ARGENTINA+-+Economy

=**The Economy of Argentina**=

Argentina's economy is made up of many components. Resources include zinc, iron ore, silver, gold, uranium, tin, and copper. The resources that bring in the most money are oil and petroleum. Industries are another component of the economy, as well as products, imports, exports, livestock, and agriculture. Before 1995, agriculture was the most important industry, but because the government has made some new policies, recently industries have been the most important. Argentina is also one of the most industrialized countries in South America.

There are a very wide variety of resources in Argentina. Zinc is a mineral and chemical element and iron ore are rocks and minerals combined. Petroleum is Argentina's most valuable resource. Natural Gas is also a big part of Argentina's economy. Natural gas, which is a fossil fuel, made up of carbon dioxide and other substances, is found in oil fields. Both of these are major exports. The Andes Mountains and Patagonia have major oil fields. Ninety-four percent of oil is concentrated in fewer than 1500 major oil fields. All of these help the economy by bringing in money in some way.



Due to the devaluation of the Mexican peso in 1995, unemployment became a very big problem. The government is trying to find a way to create more jobs for these unfortunate people, but it has been hard to find a solution. Argentina is still struggling with this conflict today. More than 25% of Argentina's population is below the poverty line. The middle and lower classes have had the worst time with poverty and unemployment.

Political corruption has had a negative impact in Argentina. Political corruption occurs when government officials misuse their governmental powers for illegitimate private gain. Economic planning, which is the control and direction of economic activity, has suffered and big burdens have been made. These burdens are making the country struggle. Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, and Cordoba have the most economic activity. Also, street crime is on the rise. Bag snatching, pick pocketing, and armed robbery are all part of daily life here. This country's economy has also prompted scattered riots and daily protests. Most of this occurs in Buenos Aires. .

Nearly 1/5 of the country's GDP is accounted for by the manufacturing industry. GDP stands for gross domestic product. A region's gross domestic product is one of the ways for measuring the size of its economy. The GDP of a country is defined as the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time. Food products, automobiles, chemicals, textiles, magazines, and books are the leading manufactured goods. The textile industry developed quite early. It also made use of wool and cotton. Major industries in Buenos Aires are food processing, meat packaging, machinery manufacturing and assembly, tanning and leather good manufacturing, flour milling, oil seed milling, oil refining, chemical, textile, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and cement manufacturing. Service industries have grown in importance. They now account for 2/3 of the GDP.

Some of Argentina's major imports are chemicals, machinery, mechanical equipment, metal products, transportation equipment, motor vehicles, and plastics. One major export is beef, but many more food products are exported. Some important food exports are cereals, raw meat, cooked and canned meat, and cooking oil. Apples, pears, fresh lemons, and lemon juice are Argentina's leading fruit exports. More than ½ of corn and wheat products are exported. Over 90% of the fish caught in Argentina are exported, also.

Products include a variety of synthetic fibers, electric appliances, communication equipment, and berries. Tea is another, but it is mainly for the domestic market. Fifteen million tons of wheat is produced and a similar amount of corn is produced. Argentina is also a New World wine producer. In fact it is the fifth largest in the world. This country is the third-largest producer of powdered milk and the seventh-largest producer of dairy products. Argentina is also the third most important producer of Boron. 3.3 million tons of crude steel is also produced.

Livestock is a vital part of the economy. These livestock, raised by gauchos, are the bulwark of Argentina's wealth. The cattle herds are also among the world's finest. The meat industry estimates an annual production value of 10 billion dollars. Argentina supplies the world with 4.8% of beef. They also process an annual 12 million animals. Cattle make up 10.4 million of these animals. The fish industry is very small. It is based on local cooperatives. The salmon and trout farming industry are developing.

This country is one of the most highly developed in Latin America, but it's full economic potential has not been realized because of political corruption and poor economic planning. Even with these bad choices Argentina is still doing well. Their many exports bring in so much money. This money helps them with so many things.

Argentina’s Agriculture

Argentina's agriculture is based on two kinds: modern agriculture and commercial agriculture. In modern agriculture mechanization, modern science, urbanization, production efficiency, genetic engineering, and harvesting are the main focuses. Commercial agriculture focuses on exports. This is because commercial agriculture is about making money, and exports make the most money in Argentina's agricultural industry.

Argentina’s mechanized agriculture began with the reaper, cultivator, thresher, combine, and the tractor, the tractor leading to a new type of large-scale agriculture. Modern science revolutionized food processing. Urbanization fostered market gardening and truck farming. Harvesting operations have been mechanized for almost every plant grown.

Increasing production efficiency included breeding programs that developed highly specialized animal and plant varieties. Development of genetic engineering has given rise to genetically modified transgenic crops, which allows livestock to be used as "factories." This is for production of growth hormone and other substances.

Agricultural exports include wheat, corn, flax, oats, tobacco, mutton, hides, wool, oilseeds, lemon, soybeans, grapes, and beef. Beef, which was a great commercial crop, has had and is still suffering long-term stagnation. Because of this, farmers are concentrating on crops instead of cattle. They are even converting good pasture land into cropland. Agriculture-based exports are growing. For the agricultural industry in Argentina there isn’t much competition. This is because of the seasons. Crops in the Southern Hemisphere are harvested opposite the time of the crops harvested in the Northern Hemisphere.

Wheat, corn rice and barley are the leading crops. Argentina is the fourth largest corn growing country in the world. Barley is the favored grain and produces the greatest yield because it is resistant to disease. The Pampa Region is the chief agricultural area and produces most of the leading farm products.

In Argentina there is an estimated 67,210,000 acres of arable and permanent crop land. Ten percent of the land is used for growing crops. Argentina has enormous agricultural potential. There are big natural advantages for production of many agricultural products. Agriculture is a major source of employment. Agricultural enterprises employ 12% of the workforce in Argentina. Agricultural taxes account for 43% of all the taxes in Argentina.

Argentina’s agriculture is very important to its economy. Agriculture makes a lot of money, which the economy needs to help its country and it supplies food to the people. Without a good agricultural system, Argentina’s economy could crash and if they don’t export enough agricultural products other countries could be in trouble because many countries need these food supplies.