Buenos Aires
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- For other uses, see Buenos Aires (disambiguation).
Buenos Aires (English: Fair Winds, originally Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires, City of the Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Fair Winds) is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port, as well as one of the largest cities in Latin America and the world. Buenos Aires is located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent, opposite Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. Buenos Aires is located at Template:Coor dm (-34.667, -58.40).
After the internal conflicts of the 19th century, Buenos Aires was federalised and removed from Buenos Aires Province; its city limits were enlarged to include the former towns of Belgrano and Flores (both are now neighbourhoods in the city).
Argentines sometimes refer to the city as Capital Federal to differentiate the city from the province of the same name. In the 1994 constitution, it was declared an Autonomous City (hence the formal denomination Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires).
Mayor Aníbal Ibarra was deposed by the legislature 6 March 2006 following an impeachment trial over the República Cromagnon tragedy. His deputy, Jorge Telerman, who was acting mayor since December, was invested with the office.
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Population
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The people of Buenos Aires are known as porteños (English: People of the port), acknowledging the major historical importance of the port in the development of the city and the whole nation.
The population of Buenos Aires consists primarily of Argentines of Spanish and Italian descent. The vast majority of these originate from the Galician, Asturian, and Basque regions of Spain, and the Calabrian, Ligurian and Neapolitan regions of Italy.
There are also sizable communities of people with Arab, Jewish, Armenian, British, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean origins (see also: Asian-Argentines). Also, there is a mixed Spanish-aboriginal (mestizo/criollo) minority, mostly immigrants from Bolivia and Paraguay.
Most inhabitants are Roman Catholic. Sizable Jewish and Muslim communities have existed for over 100 years, and Evangelic churches have steadily increased their ranks since the 1980s.
The city proper has a population of 2,776,138 according to the Template:Census-ar, while the Greater Buenos Aires conurbation has more than 12.4 million inhabitants. Suburbanites are called porteños and also bonaerenses; only the last term applies to the inhabitants from the rest of the Buenos Aires province.
Economy
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Buenos Aires is the financial, industrial, commercial, and cultural hub of Argentina. Its port is one of the busiest in the world; navigable rivers connect it 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.
To the west of Buenos Aires is the Pampa Húmeda, the most productive agricultural region of Argentina (as opposed to the dry southern pampa, mostly used for cattle farms). Meat, dairy, grain, tobacco, wool and hide products are processed or manufactured in the Buenos Aires area. Other leading industries are automobile manufacturing, oil refining, metalworking, machine building, and the production of textiles, chemicals, clothing, and beverages.
History
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Spanish seaman Juan Díaz de Solís discovered the Río de la Plata in 1516 but his expedition was cut short by an attack in which he was killed (and supposedly cannibalized) by the native Charrúa or Guaraní tribe (disputed).
The city was first founded as Santa María del Buen Ayre on February 2 1536 by a Spanish gold-seeking expedition under Pedro de Mendoza. The name was chosen by Mendoza's chaplain, who was a devout follower of the Virgine de Bonaria (English: Our Lady of the Fair Winds) of Cagliari, Sardinia. The location of Mendoza's city was on today's San Telmo district (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 sailed down the Paraná River from Asunción (now capital of Paraguay).
From its earliest days the success of Buenos Aires depended on trade. The Spanish administration of the 17th and 18th centuries insisted that all trade to Europe initially pass through Lima, Peru so that taxes could be collected. This scheme frustrated the traders of Buenos Aires and a thriving contraband industry developed. Unsurprisingly, this also instilled a deep resentment in porteños towards Spanish authorities.
Sensing this instability, Charles III of Spain progressively eased the trade restrictions and finally declared Buenos Aires an open port in the late 1700s. Those 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 desirous of independence from Spain.
During the British invasions of the Río de la Plata British forces invaded Buenos Aires twice in 1806–1807 but were repulsed by local militias. Ultimately, on May 25 1810, while Spain endured the Peninsular War and after a week of mostly pacific deliberations, the criollo citizens of Buenos Aires successfully ousted the Spanish Viceroy and established a provincial government; the date is now celebrated as a national holiday (May Revolution Day). Formal independence from Spain was declared only in 1816.
Buenos Aires historically was Argentina's main centre for liberal and free-trade ideas, while many of the outlying provinces were advocating a more conservative, Catholic approach to political and social issues. Many tensions within Argentine history, starting with the centralist-federalist conflicts of the 19th century, can be traced back to these contrasting views.
In the 19th century the city suffered naval blockades on two occasions: first by the French, from 1838 to 1840, and then a joint Anglo-French blockade from 1845 to 1848. Both blockades failed to surrender the city, and the foreign powers eventually desisted from their demands.
