Argentina, Cool Facts #11

10. Venezuela <=                                                                                                                 => 12. Chile

1. Argentina's name 

Argentina got its name from silver which was sought after in the areas of Buenos Aires when the first Europeans arrived there. Argentum is silver in latin and "argento" in italian and this is where the name Argentina derives from. Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay were all part of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata and actually "plata" is silver in spanish.

2. Sol de Mayona

It all began in 1810 with the May Revolution when the Argentineans were demanding for independence. During the demonstration the cloudy sky cleared and the sun started shining between the clouds, which expressed the optimism of the moment. This Sol de mayona, the sun of may started shining on the flag of Argentina afterwards because of this incident.

3. Argentina's land area

When Argentina got independence it was half smaller than nowadays. The inner lands and the whole southern Patagonia were under the control of the native indian populations. Currently Argentina is the 8th biggest country in the world.

4. Guerra Sucia

From the early 70s until 1983 Argentina experiences a period of state terrorism which was called Guerra Sucia, the dirty war. During this period a lot of left-wing activists, communists and members of the opposition were victims of the violence practiced by the military junta. After Argentina the name Guerra Sucia was used in other countries with state terrorism practiced by the military governments. 

5. Falkland War 

In 1982 general Leopoldo Galtier decided to conquer back the Falkland Islands from the UK after having demanded it for a long time. He thought that he would get more support from the people by recovering the Falkland Islands to Argentina. He assumed that the UK wouldn't take any military measures which was wrong. Britain's reaction was unexpectedly strong and after a couple of months of fighting Argentina lost the war and the military junta fell. Argentina returned to democracy. 

Famous Argentineans

Lionel Messi - Football player
Ernesto "Che" Guevara - Marxist revolutionary
Juan Manuel Fangio - Formula 1 legend 
Luisana Lupilato - Artist, model and Michael Buble's spouse
Eva Peron - Politician 

Timeline

1400s The Inca Empire reaches Argentina

1516 Juan Diaz de Solis arrives to Argentina

1580 First permanent settlements

1776 Argentina is part of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de La Plata with URU, BOL and PAR. 

1807 The British fail in the attempt of conquering Argentina

1810 May Revolution 

1816 Declaration of Independence for the Viceroyalty of the Rio de La Plata

1852 Buenos Aires declares independence, Civil War begins

1862 Civil War ends and Buenos Aired attached back to Argentina 

1865-70 Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay in war against Paraguay 

1900s Argentina rises in the Top10 richest countries

1929 Worldwide recession and military regime collapse the development

1946 Juan Peron as the president

1955 Juan Peron displaced in a military coup

1974 Isabel Peron as the president, the third wife of Juan Peron

1976 Guerra Sucia begins when Isabel Peron is overthrown by a military coup led by general              Jorge Videla

1982 Falkland War against the UK 

2001 Argentina's economy collapses after a banking crisis

2003 Nestor Kirchner as the president

2007 Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner as the president, Nestor's wife

Sources: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina

Maailman liput maat ja historia - Kimmo Kiljunen