Argentina

Argentina meeting point

Argentina is known as “The Country of Six Continents” because of the variety of landscapes it displays: from lofty colorful mountains in the North to lakes, glaciers and high continental ice in Ushuaia, the southernmost tip of the continent; from lakes, rivers and hidden forests at the hill of the Andes to the magnificent Iguazú Falls.
It is also an ideal place to enjoy tourism and Conference meetings because of the numerous Post-Congress tours available.

Information about Argentina

Language
Spanish is the oficial language of Argentina. In Buenos Aires, it adopts styles and terms from lunfardo, the city´s slang.

Religion
The oficial religión is the Roman Catholic; yet, there is complete freedom of worship in Argentina. Also, other religions are practised, such as Protestantism, Judaism, Islamism, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and the like.

Currency
The oficial currency is the Argentine Peso ($). There are $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 notes; $1, $0,50, $0,25, $0,10, $0,05 coins, and also $0,01 coins, but they are seldom used.

American dollar and euro are generally accepted. Banks and agencies offer money exchange services. Updated exchange rate is available at www.bcra.gov.ar, the web page of Banco Central de la República Argentina. In the city of Buenos Aires, you will be able to exchange money in Agencies that are available in every point frequently visited by foreigners.

There are many ATMs (Banelco System) around the city and at airports. ATMs operate with international cards which are accepted within the CIRRUS system.

Tax refund
At the airport you may claim a 21 % tax refund if you spent $70 (per invoice) o more on the purchase of national products at shops exhibiting the Global Refund Tax Free Shoping sign. You must ask the retailer for your refund check together with your invoice. To obtain the refund, the Global Refund check must be stamped by Customs.
Phone: (54 – 11) 4342-2413 - . www.globalrefund.com

Credit cards
Credit cards most widely used in Argentina are:
American Express (Phone:4312-1661),
Master Card (Phone:4340-5700),
VISA (Phone:4379-3400) y
Diners (Phone:0810-444-2484).

Banks
Banking hours are from 10 am to 3 pm.

Phone Calls

• For internationa calls, dial 00 + country code + area code + local number.
• For nacional calls, dial 0 + area code.
• To call to Argentina, dial 54 and then the area code. For example: to call to Buenos Aires city, dial 11.

Public telephone booths operate with 5, 10, 25, 50 cent coins or phone or phone cards you can buy at koisks and offices of telephone companies. There are also communications centers open 24 hours. They also provide Internet access.

Special rates are from 10 pm to 8 am. Numbers beginning 0800 are free of charge.

Official Time
Oficial time is GMT- 3.

Electric Power
Electric power used is 220 volt, 50 cycle alternating current.