Language: Spanish

Climate: Generally temperate but there are major regional variations due to its size – from the extreme heat of the northern regions, through the pleasant climate of the central pampas, to the sub-Antarctic cold of Patagonia’s glacial regions. Throughout the country January is the warmest month, while June and July are the coldest. The mean annual temperature in Buenos Aires is 16°C, while the Chaco area in the extreme north boasts a mean annual temperature of about 23°C.

Time zone: Argentina Time

International phone code: 54

Currency: Argentine peso (ARS)

Capital: Buenos Aires

Transportation: If you plan on visiting Buenos Aires you will fly into Ministro Pistarini International Airport; if you're traveling to another location in Argentina you may have to travel from Ezeiza to the Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, the domestic airport in Buenos Aires. One problem is that the airports are located on opposite sides of the city, so some time has to be factored when travelling from one airport to the other. There are currently no international train services to Argentina but international bus coaches run from all the neighbouring countries. Argentina boasts an outstanding short and long-distance bus network. Since regional train service is limited and plane tickets are more expensive, bus travel is the most common way to travel from city to city within Argentina. Car rental is readily available throughout Argentina, though it is a bit expensive compared with other forms of transportation. Traveling by car allows you to visit locations that may be hard to reach on some bus routes.

Gay Argentina:

Argentina's LGBT rights are the most advanced in South America – homosexuality has been legal since 1887. And when the nation legalized same-sex marriage (along with full adoption rights) in July of 2010, they became the first to do so in Latin America, the second in the Americas, and the tenth in the world.

In 2009, Marcela Romero won the legal right to have her identity changed, and was awarded Honourable Congress Woman of the Year. Romero remains one of the leading advocates for the human rights of transgender people in Argentina. In 2012, senators unanimously approved the Gender Identity law, granting sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy as a part of a person's public or private health care plan. The law also allows for changes to gender, image, or birth name on civil registries without the approval of a doctor or a judge. Plus, you've got to love a country where the men use 'boludos' as a term of endearment. It means 'big balls'.

Age of consent: 15 for both homosexuals and heterosexuals.

Hot spots: The capital city, Buenos Aires, is widely acclaimed for its perfect marriage of European culture and South American vitality. And of course, no visit to BA would be complete without a pilgrimage to the magnificent Recoleta Cemetary, and the final resting place of the Argentine's most famous First Lady, Evita Peron.