Argentina: Fast facts

(in front of the Pink House in Buenos Aires - 2004)

• Argentina is the largest Spanish-speaking country in South America (Pop. 40,000,000).


• Buenos Aires is one of the largest cities in the world with 13 million people living in the metropolitan area.


• Approximately 90% of the population is Roman Catholic. Only 20% of these practice their faith.


• Because Argentina is in the Southern Hemisphere it’s hot at Christmas and freezing in July.


• Buenos Aires and Washington, DC are the same distance from the equator and have similar weather.


• A phonetic study conducted by the University of Toronto showed that the accent of the inhabitants of Buenos Aires is closer to the Neapolitan dialect of Italian than any other spoken language. This gives creedance to the common saying, “Argentina is a nation of Italians that speak Spanish.”