Since 1995, Argentina has white on black license plates with 3 letters followed by 3 digits. Many Argentine cars have some black marking on their license plates, other cars have a blue horizontal stripe on the top of the plate.
The central region of Argentina is flat with grass fields and as you progress south, the country gets drier and rockier. The very south part resembles a desert that has a cold climate. Apart from its far western part, Argentina is quite flat and tends to have little vegetation and empty grass fields.
The language spoken in Argentina is Spanish, so you will often find the word ‘de’ (which means ‘of’), the letter ‘y’ as its own word (which means ‘and’) and the letter ‘ñ’.
Argentina most commonly has white continuous edge lines. In addition, Argentina double yellow, continuous centre lines or white dashed, centre lines. There are many unpaved roads in southern Argentina. Many Argentine cars have a black blob on their license plates. Some Argentine cars have a blue horizontal stripe on the top of their plates, these plates are elongated and much longer than other Latin American plates. Argentinian cities often have street signs that run perpendicular to one another. The street signs vary in colour depending on what city you are placed in. Argentinian cities tend to have trees between the footpath and the road, similar to Uruguay. The edges of Argentinian roads have three types of these small black and white signs on tiny wooden posts. They display the road number and how many kilometres you have travelled along the road.

Round concrete poles sustaining three electricity lines in an alternating pattern are very common in Argentina.

Doubled up poles are also a good clue for Argentina.

Wooden poles are somewhat common in Argentina, they can be found either with a crossbar or without.

Wooden A-frame poles in South America are only found in Argentina.

Argentina typically uses white-and-red chevrons. Argentina is the only Latin American country with these chevrons.


Highway markers are indicated with RN, while RP indicates a provincial highway. National highways will be labelled white on the map, while provincial highways will be labelled green. National routes will be in the five pointed pentagon, the provincial routes in the squares / rectangles. RN numbers generally increase the further south you go after you hit #51.

Yellow and red rectangular reflectors can often be seen on Argentinian guardrails.


There are specific Argentinian street signs that you find in different cities, these can be black, blue or green.


The typical Argentinian electricity pole is made of concrete and split into two, forming an ‘A’ shape with horizontal segments connecting the two sides.



Beginning in the far northwest, specifically in Jujuy and Salta provinces, the vegetation consists mostly of small shrubs and grasses, and the region is very rocky and mountainous.

While the western halves of Jujuy and Salta provinces are very dry, the eastern halves, along with Tucuman province, are very green and lush. Depending on the altitude, the vegetation can range from tropical to temperate.

As you head south into Catamarca, La Rioja, and San Juan provinces, the landscape is characterized by massive mountain ridges that have no vegetation at all.


In the far west of Neuquén and Rio Negro provinces, Argentina has a lot of lakes and some alpine resort towns such as San Carlos de Bariloche and San Martin de los Andes.

The provinces of San Luis and Cordoba contain another chain of mountains called the Sierras de Córdoba and vegetation ranges from temperate forests in the foothills of the mountains, to sparse vegetation at higher altitudes.

Santiago del Estero province marks the start of the “Grand Chaco,” a landscape region spanning eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Argentina, which is comprised of extremely flat scrub.

Corrientes province in the northeast is also extremely flat, sometimes marshy and sometimes grassland, a clue to watch out for in this region is the large amount of planted pine or eucalyptus trees.

In the far northeast panhandle lies Misiones Province, the landscape is mostly rolling hills, the soil is a very recognizable dark red color and pine trees are prevalent (including the noteworthy Parana Pine).

The province Entre Rios is extremely flat and serves as a floodplain, since here is where the rivers’ deltas are. There is some grassland in this area of Entre Rios and quite a bit of agriculture.

The Pampas stretches the whole of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe provinces, and the eastern half of Cordoba and La Pampa provinces. The Pampas is flat and grassy as far as the eye can see, and is where the majority of Argentina’s farming and livestock occur.

The vegetation in the transition zone between the Pampas and Patagonia ranges from grasses to low shrubs and bushes.

Yellow poplar trees line the mostly gravel roads of the Rio Negro Valley.

Continuing south into the coastal area of Patagonia, grasses are practically nonexistent, and only small shrubs remain.

Inland in Patagonia, the landscape becomes a barren wasteland which is relatively flat until you reach the Andes near the border.

The furthest south province is Tierra del Fuego, where the climate is very cold and vegetation consists mostly of evergreens and dead-looking trees.

At the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego is Ushuaia, which in itself is recognizable in terms of landscape. Prominent snowcapped peaks with green foothills come straight down to the shores of the Beagle Channel, where the city lies on a slope.



A general rule of thumb for Argentina is as follows: Mountains are to the west, flat terrain are to the east and the further north you go, the higher the mountains get.

Specific Plants:

The Parana Pine Tree, whose shape resembles an umbrella, only found in the Misiones Province of Argentina, as well as across the border in southern Brazil.

The Monkey Puzzle Tree is found in western Neuquen province at relatively high altitudes in the Andes.

The palm trees found in the Grand Chaco region of northern Argentina are a type of Wax Palm (Copernicia alba).

Poplar trees, recognizable for their slim and tall shape, are found mostly in the Mendoza, La Pampa and Rio Negro provinces, and serve as planted trees which line the road for decoration and wind erosion protection.


Buildings in Argentina are generally rectangular in shape, made of stone or brick, with simple facades and minimal window decorations (except stonework on older buildings), and flat roofs.

Almost every town in Argentina follows a grid pattern, so buildings at 4-way intersections have a “chipped corner.”

Since the majority of buildings have flat roofs, it is very common for them to have balconies. Other times, the façade of the buildings is simply extended at the top to make the building seem appear taller.

In the province of Jujuy, in the far northwest of Argentina, the use of adobe bricks (brown mud bricks) is common for buildings.

In the southern region of Patagonia, metal sheet roofs are used a lot.

A specific type of house, called the Mar del Plata style, is found mostly in the coastal areas of Buenos Aires province and Buenos Aires itself. It is characterized by tiled gable roofs and stone facades, and often incorporates dormers and chimneys.
