Introduction:

Argentina is the land of gauchos (South American cowboys), the tango, the most cosmopolitan city on the continent, the legacy of dictator Juan Perón and a recent history of economic crises. As South America's second-largest country, it is also a land of geographic contrasts: It is home to the Andes, the pampas (large plains) and frigid wilderness.

Vital statistics:

Argentina has a population of about 42 million as of 2013.

Its population growth rate is unusually low for Latin America, about 1 percent. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion, claiming about 92 percent of the population. Racially, the country is 97 percent white, with the remainder made up mostly of those of indigenous and mixed heritage. About 37 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. The literacy rate of 97 percent is the highest in South America and one of the highest in the world.

Linguistic highlights:

Spanish is the only official language and is spoken by nearly all the population. Italian, Arabic and the indigenous South American language Quechua are also spoken by about 1 million or more people each. Argentina's Spanish is distinctive in that the second-person singular pronoun vos is still used. Also, in a pronunciation pattern known as yeísmo, the y and ll are frequently pronounced with the "zh" sound, similar to the "s" in the English "measure."

Studying Spanish in Argentina:

Most of Argentina's language schools are in Buenos Aires, although there are also schools in the Córdoba (the second-largest city) and Patagonia (the more rugged southern region.) Many schools also offer classes in the tango.

Costs tend to be higher than elsewhere in Latin America. Especially in Buenos Aires, European and American students may feel at home, experiencing less culture shock than elsewhere in Latin America.

Trivia:

John Strickland, an explorer from England in the early 1500s, is reported to have taken turkeys from Argentina and introduced them to his home country.

History:

Before Europeans arrived, Argentina was sparsely populated compared with other parts of the continent. In addition to some smaller nomadic groups, the two main groups of indigenous people were the Diaguita and the Guaraní. Europeans first observed Argentina in 1502 during Amerigo Vespucci's travels; the first European to land in what is now Argentina was Juan de Solís, who was killed by native residents who were opposed to Spanish conquest. It wasn't until 1580 that the Spaniards were able to establish Buenos Aires, which eventually would become the capital. A revolution starting in 1810 led to independence from Spain by 1816.

Argentina grew in wealth and influence in the late 19th century, partly because of considerable European immigration and influence. The middle part of the 20th century was marked by the ascendancy of Juan Perón, who emerged as the leader after a coup in 1943 and was later elected president. On the one hand, Perón was popular among those in the population who pushed for wage increases and increased power for workers, and he also drew broad support for his nationalistic outlook. But he also became increasingly autocratic and was ousted by a coup in 1955. He continued to maintain influence while in exile in Spain, and in 1973 he returned to rule again. He died the following year, and his government fell in 1976.

The following years were among the darkest in Argentina's history. The new military government murdered thousands of its civilian opponents in what became known as the Dirty War. That government finally fell after Argentina was defeated in a brief war with Great Britain over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

Since then, Argentina has maintained civilian rule under a series of reformers, although it wasn't until 2000 that President Fernando de la Rúa purged the government of the perpetrators of the Dirty War. The government has struggled in dealing with the economy.