Railroad construction near the end of the 19th century increased the economic power of Buenos Aires as raw materials flowed into its factories, and the town became a metropolitan and multicultural city that ranked itself with the major European capitals. For example, the Teatro Colón was one of the world's top opera venues. The city's main avenues were built in those years, and the dawn of the 20th century saw the construction of South America's tallest buildings and first subway.
By the 1920s Buenos Aires was a favoured destination for immigrants from Europe, as well as from the poorer provinces and neighboring countries, and large shanty towns (villas miseria) started growing around the city's industrial areas, leading to extensive social problems.
During the 20th century, the military seized power several times. Buenos Aires was also the cradle of Peronism: the now-mythical demonstration of October 17 1945 took place in Plaza de Mayo. Industrial workers of the Buenos Aires suburbia have been Peronism's main support base ever since, and Plaza de Mayo became the site for social demonstrations and many of the country's political events.
On June 16 1955, the military uprising that would (three months later) depose President Perón (see Revolución Libertadora) sent planes that bombed the Plaza de Mayo area. It was the only time the city was attacked from the air.
In the 1970s, the city suffered from the fighting between revolutionary movements (the left-wing Montoneros, E.R.P. and F.A.R.) and the right-wing paramilitary group Triple A. The military coup of 1976 only escalated this conflict; the "Dirty War" produced between 10,000 and 30,000 desaparecidos. The silent marches of their mothers (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo) are a well-known image of Argentine suffering during those times.
The city was visited by Pope John Paul II on two occasions: in 1982, due to the outbreak of the Falklands (Malvinas) War, and a second visit in 1987, which gathered crowds never seen before in the city.
On March 17 1992 a bomb exploded in the Israeli Embassy killing 29 and injuring 242. Another explosion, on July 18 1994 destroyed a building housing several Jewish organizations killing 85 and injuring many more (see AMIA bombing).
Culture
Image:Buenos Aires-Av. de Mayo-Palacio Barolo-1.jpg Buenos Aires is the site of the Teatro Colón, one of the world's greatest opera houses. There are several sympony orchestras and choral societies both belonging to the National government anf to the City government. It posesses numerous museums, historical, fine arts, modern arts, decorative arts, popular arts, sacred art, arts and crafts, theater and popular music, as well as the preseved homes of a number of art collectors, writers, composers and artists. It harbors many 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 gardens, innumerable landscaped parks and squares as well as churches and houses of worship of all denominations and religious traditions, including many who are architecturally noteworthy.
The majority of porteños are Roman Catholics, and Buenos Aires is the seat of a Roman Catholic metropolitan archbishop who is the primate of Argentina, as well as of several Eastern Orthodox and Anglican hierarchs.
Language variations
Argentines refer to their language as castellano (Castilian). The dialect spoken in Buenos Aires (as well as in other large cities like Rosario and Montevideo, Uruguay) is characterised by voseo, yeísmo and aspiration or loss of syllable-final -s. Heavily influenced by the Spanish spoken in Andalusia and Murcia, it is sometimes known as Rioplatense Spanish.
In the early 20th century, Argentina absorbed millions of immigrants, mostly from Italy and Spain. Italian immigrants spoke mostly in their local dialects (mainly Neapolitan, Sicilian and Genoan), and their adoption of Spanish was gradual. A pidgin of Italian dialects and Spanish called cocoliche was widely heard in the beginning of the 20th century; its usage decayed around the 1950s, and today survives mostly as comic relief.
As many Spanish immigrants were from Galicia, to the extent that Spaniards are still generically called gallegos (Galicians), Galician language 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 common in Buenos Aires, especially in the Balvanera garment neighborhood and in Villa Crespo, until the 1960s. A lively Korean language and Chinese language press has developed since the 1980s. Most of the newer immigrants learn Spanish quickly and assimilate into city life.
The lunfardo argot originated within the prison population and the underclass on the river front, and spread to all porteños with time. Lunfardo uses words from Italian dialects, from Brazilian Portuguese, from African and Caribbean origin and even from English; and employs humorous tricks such as inverting the syllables within a word (vesre). Lunfardo is used by porteños mostly in informal settings. The slang of the younger generations has been evolving away from lunfardo, however.
Tango
Image:Rio de la Plata BA 2.JPG
The sensual tango dance originated in the brothels of the Balvanera district, and many early lyrics reflect this origin, with references to crime and prostitution. The dance was not seen as respectable until it was adopted by the Parisian high society in the 1920s, and then all over the world. Tango schools known as academias were usually men-only.
