This week in #geoweirdness we again head south of the equator.
Let's look at the geographic oddities of Argentina
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2/ First up, maps of Argentina may look a little different than you expect.
Argentina likes to make a big deal of its Antarctic claims.
It has six permanent bases and seven summer bases, and at least 11 babies have been born in "Antártida Argentina"
3/ As you can see in the map from the previous toot, Argentina claims ownership of the Falkland Islands (known is Spanish as the Malvinas).
The lead to a war between the UK and Argentina
40 years ago
4/ 1300km to the east of the Falklands lies the island of South Georgia (Spanish: Isla San Pedro) also claimed by Argentina
, and the scene of some fighting during the war
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_South_Georgia
Today it is the British Overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
. Total population about 25 people.
5/ Given the recent conflict with the UK , it may surprise you to know Argentina
is the only other country in the world where the
Welsh language has an official status, a remnant of immigration in the 19th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patagonian_Welsh
Unfortunately the Welsh version of OpenStreetMap covers only Wales.
https://openstreetmap.cymru
6/ To the west Argentina borders Chile
, one of the longest shared borders in the world.
One remote section of the border currently remains undefined
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina%E2%80%93Chile_border
7/ Argentina has the world's southernmost city: Ushuaia, located in the Tierra del Fuego province
8/ Much farther north Argentina's border with
Brazil runs directly though the famous Iguazu Falls, the largest waterfall system in the world
9/ Argentina has several exclaves, all islands surrounded by the waters of Uruguay
or Paraguay
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mart%C3%ADn_Garc%C3%ADa_Island
10/ Similarly, Argentina's waters entirely surround the Filomena Islands which belong to
Uruguay near the delightfully named Nuevo Berlin.
11/ You may have noticed that Argentina's flag features a sun, specifically the Sun of May, just like the flag of neighbouring Uruguay
- reflecting the shared history of the two nations as part of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_of_May
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Provinces_of_the_R%C3%ADo_de_la_Plata
12/ Of course no look at Argentina and #geoweirdness would be complete without a nod to the short story "Del rigor en la ciencia" ("On Exactitude in Science" in English) by famous Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges with its 1:1 scale map
13/ Thanks for reading (and sharing). What did we miss?
If you liked our look at Argentina , you may enjoy our threads about
Brazil https://en.osm.town/@opencage/109851103892999726
Antarctica https://en.osm.town/@opencage/110130119187074162
British Overseas Territories: https://en.osm.town/@opencage/110288036094504869
We have more threads about specific countries, border disputes, geocoding, etc on our blog. Some still on twitter, but over time we are moving them to mastodon.
Bonus toot - just discovered a fun new Argentinian #geoweirdness fact.
In northern Argentina there is a province named Formosa. It is an antipode of northern Taiwan , which was previously known as ... Formosa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formosa_Province#The_antipode_relationship_with_Taiwan
@opencage One fun fact I like is that the southern Atlantic-coast city of Comodoro Rivadavia is known as the "Capital of the Winds". From what my friends who were deployed there for a week in July one year, that is an accurate description.
@opencage I've been there!