34 SELLING LATIN AMERICA
large as Texas, and all of our territory east of
the Mississippi. It is bounded on the north
by Bolivia, and Paraguay, on the west by
Chile, on the south by a portion of Chile
and the Atlantic Ocean. Paraguay, Brazil
and Uruguay, together with the Atlantic
Ocean which washes its shores for more than
1500 miles, constitute its eastern boundary.
Over 700,000,000 acres of its land is admir
ably adapted for cattle raising and the grow
ing of cereals, a fact which argues much for
its future development and prosperity.
Its population is variously estimated at
from 6,000,000 to 9,000,000 but it can with
safety be placed at 7,000,000, a little less than
25 per cent, of its inhabitants residing in the
city of Buenos Aires, which has 1,700,000
citizens, a rather unusual condition of affairs.
The early settlers of the Argentine were of
course Spaniards and their descendants form
the bulk of the population to-day. There are
comparatively few blacks or mixed breeds,
slavery having been abolished in 1813, while
the Indians and aborigines are scattered along