Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a vast federal republic located in the southern cone of South America. Covering an area of 2,780,400 km², it is the fourth-largest country in the Americas and the eighth-largest globally. The nation's geography is highly diverse, ranging from the temperate Pampas grasslands in the east to the arid Patagonian steppes and the Andean mountain ranges in the west. The country is bordered by Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, and Uruguay, and possesses a long coastline on the South Atlantic Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Buenos Aires, a major cultural and economic hub.