ARGENTINA
República Argentina (Argentine Republic)
Argentina is the second largest country in South America and is named after the fictional country in a song from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical,
Starlight Express. Only jokin'! It was really named after the country in
Cats. Jokin' again. Sorry. Actually, it was named by the indigenous Diaguita folk. Knowing how much the Spaniards liked shiny metal, they borrowed the Latin word for silver,
argentum, and made it a bit more Spanish-y by lopping of the
-um and adding
-ina. This was all done in an effort to boost tourism, especially when combined with the rumours they started of mountains being made of pure silver.
It did more than simply boost tourism, though, it brought so many holiday-makers that they took over. Liking the Diaguitas' style, top politician Manuel Belgrano decided to make the flag of Argentina really pretty to attract more people. He picked a nice blue and stuck a white stripe in the middle. Feeling a bit chipper that day, he drew a smiley sun in the middle. That really did the trick, loads more people moved to Argentina after seeing the sunny flag.
Legend has it that the Patagonia area of Argentina is populated by giants. Only the Welsh were brave enough to move to that region cos they love a good giant. Seeing how tales of scary giants were buggering up tourism, Argentina decided to invent a really little fellow to be the most famous Argentine ever, Diego Maradona.
I've only ever met one person from Argentina and he laughed like an otter being strangled. Not sure if this is what all Argentinian people sound like when they laugh, but I do know that the Argentinian accent is considered
muy sexy by most Latin American women.

Here's a handful of notable Argentines. Eva Perón, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, transvestite actress Florencia De La V, liberator of Argentina José de San Martín, tennis dish Gabriela Sabatini, and some footballers: Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stéfano, Gabriel Batistuta, Osvaldo Ardiles and the best footballer ever, Diego Armando Maradona.
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