Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of 2,780,085 km (1,073,397 sq mi), making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourth-largest country in the Americas, and the eighth-largest country in the world. Argentina shares the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, and 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. Argentina is a federal state subdivided into twenty-three provinces, and one autonomous city, which is the federal capital and largest city of the nation, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system. Argentina claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, and a part of Antarctica.
The earliest recorded human presence in modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The Inca Empire expanded to the northwest of the country in pre-Columbian times. The modern country has its roots in Spanish colonisation of the region during the 16th century. Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The Argentine Declaration of Independence on July 9 of 1816 and the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1825) were followed by an extended civil war that lasted until 1880, culminating in the country's reorganisation as a federation. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with several subsequent waves of European immigration, mainly of Italians and Spaniards, influencing its culture and demography.
