Abstract: The article examines the approach of the Argentine legislator to determining the legal foundations of the territorial organization of public authority. The work analyzes the norms of the Argentine Constitution, the legislation of the constituent entities of the federation (provinces), materials of law enforcement practice and doctrinal sources. The types of public territorial entities in Argentina, the sources of legal regulation of their status, the influence of the peculiarities of the historical development of the Argentine state on modern approaches to the territorial organization of public authority are explored. Taking into account the federal nature of the Argentine state, the lack of comprehensive studies of the issue of territorial organization of public authority in Argentina, the experience of the studied country seems worthy of attention within the framework of the Russian science of municipal law. It has been established that Argentine legislation provides for the existence of obligatory and optional territorial entities whose status is distinguished, first of all, by the granting of political autonomy to the former. A special feature is the provision of exclusive competence to the provinces in terms of regulating the territorial and other foundations of the organization of municipal authority. When creating municipal territorial entities, provinces establish criteria for the formation of municipalities and also provide for their division into categories. The legal status of municipalities, depending on their classification into one category or another, may differ significantly, especially in terms of the existence of institutional autonomy. The experience of Argentina can be taken into account in the context of reforming the institution of local self-government in Russia.