Argentina means "land of silver." It's name comes from the mineral silver. The religion is predominately Roman Catholic and the main language is Spanish. The heartland of Argentina is a grassy area called the "pampas". This is where you would find the historical "gauchos". This cowboy way of life has survived for 300 yrs. Argentina is actually triangular in shape and lies along South America East Coast. The capital city is Buenos Aires.

Here in this piece we will try and learn more interesting and fun facts about argentina. I have to admit I don't know anything about the country, so this will be fun for me too!

Argentina is one of the largest producers of wines since the 16th century and has around 1800 wineries. Here are some facts:

• -malbec is the most planted grape

• -the irrigation system was started centuries ago by Indians

• -70% of the wineries are near Mendoza

• -fifth largest wine country

• -wine consumption has been falling

• -wine is grown at around 2,000-3,000 feet

• -the Penaflor winery is the second largest in the world

As well as being wine producers Argentians also enjoy hunting. Apparently, there are many doves in Argentina and they love to go dove hunting!  Of course being an animal lover I could never see killing these beautiful little birds but apparently it is the norm in Argentina.

Here's a little known fact. Did you know that Argentina has participated in the Pan American Games 14 times! They actually won 247 gold medals! Argentina now has more medals than some other neighboring countries combined.

Argentina went through much unrest in government. They declared something called a "Dirty War", to restore order and eliminate opponents.

Here are some other fun facts:

• -the highest moutain in argentina is called "Aconcagua"

• -the argentine mainland is 311 miles from the falklands

• -the population of Buenos Aires is 14 million

• -alfalfa is widely grown

There are seven countries in the world that have a larger land mass than Argentina. Those countries are the giant Russia, Canada, U.S, China, Brazil, India and Australia.

So we have covered many fun facts in this piece, however I have found one fun fact that is a little dark and more suited for a halloween tale. There is a duck in Argentina that was named "The Argentinian Vampire Duck"!

This duck has the habit of picking off lice from other ducks and christian missionaries apparently thought that was some form of vampirism! Those crazy missionaries! It is also called "The Ghoul Bird"!