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Government structure, legal system, citizenship, and international relations.

Profile updated 2026-06-02

Government & politics at a glance

Government structure, legal system, citizenship, and international relations. Key figure for Argentina: Argentine Republic

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Identity & names

Full Country Name

Argentine Republic

Country Name

Argentina

Local - Long

República Argentina

Local - Short

Argentina

Etymology- history of name

originally the area was referred to as Tierra Argentina, i.e., "Land beside the Silvery River" or "silvery land," which referred to the massive estuary in the east of the country, the Río de la Plata (River of Silver); over time the name shortened to simply Argentina or "silvery"

Independence

9 July 1816 (from Spain)

National Holiday

Revolution Day (May Revolution Day), 25 May (1810)

Political system

Government Type

presidential republic

Constitution
  • history: several previous;
  • latest effective 11 May 1853 amendments: a declaration of proposed amendments requires two-thirds majority vote by both houses of the National Congress followed by approval by an ad hoc, multi-member constitutional convention; amended several times, last significant amendment in 1994
Legal System:

civil law system based on West European legal systems note - in mid-2015, Argentina adopted a new civil code, replacing the old one in force since 1871

Executive Branch:
  • chief of state: President Javier Gerardo MILEI (since 10 December 2023); Vice President Victoria Eugenia VILLARRUEL (since 10 December 2023); note - the president is
  • both chief of state and head of government head of government: President Javier Gerardo MILEI (since 10 December 2023); Vice President
  • Cabinet appointed by the president elections/appointments: president and vice president directly elected on the same ballot by qualified majority vote (to win, a candidate must receive at least 45% of votes or 40% of votes and a 10-point lead over the second place candidate; if neither occurs, a second round is held ); the president serves a 4-year term (eligible for a second consecutive term); election last held on 22 October 2023, with a runoff held 19 Nov
  • ember 2023 (next to be held in October 2027) election results: 2023: Javier Gerardo MILEI elected president in second round; percent vote in first round - Sergio Tomás MASSA (FR) 36.7%, Javier Gerardo MILEI (PL) 30%, Patricia BULLRICH 23.8% (JxC/PRO), Juan SCHIARETTI (PJ) 6.8%, Myriam BREGMAN (PTS) 2.7%; percent of vote in second round - Javier Gerardo MILEI 55.7%, Sergio Tomás MASSA 44.3% 2019: Alberto Ángel FERNÁNDEZ elected president; percent of vote - Alberto Angel FERNÁNDEZ (TODOS) 48.1%, Mauricio MACRI (PRO) 40.4%, Roberto LAVAGNA (independent) 6.2%, other 5.3%
Legislative Branch:

Description

bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of: Senate or Senado (72 seats; members directly elected from 24 provincial districts by closed-list proportional representation vote; 2 seats per district awarded to the party with the most votes and 1 seat per district to the party with the second highest votes; members serve 6-year terms with one-third of the membership renewed every 2 years) Chamber of Deputies or Cámara de Diputados (257 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed-list proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms with one-half of the membership renewed every 2 years)

Elections

  • Senate - last held on 22 October 2023 (next to be held in October 2025) Chamber of Deputies - last held on 22 October 2023 (next to be held in October 2025)

Election Results

  • - Senate - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA
  • seats by bloc or party - UP 12, LLA 8, JxC 2, other 2
  • composition as of January 2024 men 39, women 33, percent of women 45.8% Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by bloc or party - NA
  • seats by bloc or party - UP 58, LLA 35, JxC 31, NHP 4, other 2
  • composition as of January 2024 - men 148, women 109, percent of women 42.4%;

Note

total National Congress percent of women 43.2%

Judicial Branch:
  • highest court(s): Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (consists of the court president, vice president, 2 judges, 1
  • vacancy) judge selection and term of office: judges nominated by the president and approved by the Senate; ministers can serve until mandatory retirement at age 75; extensions beyond 75 require renomination b
  • y the president and approval by the Senate subordinate courts: federal level appellate, district, and territorial courts; provincial level supreme, appellate, and first instance courts
Regions or States:

