About of Argentina

In English the name Argentina comes from the Spanish language, however the naming itself is not Spanish, but Italian. Argentina mascu
line argentino means in Italian made of silver, silver coloured, probably borrowed from the Old French adjective argentine (made) of
silver silver coloured already mentioned in the 12th century.The French word argentine is the feminine form of argentin and derives
from argent silver with the suffix -in same construction as Old French acerin made) of steel, from acier steel -in or sapin made of
fir wood, from OF sap fir -in). The Italian naming Argentina for the country implies Terra Argentina land of silver or Costa Argenti
na coast of silver. In Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it
and it is said lArgentina.The name Argentina was probably first given by the Venetian and Genoese navigators, such as Giovanni Caboto.
In Spanish and Portuguese, the words for silver are respectively plata and prata and (made) of silver is said plateado and prateado.
Argentina was first associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin.
The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced to La Argentina,a 1602 poem by Martín del Barco Centenera describing the
region.Although Argentina was already in common usage by the 18th century, the country was formally named Viceroyalty of the Ro de
la Plata by the Spanish Empire, and United Provinces of the Ro de la Plata after independence.The 1826 constitution included the fi
rst use of the name Argentine Republic in legal documents.The name Argentine Confederation was also commonly used and was formalized
in the Argentine Constitution of 1853.In 1860 a presidential decree settled the countrs name as rgentine Republic,and that years c
onstitutional amendment ruled all the names since 1810 as legally valid.
The earliest traces of human life in the area now known as Argentina are dated from the Paleolithic period, with further traces in the
Mesolithic and Neolithic.Until the period of European colonization, Argentina was relatively sparsely populated by a wide number of
diverse cultures with different social organizations,which can be divided into three main groups.The first group are basic hunters
and food gatherers without development of pottery, such as the Selknam and Yaghan in the extreme south. The second group are advanced
hunters and food gatherers which include the Puelche, Querand and Serranos in the center-east and the Tehuelche in the south—all of
them conquered by the Mapuche spreading from Chile—and the Kom and Wichi in the north. The last group are farmers with pottery, like
the Charra, Minuane and Guaran in the northeast, with slash and burn semisedentary existence the advanced Diaguita sedentary trading
culture in the northwest, which was conquered by the Inca Empire around 1480 the Toconot and Hênîa and Kmare in the countrys center,
and the Huarpe in the center-west, a culture that raised llama cattle and was strongly influenced by the Incas.