Vehicle Registration Plates of Argentina - 1972-1994: Identifying The Provinces

1972-1994: Identifying The Provinces

In 1972 the national government standardized the plates, the format being one letter and six digits, with embossed characters painted white against a black background. The numbers were issued consecutively, while the first letter identified the issuing province (or city, in the case of Buenos Aires). This letter was usually the first letter of the province's name, but since several provinces share them, odd assignments were found (such as X for Córdoba, P for Formosa, A for Salta, Q for Neuquen and N for Misiones); this standard is still used in the ISO 3166-2:AR geocode.

The only two districts to ever surpass one million plates, thus generating a conflict in formatting, were the province of Buenos Aires and the capital, Buenos Aires City. The issue was resolved by halving the height of the letter and adding an additional number below it.