According to Educationvv, Argentina occupies the greater part of the temperate zone of South America, but, extending from 55 ° to 22 ° about lat. south, it also includes a small part included in the torrid zone. The difference in latitude, of over thirty degrees, has a notable influence on several geographical phenomena. The territory of the Argentine Republic has roughly the shape of a triangle with the greatest width at N. Towards the E., Argentina is limited by the Atlantic Ocean; the rest of the perimeter consists of the very long border that connects the country with five South American states: at E. Uruguay; to the NE. Brazil; to N. Paraguay and Bolivia; at the. Chile. This frontier, which is a natural part of the conventional part, was established after laborious discussions, fortunately now over, lacking the
From the Republic of Uruguay, Argentina is divided by the Plata and the Uruguay river: therefore by a completely fluvial border. The fortified islet of Martín García, at the mouth of Uruguay, although very close to the coast of the Eastern Republic, belongs to Argentina. Almost all fluvial is also the border with Brazil; in fact it goes up Uruguay up to the confluence with Peprí-Guazú; this serves as a limit to its origins, from which onwards the frontier follows the highest part of the terrain, up to the confluence with the Iguazú, and continues along this to its mouth in Paraná.
The definition of the Brazilian-Argentine border, a long question already begun between Spain and Portugal, and continued by the successor states, was reached on February 5, 1895, by means of an arbitration award by the President of the United States Cleveland, following which, with the Rio treaty Janeiro of October 6, 1898, Argentina gave up sovereignty over several thousand square kilometers of land in favor of Brazil.
The border with the republic of Paraguay is entirely fluvial. It follows the course of the Paraná from the mouth of the Iguazú to that of Paraguay, then the course of this river up to the Pilcomayo, and goes up the latter until it meets the Bolivian border. This border, established after arbitration with the treaty of February 3, 1876, however left unsolved the question of the borders between Chaco Paraguayo and Argentina, which was terminated by an award by Hayes, president of the United States, on November 12, 1878. The border it was established at Pilcomayo, but since this has stray courses (esteros) for a good stretch, so far it has not been possible to establish the boundary line which should coincide with the main branch of the river.
According to the treaty of May 10, 1899, the border with Bolivia follows the parallel 22 ° S. from the Pilcomayo to the Itau river, and descends along this, and the Rio Grande de Tarija, in which it flows, up to the Bermejo, of which it then goes up again. the upper course, to abandon it at a certain point and follow, through rough terrain, a sinuous line to the North. of parallel 22 ° up to the Chilean-Argentine border. The Puna de Atacama, occupied since the Pacific War (1881) by Chile, came with the said treaty, following an 1899 award by Buchanan, minister of the United States in Buenos Aires, delivered to Argentina, which established it in territory national. However, in marking the limits established by the treaty on the ground, disputes arose in the unexplored part, resolved by a new treaty of 9 July 1925, signed in La Paz, but not yet ratified, which integrates that of 1899 and recognizes the country of Yacuiba to Bolivia, S. of the 22nd parallel, and a small surrounding area.
The long dispute, fortunately remained only diplomatic, for the definition of the Chilean-Argentine border deserves particular attention. At first it was believed that it would be resolved with the treaty of 23 July 1881, a source of much more bitter conflicts of interpretation, which threatened to become bloody. The art. 1 ° of the treaty establishes: “The border between the Argentine Republic and Chile, from N. to S. up to the parallel 52 ° of latitude, is marked by the Andes mountain range. The border line will pass in that extension for the peaks (cumbres) higher than the aforementioned mountain range, which mark the watershed, and will pass between the slopes that determine from one side to the other “.
