Portal:Argentina/Selected article/2006
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] Months in 2006
- Month 04 - April
Argentina is a country in South America, situated between the Andes in the west and the southern Atlantic Ocean in the east and south. It is bordered by Paraguay and Bolivia in the north, Brazil and Uruguay in the northeast, and Chile in the west and south. It also claims the British overseas territories of the Falkland Islands (known in Argentina as the Islas Malvinas ) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Under the name of Argentine Antarctica, it claims around 1,000,000 km² of Antarctica, overlapping other claims by Chile and the United Kingdom. By area, it is the second largest country of South America after Brazil and the 8th largest country in the world. If added the territorial claims over the Argentine Antarctica, it would be almost as big as the European Union. It is the 5th more populated state in the American continent.
- Month 05 - May
Buenos Aires (English: Fair Winds, originally Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires, City of the Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Fair Winds) is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port, as well as one of the largest cities in Latin America and the world. Buenos Aires is located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent, opposite Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.
Argentines sometimes refer to the city as Capital Federal to differentiate the city from the province of the same name. The people of Buenos Aires are known as porteños (English: People of the port), acknowledging the major historical importance of the port in the development of the city and the whole nation.
- Month 06 - June
José Francisco de San Martín (25 February 1778 – 17 August 1850) was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the successful struggle for independence from Spain of the southern nations of South America. He is a national hero in Argentina, Chile and Peru.
San Martín led the rebels against the Spanish at the Battle of San Lorenzo on 3 February 1813, which became the first victory of the Argentine War of Independence. He become governor of the then province of Cuyo. From there, he crossed the Andes and attacked the Royalists in Chile at the beginning of 1817, making a triumphant entry into Santiago de Chile on 17 March 1818. He then prepared for an invasion of Peru by sea, finally entering Lima on 12 July 1821. After an historic meeting with Simón Bolívar, San Martin retired to live a quiet life.
- Month 07 - July
Argentine cuisine evolved distinctly from the rest of Latin American cuisine because of the heavy influence of Italian and Spanish cuisine. These European traditions have been complemented by indigenous influences, most notably those of Andean origin (including Quechua and Mapuche) and those of Amazonic origin (such as the Guaraní). The influx of Italian, Spanish and even some Near Eastern dishes makes the typical Argentine diet is a variation on what is often called the Mediterranean diet.
Another determining factor in Argentine cuisine is that Argentina is one of the world's major food producers. It is a major producer of wheat, beans, maize, meat (especially beef), milk and, since the 1970s, soybeans. Given the country's vast production of beef, red meat is an especially common part of the Argentine diet.
- Month 08 - August
Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands (Spanish: Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur) is a province entirely separated by the Strait of Magellan from mainland Argentina on the Isla Grande of Tierra del Fuego, which it shares with Chile to the west. Besides the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego, the province encompasses Argentine claims to Antarctica, and to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which are administered by the United Kingdom. The province is usually called just "Tierra del Fuego" partly because it is mostly comprised of that island's eastern half and partly because is just shorter.
The province of Tierra del Fuego benefits from certain tax benefits that support industry and immigration to less populated areas. In addition, it is one of the most prosperous provinces in Argentina, in terms of standard of living.
- Month 09 - September
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas mountains on the Suquía River, about 700 km west-northwest from Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. As of 2006 Córdoba has an estimated population of over 1,300,000 inhabitants, making it Argentina's second-largest city. It is a major industrial center, but retains many of its historical buildings dating from the colonial era. Córdoba was founded in 1573 by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera, who named it after Córdoba, Spain.
Córdoba has been considered the technological centre of Argentina. The Argentinian spaceport (Centro Espacial Teófilo Tabanera) in the suburb Falda del Cañete, where satellites are being constructed and operated is located in the area. The software (Motorola, Vates) and electronic industries are advancing and exporting more and more goods.
- Month 10 - October
Eva María Duarte de Perón (also known as Evita) (May 7, 1919 – July 26, 1952) was the second wife of Argentine President Juan Perón (1895–1974) and the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952.
Though she was never an officially elected political figure, most scholars agree that she came to exercise more power and influence within the government than anyone but her own husband. This power derived from her leadership roles within the Pro-Peronist trade unions, the Eva Perón Foundation, and the Female Peronist Party. Evita was the most powerful woman in the history of her nation, and possibly one of the most powerful women on earth.
Today, Eva Perón is perhaps best known to the world as the subject of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Evita, which was later adapted as a movie starring Madonna.
- Month 11 - November
Argentine literature is placed among the most important in Spanish language, with world-famous writers such as José Hernández, Jorge Luis Borges, Manuel Puig, Julio Cortázar and Ernesto Sábato. Literature in Argentina has always been subject to heavy European influence, especially from Spain and France.
Argentine literature began around the year 1550, with Matías Rojas de Oquendo and Pedro González de Prado, who wrote both prose and poetry. They were partly inspired, undoubtedly, by the unwritten aboriginal poetry, by the lules, juríes, diaguitas and tonocotés.
A symbiosis emerged slowly between the aboriginal and Spanish traditions, creating a distinct literature, which was geographically limited (well into the 18th century) to the Argentine north and the central region, with the province of Córdoba as its center.
- Month 12 - December
The Pampas (from Quechua, meaning "plain") are the fertile South American lowlands that include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, and Córdoba, most of Uruguay, and southernmost Brazil, covering more than 750,000 km² (290,000 square miles).
The climate is mild, with precipitation of 600 to 1,200 mm, more or less evenly distributed through the year, making the soils appropriate for agriculture.
Frequent fires ensure that only small plants such as grasses flourish. Trees are almost entirely lacking, except along main watercourses. The dominant vegetation types are grassy prairie and grass steppe in which numerous species of the grass genus Stipa are conspicuous. "Pampas Grass" (Cortaderia selloana) is an iconic species. Different strata of grasses occur due to gradients of water availability.
