Some key dates in the history of Argentina:
16th Century – Spanish colonisation of the River Plate coast and inland areas begins.
1776 – Spain establishes separate Viceroyalty of the River Plate.
1810 – Viceroy overthrown, launching the war of independence.
1816 – Independence declared, followed by decades of turmoil, attempted foreign intervention, and civil war between centralist and federalist forces.
1861 – State of Buenos Aires finally reintegrated with Argentine Confederation to form a united country.
1880 – Start of decades of liberal economic and immigration policies that lead to rapid income and population growth as well as progressive education and social policies.
1916-22 – President Hipolito Yrigoyen enacts a series of progressive social reforms. He is re-elected for another stint as president in 1928.
1930 – Great Depression hits Argentina hard as demand for its agricultural exports dries up. Armed forces seize power in coup, setting a precedent for military interventions that only ends in the 1980s.
1932 – Civilian rule is restored but economic decline continues.
1943 – Nationalist army officers seize power in protest at stagnation and electoral fraud. One of these is Colonel Juan Peron.
1946 – Juan Peron wins presidential election on a promise of higher wages and social security. His wife, Eva ‘Evita’ Peron is put in charge of labour relations.
1949 – A new constitution strengthens the power of the president. Opponents are imprisoned, independent newspapers are suppressed.
1951 – Peron is re-elected with a huge majority, but his support begins to decline after Evita dies the following year.
1955 – Violent military uprisings drive President Peron to resign and go into exile.
1966 – General Juan Carlos Ongania seizes power after years of unstable civilian governments.
1973 – The Peronist party wins elections in March, Peron becomes president in September.
1974 – Peron dies in July. His third wife, Isabel, succeeds him. Terrorism from right and left escalates, leaving hundreds dead amid strikes, protests and rampant inflation.
1976 – Armed forces seize power and launch ‘Dirty War’ in which thousands are killed on suspicion of left-wing sympathies.