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@opencage@en.osm.townThis week in #geoweirdness we again head south of the equator.
Let's look at the geographic oddities of Argentina 
1/n
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!
@opencage "[That] lead to a war" is a little bit simplistic, but the article you link, in particular tihs section:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falklands_War?useskin=vector#The_Argentine_junta
sums pretty well why there was a war.
@opencage Thanks. Had friend in USAF lived in Puenta Arenas, Chile. It was a top secret US surveillance station. People had civilian passport and clothes except 1 uniform if you died. We left just before Allende came to power. Station chief got word to destroy all documents and station. All equipment racks were wired with explosives and after destroying documents, he set timer. They drove short distance to watch whole building explode and burn. They went straight to airport.
