(2), 140-148.