Friday, September 21, 2007

ARGENTINA

This week's entry is on Argentina. No, I didn't start with Argentina because it begins with an A. I started with Argentina because I arrive in Buenos Aires on November 1st. I am very excited about visiting this beautiful country!

European explorers arrived to Argentina in 1516. Spain established a permanent colony on the site of Buenos Aires in 1580. Now, Buenos Aires is a huge South American city with an estimated population of 11,453,725 (2005).


GEOGRAPHY:


There are 23 provinces in Argentina in addition to the autonomous city of Buenos Aires.



CULTURAL HERITAGE:

The heritage of Argentina comes from two primary European sources:
Spaniards
Italians
Other Europeans that have contributed significantly include:
Portuguese
Germans
French
Poles
Other Slavic descendants
Other Germanic descendants
Ashkenazi Jews from Western and Eastern Europe



Argentina's urban areas have a European look, reflecting the influence of European settlers. Many cities are built in a Spanish-grid style around a main square (plaza). A cathedral and important government buildings often face the plaza. The general layout of the cities is called a damero, or checkerboard, since it is based on a pattern of square blocks, though modern developments sometimes depart from it (the city of La Plata, built at the end of the nineteenth century, is organized as a checkerboard plus diagonal avenues at fixed intervals). The El Faro Towers, show the modern architecture for urbanization.
THE ARTS

CINEMA AND THEATRE

Argentina is a major producer of motion pictures. The world's first animated feature films were made and released in Argentina, by cartoonist Quirino Cristiani, in 1917 and 1918. Argentine cinema enjoyed a 'golden age' in the 1930s through the 1950s with scores of productions, many now considered classics of Spanish-language film. More recent films from the "New Wave" of cinema since the 1980s have achieved worldwide recognition, such as The Official Story (La historia official), Nine Queens (Nueve reinas), Man Facing Southeast (Hombre mirando al sudeste), Son of the Bride (El hijo de la novia), The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta), or Iluminados por el fuego. Although rarely rivaling Hollywood-type movies in popularity, local films are released weekly and widely followed in Argentina and internationally. Even low-budget films have earned prizes in cinema festivals (such as Cannes). The city of Mar del Plata organizes its own film festival, while Buenos Aires has its independent cinema counterpart. The per capita number of screens is one of the highest in Latin America, and viewing per capita is the highest in the region. A new generation of Argentine directors has caught the attention of critics worldwide.[46] Additionally, Argentina is a major center of cinema, it is compared to other European countries in terms of people who attend movie theaters. An Example of this was Spider-Man 3 which took in 466,586 the first day a record in Argentina. In Italy it took in 400,000 and Germany 486,571, breaking all records for first day release.[47]

Buenos Aires is one of the great capitals of theater. Besides the Teatro Colón (one of the great opera houses of the world), with its program of national and international caliber, Calle Corrientes, or Corrientes Avenue, is synonymous with the art. It is dubbed 'the street that never sleeps', and sometimes referred to as the Broadway of Buenos Aires.[48] Many great careers in acting, music, and film have begun in its many theaters. The Teatro General San Martín is one of the most prestigious along Corrientes Avenue; the Teatro Nacional Cervantes is designated the national theater of Argentina. Another important theater is the Independencia in Mendoza. Florencio Sanchez and Griselda Gambaro are famous Argentine playwrights. Julio Bocca is one of the great ballet dancers of the modern era.




CUISINE
Argentine food is influenced by cuisine from Spain, Italy, Germany, France and other European countries, and many foods from those countries such as pasta, sausages, and desserts are common in the nation's diet. Argentina has a wide variety of staple foods, which include empanadas, a stuffed pastry; locro, a mixture of corn, beans, meat, bacon, onion, and gourd; and chorizo, a meat-based spicy sausage. The Argentine barbecue, asado, is one of the most famous in the world and includes various types of meats, among them chorizo, sweetbread, chitterlings, and blood sausage. Thin sandwiches, sandwiches de miga, are also popular. Since the country is an important wine producer, the yearly per capita consumption of wine is among the highest worldwide (Malbec has become a representative variety from Argentina). Also, a common custom among Argentines is drinking mate. Dulce de Leche is a famous sweet caramel spread.

SPORTS

Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Argentina, whose national team is twice FIFA World Cup Champion and one-time Olympic Gold medalist (also fourteen-time Copa América winners). [49]
Also widespread are volleyball and basketball; a number of basketball players participate in the NBA and European leagues, and the national team won Olympic Gold in the Athens Olympics. Argentina has an important rugby union team, "Los Pumas" (see Argentina national rugby union team), with many of its players playing in Europe. Argentine tennis is very competitive on the world stage, with dozens of players, male and female, in active tour.
Other popular sports include field hockey (the top female sport, see Las Leonas), golf, and sailing. Argentina has the highest number of highly-ranked polo players in the world and the national squad has been the uninterrupted world champion ever since 1949. The Open Polo Championship of Buenos Aires is the most important polo-related event in the world. Cricket and baseball are played in a most limited fashion, as well as the Gridiron.[50]
Motorsports are well represented in Argentina, with Turismo Carretera and TC 2000 being the most popular car racing formats. People all over the country enjoy the races, but it is most fervently followed in small towns and rural Argentina, attracting a rather similar demographic as NASCAR in the United States. The Rally Argentina is part of the World Rally Championship (currently held in Córdoba Province). In Formula 1 racing, the country produced one world champion (Juan Manuel Fangio, five times) and two runners-up (Froilán González and Carlos A. Reutemann, once each).
The official national sport of the country is pato, played with a six-handle ball on horseback.

