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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 55 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Argentina
Truco. Truco is widely played in Argentina. It is derived from the simpler game Truc, which is played in Catalonia and southern France.
I used to hate the game as it involves sending certain signals, e.g winking, lying etc. to confuse your opponents.
Black Jack is a popular casino game. If you are a good player then your odds of winning are higher than in other casino games.
I used to think of Bridge as a card game played by old age pensioners to pass the time but little did I know that it is a game of strategic decision making and is probably the most difficult card game to master.
In Solitaire the aim is to stack cards in ascending order.
Gauchos. Gauchos are still around today although their way of life has changed due to the modern society.
Boleadores are slings with balls attached to the end. They are used to hunt down cattle.
A koori is an aboriginal person from Australia.
A Charro is one of Mexican cowboys who are known as the 'Warriors of Mexico'. Their ancestors fought for Mexico's independence and freedom.
Diego Maradona. Diego Maradona is considered an idol by the Argentines. He was elected "FIFA best football player of the century" in 2000.
Gabriel Batistuta, nicknamed 'Batigol' was born in Reconquista, Santa Fe on 1st Feb. 1969. He scored 56 goals in 78 matches (15 June 2002)for the national team and announced that he would quit playing for Argentina.
Diego Simeone, nicknamed 'El Cholo', born 28th April 1970 in Buenos Aires. He has played over 100 matches for Argentina overtaking Maradona.
Carlos Valderrama, the distinctive, frizzy-haired footballer, is Colombia's answer to Maradona.
Singer of Tango Ballads. Carlos Gardel is a legend in Argentina and helped to make tango a world wide popular dance. On the 34th June 1935 he tragically died in an air crash in Medellin, Colombia while on tour.
Brazilian star Ronaldo was top scorer with 8 goals in 7 matches in the 2002 World Cup Tournament. The top Argentine goal scorers were Gabriel Batistuta and Hernan Crespo.
River & Boca. From a total of 278 matches, Boca has won 100 matches, River 90 and they have drawn 88 times. The two sets of fans really don't like each other. Boca fans refer to River supporters as 'gallinas' (chickens) because they think River are afraid of everything, and the River fans hit back by calling their rivals 'los puercos' (pigs) because their stadium is located in a poor Boca area and is said to stink most of the time.
Feijoada. Argentine cuisine is heavily influenced by European cuisine, in particular Italian cuisine. Dulce de Leche is a traditional dairy product which literally translates into "Sweet Milk". A bit too sweet for my liking!
Feijoada is a national dish of Brazil made with beans. It looks like a stew.
Argentina is not a place for vegetarians, it is a place for those who love beef. The "asado" (BBQ) is a traditional meal and is cooked on carbon.
The milanesa is a delicious deep-fried breaded beef. One of my favourites!
Five. Argentina borders Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia & Chile.
eighth. The largest country in the world is Russia.
A tango dance party. The milonga is a social dance party where tango is danced. This is a dance that developed in San Telmo and has European influence. This dance has come back into fashion and is being danced more frequently by younger generations (I can do the eight steps!).
Don't confuse milonga with milanesa, which is a typical Argentine dish.
If you chose the football stadium, you're maybe thinking of the Maracanį, Rio De Janeiro's football stadium, the largest one in the world.
Mate. Mate is Argentina's national drink. Some people claim it to be a kind of drug. People often share the drink amongst groups that they may not even be acquainted with. Just think of all the saliva exchange that goes on!
Guaranį is a tropical plant with small red fruit with a high caffeine content. It is also a popular soft drink in Brazil.
Tango is a popular folk dance.
Quilmes is a popular beer. Its taste is very similar to that of American Budweiser, extremely watered down and it's a bit more bubbly than most... So be careful if you're on a date, you might be a little bubbly yourself!
| Argentinian by birth, he played a crucial part in the Cuban revolution, as well as in communist activities in other Latin American countries. Who is he? | Don't Cry For Me Argentina
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Che Guevara. Ernesto Che Guevara (1928-1967) was born into a middle-class family in Rosario, Argentina. He received a medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires in 1953. In 1954 he decided to go to Mexico and join Cuban revolutionaries under Fidel Castro.
Emiliano Zapata was a Mexican revolutionary. He was assassinated in 1919 in Mexico.
Fidel Castro is a former revolutionary and current Cuban president (as of November 2002). He was born near Mayari, Cuba in 1926. In spite of Cuba's poor economical conditions, Castro is still popular with the majority of Cubans.
Carlos Menem is ex-president of Argentina.
| The first letters of the correct answers to the first nine questions spell the name of the dry region in southern Argentina? | 9 for 10 - Argentina
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Patagonia. Patagonia is one of the four physical regions of Argentina, the others are the Pampa, northern Argentina, and the region that lies in the Andes.
| In Argentina's grasslands what plant, also known as lucerne, is widely grown both for use as pasture and for hay? | 9 for 10 - Argentina
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Alfalfa. Alfalfa is an important source of proteins, minerals and vitamins for the cattle that range the Pampa. It also has a deep root system that allows it to survive in conditions of drought.
Iguacu (Iguazu) Falls. The Iguacu (Iguassu, Iguazu. ) Falls are a series of falls on the Iguacu River that stretch a distance of over two miles. Their name comes from an Indian word meaning great water.
No. Lake Titicaca lies between Peru and Bolivia.
