Situated in the southern portion of South America, the Republic, which is divided into fourteen Provinces (States) and ten National Territories, is bounded on the north by Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil; on the east by Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay; and on the south and west by Chile. It embraces the most important sections of the vast estuary of the River Plate, with its entire line of coast on the Atlantic Ocean. Within its extensive areas, covering about 1,150,000 square miles, the possibilities of production are practically unlimited owing to the wealth of the soil and the variety of its climate, which includes the sub-tropical, the temperate and the cold regions. Yet, in none of these is to be found the extreme, as may be judged by health statistics and by the figures of the rates of mortality and longevity, which are respectively lower and higher than in any country of Europe. Geographically, the Argentine Republic may be divided into three sections: the western, or Andine, the Pampean, and the Mesopotamian. The western is mountainous and comprises the long strip sheltered by the Cordillera of the Andes and its ramifications. It contains numerous valleys of varied character and abounds in mineral wealth. The northern and Andine provinces and the western part of the southern territories are included in this division. The Pampean section embraces the southern and central part of the Republic from the eastern portions of the Province of Salta, with the Territories of Formosa and the Chaco, down to the territories in the south; they include the plains stretching south and extending through the rich Provinces of Santa Fe and Buenos Aires. This section, as its name indicates, is one vast plain rolling towards the south-east. It is crossed by innumerable rivers and streams which descend from the Andes, and either lose themselves in the Pampa, or become tributaries of the great river system of the Parana, or flow on till they join the Atlantic Ocean. In this section there are some few isolated ranges of hills, besides numerous lakes and lagoons with swamps and salt marshes, while a rich and varied vegetation gives sustenance to millions of cattle. The Mesopotamian section lies between the Rivers Parana and Uruguay and comprises the Provinces of Entre Rios and Corrientes, and the territory of Misiones. At its southern extremity is the beautiful delta of the Parana studded with islands of rich soil and fertile vegetation. Advancing northwards, the land becomes undulating with tree-clad hill slopes, intersected by a network of rivulets and streams which water rich meadows and woodland and stretch to the north over a great part of the Province of Corrientes. Here the land dips in a remarkable manner, forming great lagoons and marshes and once more changes its character in the Territory of Misiones, where hills abound, covered with forests which extend far inland. There are also various