Argentin Republic

ARGENTINA

Capital: Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires Currency: Peso ($)
Lenguaje: Spanish Area: 3.761.274 km2
Estimated Population: 37.000.000.000 inhabitants
Politycal System: Republican Representative and Federal

History of the Formation of the Argentine State

Hispanic Period

The Territory of the Río de la Plata, comprised partially or totally, by the area where today are theProvinces of Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos, Corrientes, Santa Fe, Chaco, Formosa, Misiones and the current republics of Paraguay and Uruguay, had a secondary role in the colonizing process during the 16th. and 17th. centuries. Fostered by a later economic growth, these lands turned to have a strategic value that moved the Spanish Crown to create the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776. Duringthat period, commonly called Hispanic Period, power organization was rudimentary and with no clear distinction of competence. In Spain, as well as in America, the power institutions performed executive, legislative and jurisdictional functions, with no distinction between each other.

After Caseros battle, that brought about the resignation of Juan Manuel de Rosas as governor of Buenos Aires, theprovinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Corrientes and Entre Ríos signed the Palermo Protocol. Afterwards, the San Nicolás Agreement, signed in presence of the majority of the provincial governors, ratified the character of fundamental law of the Federal Agreement. Shortly afterwards, in 1852, it was decided to call for a General Constitutional Congress, with the goal of dictating a constitution forthe Confederation. The constitution was promulgated by Justo José de Urquiza on May 25, 1853; the Republic was pledged allegiance to it on July 9, with the exception of Buenos Aires, which would integrate the Confederation in 1860, after Cepeda battle and the signature of the San José de Flores Agreement of the previous year. Inmediately after, the Constitution was amended, thus conforming theunion of the whole country. This amendment stressed the federal form of government of the republic while at the same time, from the ideological point of view, it kept the scheme of the National Constitution of 1853.

Argentina: Crucible of Races

The first inhabitants of the present Argentine territory were indigenous peoples, who, congregated in tribes, developed their respective cultures atdifferent extents. In the XVI Century the arrival of the Spanish conquerors brought their own customs and values, thus generating a cultural convergence of everlasting dimensions, not without pain in some cases and cooperation in others. From the population point of view such convergence gave place to the mix of white and indigenous peoples, to which later, in a lesser degree, the addition of blackpeople brought from Africa or Brazil as slaves, particularly in the area of the Río de La Plata, was added. South American Indigenous people and mixed race people have thus shaped the conformation of the local (“criolla”) population. In the second half of the XIX Century and the first half of the XX Century, an important flow of immigrants predominantly of European origin took place, whatconstitutes another fundamental pillar at the time of defining the essence of “what is Argentinean”, as the product of a true “crucible of races”.

The National Flag

Created by Manuel Belgrano on February 27, 1812 and adopted as such by law on July 25, 1816. The Argentine Flag is the reflection of the patriotic sky, as one can contemplate on calm days: a light blue sky colour with no clouds, with thesun of freedom shining in the middle of it.

The Argentine National Anthem

It was approved by the National Assembly on May 11, 1813. The text was composed by Vicente López y Planes and the music by Blas Parera. It was first sang in Mariquita Sánchez de Thompson’s house. In 1890, during the Presidency of Julio Argentino Roca, it was decreed that in official festivities schools would only...