The knowledge of the Andes, still incomplete in 1881, maximum in the Patagonian part, still completely unexplored to S. of the parallel 41 ° 30 ‘, reserved shortly after the unexpected discovery of grandiose hydrographic capture phenomena, thanks to which some rivers of the Pacific coast have the sources and sometimes a good part of the basin, in the plateau east of the great chain. Between the fastigium line, which joins the highest peaks, and the hydrographic watershed there is therefore a vast fertile area of pastures, of which Chile is poor, which therefore ignited the controversy, favored by the ambiguous text of the aforementioned article. Argentina claimed that the border had to pass on the gable line (de alta cumbre), while Chile was firm on that watershed. The question was composed of an award from the King of England on November 20, 1902, a compromise solution, since, depending on the case, one hour of the other criterion, orographic and hydrographic, was taken into account. The areas under discussion were: San Francisco Pass; Lacar Lake; from Lake Nahuel Huapí to Viedma, and the territory adjacent to the Seno of the last Esperanza.
The art. 2 ° of the 1881 treaty establishes: “In the southern part of the continent and north of the Strait of Magellan, the boundary between the two countries will be a line that, starting from Punta Dungeness, extends by land to Monte Dinero; from here it will continue towards the ‘west following the major heights of the chain of hills that exist until it touches Mount Aymond. From this point the line will extend to the intersection of the 70 ° meridian with the 52 ° parallel of latitude and then it will follow towards the west coinciding with this last parallel to divortium aquarum of the Andes “. Art. 3 ° concerns the border south of the strait:” In Tierra del Fuego a line will be drawn which, starting from the point called Capo del Espíritu Santo, at a latitude of 52 ° 40 ‘, will extend towards the south, coinciding with the western meridian of Greenwich 68 ° 34 ‘, until it touches the Beagle channel. The Tierra del Fuego divided in this way will be Chilean in the western part, and Argentine in the eastern part. As for the islands, they will belong to the Argentine republic: the Island of the States, the islets next to it, and the other islands that are in the Atlantic to the east of Tierra del Fuego and the eastern coasts of Patagonia, and will belong to Chile all the islands south of the Beagle Channel, up to Cabo de Hornos and those located at west of Tierra del Fuego “. The solution of the problem with Chile can be said to be complete; the southern extremity only needs to establish sovereignty over the islands of Lennox, Nueva and Picton. Article 5 is important:” The Strait of Magellan is neutral to perpetuity and free navigation for the flags of all nations is ensured. In the interest of ensuring this freedom and neutrality, no fortifications or military defenses will be built on the coasts that could be contrary to that purpose “. The Strait of Magellan is neutral to perpetuity and is ensured free navigation for the flags of all nations. In the interest of ensuring this freedom and neutrality, no fortifications or military defenses will be built on the coasts that could be contrary to that purpose “. The Strait of Magellan is neutral to perpetuity and is ensured free navigation for the flags of all nations. In the interest of ensuring this freedom and neutrality, no fortifications or military defenses will be built on the coasts that could be contrary to that purpose “.
England occupied, in 1833, the Malvinas or Falkland Islands, and has kept them ever since despite Argentina’s protest.
Regarding the perimeter of Argentina, Gaspar Soria calculated it as follows: maritime: 4195 km; river: Plata 336 km.; Uruguay 855; rivers of Misiones 482; Paraná 608; Paraguay 315; Pilcomayo 1090 km.; land: with Bolivia 770 km.; with Chile 5315. In total 13,965 km.
Not all publications concerning Argentina give the same figure for the surface of the country. The uncertainty is due to the lack of the necessary geodetic basis so far; the vastness of the country makes the measures slow and very expensive; furthermore, until a recent date, unresolved border issues left the problem undetermined.
The 1914 census gives the figure of 2.797.113 sq. Km., Planimetric calculation due to Carlo Chapeaurouge. However, it is provisional, because it responds only to approximate calculations. The Dirección General de Estadística instead accepts the figure: 2,987,542 sq. Km., Significantly different. Gaspar Soria, on the basis of a very accurate planimetric calculation, comes to the conclusion that the surface of Argentina is 2,789,461.9 sq km. Abstracting from these differences, it appears that Argentina is one of the largest states in the world, being surpassed only by Russia, China, the United States and Brazil among the independent states.
