Sharing the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, the country is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. The earliest recorded human presence in modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century.
The declaration and fight for independence โ was followed by an extended civil war that lasted until , culminating in the country's reorganization as a federation of provinces with Buenos Aires as its capital city. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with several waves of European immigration , mainly Italians and Spaniards , radically reshaping its cultural and demographic outlook; Following the Great Depression in the s, Argentina descended into political instability and economic decline that pushed it back into underdevelopment, [26] though it remained among the fifteen richest countries for several decades.
She was overthrown in by a U. Several of the junta's leaders were later convicted of their crimes and sentenced to imprisonment. Argentina is a prominent regional power in the Southern Cone and Latin America, and retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs.
Despite its history of economic instability, it ranks second highest in the Human Development Index in Latin America.
The description of the country by the word Argentina has been found on a Venetian map in In English the name "Argentina" comes from the Spanish language , however the naming itself is not Spanish, but Italian. The Italian naming "Argentina" for the country implies Terra Argentina "land of silver" or Costa Argentina "coast of silver". In Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said l'Argentina.
