Border crossings in Argentina They are very heterogeneous, as much as the country itself. Some are very busy and others dedicated almost exclusively to neighborhood traffic. While some are open 24 hours a day, others have shorter hours.
With an area of 3,761,274 square kilometers and about 15,000 kilometers of land, river and maritime boundaries, Our country has 237 border crossings, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.
Of the total border crossings, 103 are maritime or river, 95 are land and 39 are air.
As for the countries, 74 correspond to the border with Chile, 39 with Paraguay, 22 with Brazil, 14 with Uruguay and 5 with Bolivia. On the other hand, there are 83 controls that correspond to international ports or airports.
According to Ministry statistics, more than one and a half million people passed through several of these crossings last year, with peaks of eleven million in the border crossing busiest.
What are the most important border crossings in Argentina?
Official statistics from the Argentine government, published in 2016, establish the following ranking of the eight busiest border crossings in Argentina.
1. Posadas-Encarnación
In November 2023, the train that crosses the bridge that connects the capital of Misiones, Posadas, with the city of Encarnación in Paraguay began to circulate again.
The bridge is also suitable for the passage of vehicles. In 2016, 11.6 million people passed through there.
2. Puerto Iguazú-Foz do Iguazú
Tancredo Neves International Bridge. Connect to Puerto Iguazú with Foz de Iguazú. And they integrate with Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, on the Triple Border.The Tancredo Neves bridge connects these cities on the triple border, in the north of Misiones. From Misiones you cross that bridge to the very beautiful Foz de Iguazú of 250 thousand inhabitants.
From Foz, another bridge, called Friendship Bridge, allows you to reach Ciudad del Este, which with 300 thousand inhabitants is the second most populated in Paraguay, behind Asunción. The passage of travelers through Puerto Iguazú exceeds 10 million people per year.
3. Ezeiza Airport
Ezeiza Airport is the main entry and exit from Argentina to the outside world by air.Main gateway to all countries in the world by air, it has an ambitious modernization plan which includes the expansion of its facilities.
Located 35 kilometers from the center of Buenos Aires, Ezeiza annually covers about 70 international destinations in 26 different countries. There are 35 airlines that land in the country. And they usually carry about 9.6 million passengers each year.
4. Salvador Mazza-Yacuiba
The Salvador Mazza-Yacuiba Border Crossing connects Salta with Bolivia. 5 million people pass through each year./ Photo: Google Maps/Historically it is one of the hottest borders in Argentina. Unites the city of Salvador Mazza in Saltawith 20,000 inhabitants (Pocitos station) with the Bolivian city of Yacuiba, with 92,000 inhabitants.
National Route 34 connects Salta with Salvador Mazza and Yacuiba. And a branch of the General Belgrano Railway reaches the city. About 5 million people cross to and from Bolivia every year.
5. Paso de los Libres-Uruguayana
Paso de los Libres Uruguayan Bridge. It unites the city of Corrientes with the Brazilian city of the state of Río Grande do Sul. Since the 1930s, the Corrientes city of Paso de los Libres and the Brazilian city of Uruguayana were a hot trade border between Argentina and Brazil. Things were passed by boat then.
In 1947 the bridge was officially inaugurated Paso de los Libres-Uruguayana and since then it has been one of the great tourism and trade routes between the two countries. Currently about 4 million people cross through it a year.
6. Port of Buenos Aires
The departure and entry of Uruguayans and Argentines is frequent at the port, via Buquebus or Colonia Express. Trips to Colonia and Montevideo.From the Buquebus and Colonia Express terminals, boats leave every day for Colonia and Montevideo, in Uruguay.
In addition to commercially uniting the capitals of the two countries, ships travel lots of local tourism, and it is very common for people to pass by in their cars traveling to Montevideo and then continue their journey to the city of Punta del Este. About 3.4 million people cross this sea route every year.
7. Christ the Redeemer System
Almost 3 million people pass through the main crossing between Chile and Argentina every year. The Christ the Redeemer tunnel usually sees long queues.It is the main border crossing between Chile and Argentina, since it connects two very strong provinces such as Los Andes, Region of Valparaiso and Mendoza, with its different commercial activities. The Cristo Redentor tunnel is 3 kilometers long. And it is often closed in winter due to deep snowfall.
Cargo trucks and many tourists pass through there, especially in summer. Every year about 2.9 million people go from one place to another.
8. Jorge Newbery Airport
Buenos Aires Airport receives passengers from Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru.Although the Jorge Newbery Airport unites all the Argentine provinces and their cities with the capital argentinaalso has a strong traffic of foreigners.
The famous air bridges with Montevideo, Punta del Este and Santiago de Chile are well known, which increases a lot during vacation times. But flights to Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and Colombia are also frequent. About 2.4 million people travel abroad every year from this terminal.