MUSIC AND DANCE
Tango, the music and lyrics (often sung in a form of slang called lunfardo), is Argentina's musical symbol. The Milonga dance was a predecessor, slowly evolving into modern tango. By the 1930s, tango had changed from a dance focused music to one of lyric and poetry, with singers like Carlos Gardel, Roberto Goyeneche, Hugo del Carril, Tita Merello, and Edmundo Rivero. The golden age of tango (1930 to mid-1950s) mirrored that of Jazz and Swing in the United States, featuring large orchestral groups too, like the bands of Osvaldo Pugliese, Anibal Troilo, Francisco Canaro, and Juan D'Arienzo. After 1955 tango turned more intellectual and listener-oriented, led by Astor Piazzolla. Today tango has worldwide popularity, and the rise of neo-tango is a global phenomenon with groups like Tanghetto, Bajofondo and Gotan Project.
Argentine rock, called rock nacional, is the most popular music among youth. Arguably the most listened form of Spanish-language rock, its influence and success internationally owes to a rich, uninterrupted evolution. Bands such as Soda Stereo or Sumo, and composers like Charly García, Luis Alberto Spinetta, and Fito Páez are referents of national culture. Mid 1960s Buenos Aires and Rosario were cradles of the music, and by 1970 Argentine rock was established among middle class youth (see Almendra, Sui Generis, Pappo, Crucis). Seru Giran bridged the gap into the 1980s, when Argentine bands became popular across Latin America and elsewhere (Enanitos Verdes, Fabulosos Cadillacs, Virus, Andres Calamaro). There are many sub-genres: underground, pop oriented, and some associated with the working class (La Renga, Attaque 77, Divididos, Los Redonditos). Current popular bands include: Babasonicos, Rata Blanca, El Otro Yo, Attaque 77, Bersuit, Los Piojos, Intoxicados, Catupecu Machu, and Miranda!.

European classical music is well represented in Argentina. Buenos Aires is home to the world-renowned Colón Theater. Classical musicians, such as Eduardo Alonso-Crespo, Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Eduardo Delgado, Lalo Schiffrin, and classical composers such as Alberto Ginastera, are internationally acclaimed. All major cities in Argentina have impressive theaters or opera houses, and provincial or city orchestras. Some cities have annual events and important classical music festivals like Semana Musical Llao Llao in San Carlos de Bariloche and the multitudinous Amadeus in Buenos Aires.
Argentine folk music is uniquely vast. Beyond dozens of regional dances, a national folk style emerged in the 1930s. Perón's Argentina would give rise to Nueva Canción, as artists began expressing in their music objections to political themes. Atahualpa Yupanqui, the greatest Argentine folk musician, and Mercedes Sosa would be defining figures in shaping Nueva Canción, gaining worldwide popularity in the process. The style found a huge reception in Chile, where it took off in the 1970s and went on to influence the entirety of Latin American music.[51] Today, Chango Spasiuk and Soledad Pastorutti have brought folk back to younger generations. Leon Gieco's folk-rock bridged the gap between argentine folklore and argentine rock, introducing both styles to millions overseas in successive tours.
Other notable musicians include Gato Barbieri with his seductive saxophone and free jazz compositions, and Jaime Torres and his spacious andean music.


RELIGION


Argentines are predominantly religious. Around 93% declare themselves Roman Catholic according to different surveys, though most are not practicing; the Church estimates an affiliation of 70%.[52][53] According to the Constitution, the Argentine government should support Roman Catholicism. However, this does not imply that it is the official religion of the Argentine Republic, nor does it imply that people working in the government should have this faith.
Evangelical churches have gained a foothold in Argentina since the 1980s, and their followers now number more than 3.5 million, about 10% of the total population. Traditional Protestant communities are present in most communities.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) number over 330,300, the seventh-largest concentration in the world are also present.[54]
The country also hosts the largest Jewish population in all of Latin America, about 2 percent of the population.[55]
Islam in Argentina constitutes approximately 1.5% of the population, or an estimated 500,000-600,000 (93% Sunni).[56] Argentina is also home to one of the largest mosques in Latin America, serving Argentina's Muslim community.
Approximately 7% of Argentines can be considered non-religious or secular.

