The Rough Guide to Argentina

By: Danny Aeberhard; Andrew Benson; Lucy Phillips;

Language: English

Quality: Good

Genre: Guide, Travel,

ISBN: 9781858285696

SKU: BE501026893728

Pages: 814

Description: Argentina is a vast country. It measures 5000km by 1500km and, even without the titanic wedge of Antarctica that the authorities are wont to include in the national territory, it ranks as the world’s eighth largest state, immediately behind India. Thanks to its longitudinal position, standing between the Tropic of Cancer and the most southerly reaches of the planet’s landmass, the country encompasses a staggering diversity of climates and landscapes. The mainland points down like a massive stalactite on the map, from the hot and humid jungles of its northeast and the bone-dry highland steppes of its northwest down through windswept Patagonia to the end-of-the-world archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, a territory that is shared with Chile. Across the broad midriff stretch Argentina’s most archetypal landscapes: the mostly flat pampas grazed by millions of cattle – subtly beautiful scenery formed by horizon-to-horizon plains interspersed with low sierras, and punctuated by small agricultural towns, the odd ranch and countless clumps of pampas grass. These wide open spaces are among the country’s best assets – despite its mammoth area its population of 33 million weighs in at far less than Spain’s. This is a land with huge swaths still waiting to be explored let alone settled.