Summary

23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 autonomous city*

Regions or States

  • Buenos Aires
  • Catamarca
  • Chaco
  • Chubut
  • Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires*
  • Cordoba
  • Corrientes
  • Entre Rios
  • Formosa
  • Jujuy
  • La Pampa
  • La Rioja
  • Mendoza
  • Misiones
  • Neuquen
  • Rio Negro
  • Salta
  • San Juan
  • San Luis
  • Santa Cruz
  • Santa Fe
  • Santiago del Estero
  • Tierra del Fuego - Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur (Tierra del Fuego - Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands)
  • Tucuman

Note

the US does not recognize any claims to Antarctica

Political Parties and Leaders:
  • Avanza Libertad or AL [José Luis ESPERT]
  • Civic Coalition ARI or CC-ARI [Elisa CARRIÓ, Maximiliano FERRARO]
  • Consenso Federal (Federal Consensus) or CF [Roberto LAVAGNA, Juan Manuel URTUBEY]
  • Frente Cívico por Santiago (Civic Front for Santiago) [Gerardo ZAMORA]
  • Frente de Izquierda y de los Trabajadores – Unidad (Workers' Left Front) or FIT-U [Nicolás DEL CAÑO, Miriam BREGMAN] (coalition of leftist parties in lower house
  • includes PTS, PO, and MST)
  • Frente de la Concordia Misionero (Front for the Renewal of Social Concord) or FRCS [Carlos Eduardo ROVIRA]
  • Frente Renovador (Renewal Front) or FR [Sergio MASSA, Pablo MIROLO]
  • Generación por un Encuentro Nacional (Generation for a National Encounter) or GEN [Margarita STOLBIZER]
  • Hacemos por Córdoba (We do for Cordoba) or HC [Juan SCHIARETTI]
  • Hacemos por Nuestro Pais (We Do For Our Country) or NHP [Juan SCHIARETTI]
  • Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change) or JxC [Patricia BULLRICH, Horacio Rodríguez LARRETA, Mauricio MACRI] (includes CC-ARI, PRO, and UCR)
  • Note: primary opposition coalition since 2019 Juntos Somos Río Negro (Together We Are Rio Negro) or JSRN [Alberto WERETILNECK] Partido Justicialista (Justicialist Party) or PJ [Alberto Angel FERNÁNDEZ] La Cámpora [Maximo KIRCHNER] La Libertad Avanza (The Liberty Advances) or LLA [Javier MILEI] Movimiento Popular Neuquino (Neuquén People's Movement) or MPN [Omar GUTIÉRREZ] Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores (Workers' Socialist Movement) or MST [Vilma RIPOLL, Alejandro BODART] Partido de los Trabajadores Socialistas (Socialist Workers' Party) or PTS [Nicolás DEL CAÑO] Partido Libertario (Libertarian Party) or PL [Javier MILEI];
Suffrage:
  • 18-70 years of age
  • universal and compulsory
  • 16-17 years of age - optional for national elections
Citizenship Criteria:
  • yes residency requirement for naturalization: 2 years

Capital & time

Capital Name

Buenos Aires

Capital - geographic coordinate

34 36 S, 58 22 W

Capital Time Difference

UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

International role

International Organization Participation:

AfDB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CAN (associate), CD, CELAC, FAO, FATF, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, Mercosur, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, Paris Club (associate), PCA, PROSUR, SICA (observer), UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, Union Latina (observer), UNOOSA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

International Law Organization Participation:

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Diplomatic Representation from US:

chief of mission

Ambassador Marc Robert STANLEY (since 24 January 2022) embassy: Avenida Colombia 4300, (C1425GMN) Buenos Aires mailing address: 3130 Buenos Aires Place, Washington DC 20521-3130

telephone

[54] (11) 5777-4533

FAX

[54] (11) 5777-4240

Email address and website

Diplomatic Representation in the US:

chief of mission

Chargé d’Affaires Adrián Roberto NADOR (since 7 February 2023)

chancery

1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone

[1] (202) 238-6400

FAX

[1] (202) 332-3171

Email address and website

consulate(s) general

Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Washington, DC

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