LANGUAGE

The official language of Argentina is Spanish, usually called "Castellano" (Castilian) by Argentines.
A phonetic study conducted by the Laboratory for Sensory Investigations of CONICET and the University of Toronto showed that the accent of the inhabitants of Buenos Aires (known as porteños) is closer to the Neapolitan dialect of Italian than any other spoken language. Italian immigration and other European immigrations influenced Lunfardo, the slang spoken in the Río de la Plata region, permeating the vernacular vocabulary of other regions as well.
Argentines are the largest Spanish-speaking society that universally employs what is known as voseo (the use of the pronoun vos instead of tú (you), which occasions the use of alternate verb forms as well). The most prevalent dialect is Rioplatense, whose speakers are primarily located in the basin of the Río de la Plata.
Standard German is spoken by between 400,000[57] and 500,000[58] Argentines of German ancestry, though it has also been stated that the there could be as much as 1,800,000.[59] German today, is the third or fourth most spoken language in Argentina.
According to a survey, there are around 1,500,000 Italian speakers[60] (make it the second most spoken language in the country) and 1,000,000 speakers of Levantine Arabic[60], but these numbers are probably no longer current, as the newer generations mostly switch to Spanish and do not speak the ancestral language in the home. The same phenomenon applies to the Galician language that was used by many Spanish immigrants, Yiddish, and Japanese. The usage of these languages is in decline, as the respective immigration waves ended in the first half of the 20th century.
Some indigenous communities have retained their original languages. Guaraní is spoken by some in the northeast, especially in Corrientes (where it enjoys official status) and Misiones. Quichua is spoken by some in the northwest, and has a local variant in Santiago del Estero. Aymara is spoken by members of the Bolivian community who migrated to Argentina from Bolivia.
In Patagonia there are several Welsh-speaking communities.
More recent immigrants have brought Chinese and Korean, mostly to Buenos Aires. English,
Brazilian Portuguese and French are also spoken in smaller extents. English is the most common languages taught at schools, with Portuguese and French far behind.
HOLIDAYS

Public holidays include most of the Catholic holidays, though holidays of other faiths are respected. The main historic holidays include the anniversaries of the May Revolution (May 25), the Independence Day (July 9), National Flag day (June 20), and the death of national hero José de San Martín (August 17).
Argentines celebrate religious holidays more festively than national holidays, using the latter for leisure time or to do household repairs. On Christmas Eve, the extended family gathers at 9 p.m. for dinner, music, and often dancing. Candies are served just before midnight, when fireworks displays begin. The evening also includes opening gifts from Papá Noel (Father Christmas). New Year's Day is marked with fireworks as well. Other holidays include Good Friday and Easter; Labor Day (1 May); Anniversary of the May Revolution (25 May); Malvinas Day (2 April); Flag Day (20 June); Independence Day (9 July); Death of General José de San Martín, who is known as “the liberator” of Peru, Chile, and Argentina for his defeat of the Spanish in 1812 (17 August.); Student Day (21 September—first day of spring, marked by students gathering in parks for picnics and soccer); and Columbus Day (12 October). In 2006, Memory Day (24 March) was established to remember the Dirty War.

EDUCATION

After independence, Argentina constructed a national public education system in comparison to other nations, placing the country high up in the global rankings of literacy. Today the country has a literacy rate of 97.5%

The ubiquitous white uniform of Argentine school children; it is a national symbol of learning.
School attendance is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 17. The Argentine school system consists of a primary or lower school level lasting six or seven years, and a secondary or high school level of between five to six years. In the 1990s, the system was split into different types of high school instruction, called Educacion Secundaria and the Polimodal. Some provinces adopted the Polimodal while others did not. A project in the Executive to repeal this measure and return to a more traditional secondary level system was approved in 2006.[61] President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento is overwhelmingly credited in pushing and implementing a free, modern education system in Argentina. The 1918 University reform shaped the current tripartite representation of most public universities.
Education is funded by tax payers at all levels except for the majority of graduate studies.
There are many private school institutions in the primary, secondary and university levels. Around 11.1 million people were enrolled in formal education of some kind: 9,551,728 people attended either kindergarten, primary (lower school), or secondary (high school) establishments 494,461 people attended non-university level establishments (such as training or technical schools) 1,125,257 people attended colleges or universities[62]

Education in public schools (primary, secondary and tertiary) is free. Public education, which was perceived to be of the best quality during the mid 20th century, is now often perceived to be bad and in continuous decline because of lack of funding. This has helped private education to flourish, albeit it has also caused an imbalance in terms of who can afford it (usually middle and upper classes), as often private schools have no scholarship systems in place.
There are thirty-five public universities across the country, as well as several private. The Universities of Buenos Aires (the largest one, has 300.000 students), Córdoba (110.000 students), Rosario (75.000 students), La Plata (75.000 students) and UTN (National Technological University, 70.000 students) are among the most important. Public universities faced cutbacks in spending during the 1980s and 1990s, which led to a decline in overall quality.
Two Argentine universities were found in 2006 to be among the 300 best of the world, the most distinguished being the University of Buenos Aires at number 276. [63]

WORLD HERITAGE SITES

Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List

Cultural


Properties submitted on the Tentative List

BUENOS AIRES TOURISM LINKS

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