Gran Chaco. Gran Chaco is a largely uninhabited region which extends into Bolivia and Paraguay.
| Many an abode in smaller Argentinian communities is built from sun-dried bricks. What is the name of this type of building? | 9 for 10 - Argentina
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adobe. Adobe is the name of the type of building as well as the name of the bricks themselves. The bricks are made of a mixture of clay and straw and are dried in the sun.
| What is the name of the archipelago at the tip of South America which belongs to Argentina and Chile? | 9 for 10 - Argentina
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Tierra del Fuego. Tierra del Fuego is separated from the mainland by the Straits of Magellan. Magellan was the Portuguese navigator who discovered the area. The southernmost tip is Cape Horn.
Aconcagua. Aconcagua in the Andes is also the highest mountain in all South America. Kosciusko is Australia's highest mountain. Ojos del Salada is in Argentina and Orizaba is in Mexico.
| Argentina can be divided into four physical regions. What is the treeless grassland area known as? | 9 for 10 - Argentina
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Pampa . The Pampa lies in central Argentina between the Andes and the Atlantic It is a very fertile area where herds of cattle graze and are tended by gauchos.
| The Falkland Islands, or Las Malvinas, lie 1,080 kilometers (671 miles) west of South Georgia Island and 940 kilometers (584 miles) north of Antartica. How far (approximately) from the Falklands is the nearest point of the Argentine mainland? | Argentina Geo-trivia
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500 kilometers (311 miles). Argentina's claim to the Falklands is based on its claim at independence in 1816 of all the lands under the jurisdiction of the Spanish viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata. However, the British disputed Spanish jurisdiction of the islands in the 18th century and never recognized Argentina's post-independence claims to them. In 1831, an Argentine settlement on the islands was destroyed by a U.S. warship after a dispute over fishing rights in the area; the British subsequently repatriated the few Argentines who remained there and established a new settlement at Port Stanley. Argentina, though, has never renounced its claim to the islands and even today, more than 20 years after the wrenching 1982 war with Britain, most Argentines passionately argue that "Las Malvinas son Argentinas".
| The strait between Tierra del Fuego and mainland South America was a common route for ships passing between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans up to the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914. For which famous explorer was the passage named? | Argentina Geo-trivia
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Ferdinand Magellan. There are two major sea routes around the southern coast of South America: the Strait of Magellan and the Drake Passage. The Strait of Magellan lies between Tierra del Fuego and mainland South America. The Drake Passage--named for the English privateer (or, if you're Spanish, the English pirate!)--lies between Tierra del Fuego and Antartica.
| The city of Buenos Aires is an autonomous region surrounded by the province of Buenos Aires. Despite being separate from the city of Buenos Aires, the province is still the most populous of Argentina's 23 provinces. What is its population, roughly? | Argentina Geo-trivia
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14 million. The province has a population of roughly 14 million, many of whom live in the suburbs of Gran Buenos Aires or Greater Buenos Aires. The population of the city itself (not included in the 14 million figure for the province) is roughly 2.8 million.
| Argentina shares a 5,150 kilometer (3,200 mile) border with Chile. It also shares borders with Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. With which of those four countries does it share the longest border? | Argentina Geo-trivia
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Paraguay. Argentina shares a 1,880 kilometer (1,168 mile) border with Paraguay; a 1,224 kilometer (761 mile) border with Brazil; an 832 kilometer (517 mile) border with Bolivia; and a 579 kilometer (360 mile) border with Uruguay.
| The Rio de la Plata marks part of the border between Argentina and one of its neighbors. Which neighbor? | Argentina Geo-trivia
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Uruguay. Argentines like to say that the Rio de la Plata is the widest river in the world. At its widest point, it is more than 220 kilometers (130 miles) across. For purists, though, the Rio de la Plata is not a river at all, but an estuary.
| The Casa Rosada is the official residence of Argentina's president. It lies along one side of a square in Buenos Aires that became famous in the late 1970s as the gathering place for women protesting the Argentine dictatorship's so-called Dirty War. What's the name of the square? | Argentina Geo-trivia
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Plaza de Mayo. The Dirty War is the name given to the extra-judicial kidnappings and murders of political dissidents by the Argentine military during the 1976-1983 dictatorship. In 1977, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo began a protest in the square to demand information about their missing children. Three of the original 14 protesters subsequently "disappeared", as well, but the group ultimately became an important center for those opposed to the dictatorship.
| Patagonia stretches from southern Buenos Aires province to the southern tip of Argentina. Approximately what percentage of Argentina's total land area does Patagonia cover? | Argentina Geo-trivia
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One-third. Patagonia covers more than 900,000 km2 (347,400 m2) or about one-third of Argentina's 2,737,000 km2 (1,056,000 m2).
| Cerro Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas. Which large Argentine city is only 110 kilometers (68 miles) southeast of Cerro Aconcagua? | Argentina Geo-trivia
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Mendoza. Cerro Aconcagua is 6,962 meters (22,841 feet) high and lies between Mendoza to the southeast and the Chilean border just to the west. Mendoza is a major center for agriculture and Argentina's fourth-largest city.
Eighth. Argentina covers approximately 2,737,000 km2 (1,056,000 m2). Seven countries are larger by land area than Argentina: Russia, Canada, the United States, China, Brazil, Australia, and India.
Iguazu. The Iguazu Falls are the natural border between Argentina and Brazil. Most of the falls are located in Argentinean territory. They have been featured in many films, such as "The Mission" and "Miami Vice". They have also been seen on television, such as on the show "Smallville" and in Honda's "The Impossible Dream" advertisement.
Carlos Paz. Carlos Paz is as crowded during the summer as Mar del Plata. Every summer, theater companies in that city present amazing local shows. Cordoba is the capital city of the province. La Falda is a quiet town, focused on the teens who graduated from the primary school. Finally, Cosquin is known for its folklore festival during the summer.
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