POSTCARDS: ARGENTINA -200 years-

ARGENTINA!

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic (Spanish: República Argentina, pronounced [reˈpuβlika arxenˈtina]), is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico, Colombia and Spain are more populous.
Argentina's continental area is between the Andes mountain range in the west and the Atlantic Ocean in the east. It borders Paraguay and Bolivia to the north, Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast, and Chile to the west and south. Argentine claims over Antarctica, overlapping claims made by Chile and the United Kingdom, are suspended by the Antarctic Treaty of 1961. Argentina also claims the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which are administered by the United Kingdom as British Overseas Territories.

Argentina is a founding member of both the United Nations and the Union of South American Nations. Argentina is one of the G-20 major economies.

The news of the overthrow of the Spanish king Ferdinand VII during the Peninsular War generated great concern in the viceroyalty. The monarchic authority was replaced in Spain by the Junta of Seville, which would replace Liniers with Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros. However, when the Junta falled as well, the May Revolution took place in Buenos Aires, removing Cisneros from government, who was replaced by the Primera Junta. Two nations emerged in the former viceroyalty: the United Provinces of South America (1810) and the Liga Federal (1815). Other provinces delayed the formation of a unified state because of differences between autonomist and centralist parties; Paraguay seceded, declaring independence in 1811.

Between 1814 and 1817, General José de San Martín led a military campaign aimed at making independence a reality. San Martín and his regiment crossed the Andes in 1817 to defeat royalist forces in Chile and Perú, thus securing independence. The Congress of Tucumán gathered on 9 July 1816 and finally issued a formal Declaration of Independence from Spain.

LINKS:

Argentinian national anthen (with subtitles): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTAf27OkuYE

Facebook photos (Bicentenary civic and military fest): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064927&id=1248763245&l=1531b6d56e

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CERRO DE LOS 7 COLORES (JUJUY)