After the 1920s, the Buenos Aires style of tango music evolved into an elaborated genre. In its heyday, tango had many famous orchestras such as those led by Aníbal Troilo and Juan D'Arienzo, and singers such as Carlos Gardel and Edmundo Rivero.
Buenos Aires now holds an annual "Tango Day" each December 11.
In San Telmo, Sundays are devoted to tango shows on the streets and antiques trade in the bazaars around Dorrego Square.
Miscellaneous
Image:The Buildings of downtown Buenos Aires.jpg Buenos Aires was home for Argentine writers Leopoldo Lugones, Jorge Luis Borges, Manuel Mujica Laínez, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Ernesto Sábato, Leopoldo Marechal and Victoria Ocampo. Writer Julio Cortázar, who was coincidentally born in Brussels, lived for a long period in Buenos Aires, before relocating to France where he died. International figures who lived in Buenos Aires include René Goscinny, Marcel Duchamp, Witold Gombrowicz, Jerry Masucci, Romola Nijinska, Rosa Chacel and Eugene O' Neill and businessmen John S. Reed and Aristotle Onassis.
During the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath, Buenos Aires provided refuge for many, including philosopher José Ortega y Gasset and composer Manuel de Falla, who later moved to Córdoba.
The University of Buenos Aires, which still remains one of the top learning institutions in South America, has produced five Nobel Prize winners and provides free education for students from all around the globe.
For much of the 20th century, Buenos Aires was the cultural capital of the Spanish-speaking world, and many porteños flaunted their riches abroad. This gave birth to a stereotype of Argentines as vain and arrogant that became widespread across Latin America; some (especially Uruguayans) make the distinction between porteños and provincianos (people from the provinces, like themselves), who are excluded from this characterization. But most Porteños are essentially proud of not feeling part of the common herd.
Buenos Aires is a major world center for psychoanalysis, particularly Lacanian psychoanalysis.
Transportation
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Public transport
A majority of residents in Buenos Aires and its vicinity use public transportation. An original Buenos Aires invention is the "colectivo", a small bus built out of a truck chassis and seating 21 to 27. Numerous colectivos, as well as larger public buses, traverse the city each hour providing access to virtually all neighbourhoods.
The Buenos Aires Metro (locally known as el subte, from "subterráneo" meaning "underground") is an extensive system providing access to various parts of the city. Opened in 1913, it is also the oldest subway system in the Southern Hemisphere and in the Spanish-speaking world. [2] The subte includes 5 lines (A to E), 80 stations, and contains a total of 46 km of tracks. Under an expansion program, it will cover a distance of 89 kilometers by about 2011.
Roadways
Image:Buenos Aires-Center-P3050007.JPG Buenos Aires used to be relatively congestion-free for a city of its size. Toll freeways opened in the late 1970s by then-mayor Osvaldo Cacciatore provided fast access to the downtown area, increasing the number of cars coming into the city. During Cacciatore's tenure, the streets of the downtown financial district (roughly one square kilometer in size) were declared off-limits to private cars during daytime.
Following the economic mini-boom of the 1990s, more people started commuting by car, and congestion increased. Most major avenues are gridlocked at peak hours. Some congestion is caused by people driving to and from the country on weekends.
Black-and-yellow taxis roam the streets at all hours. Some of these are unlicensed (controls are not fully enforced), so visitors are advised to phone a reputable radio-link company. Limo services, known as remises, have become more popular in the last few years.
Rail transport
All of Argentina's extensive railway network converges on Buenos Aires. The three principal stations for both long-distance passenger services and commuter trains are Estación Retiro, Estación Constitución, and Estación Once. From the centre of Buenos Aires, trains are available to numerous suburban communities and into some parts of the north and west of the country.
Airports
The Buenos Aires international airport, Ministro Pistarini International Airport, is located in the suburb of Ezeiza and is often called simply "Ezeiza". The Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport, located within city limits near the riverbank, serves mostly domestic traffic.
Barrios
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The city is divided into 48 barrios (neighbourhoods) for administrative purposes. The division was originally based on Catholic parroquias (parishes), but has undergone a series of changes since the 1940s. A newer administrative scheme has divided the city into comunas.
Sports
Football is a passion for Argentines. The city has many teams playing in the major league. The best-known rivalry is the one between Boca Juniors and River Plate. Other major clubs include San Lorenzo de Almagro and Vélez Sársfield.
Diego Armando Maradona, who was born in a poor suburb of Buenos Aires and is widely hailed as one of the greatest football players ever, started his career with Argentinos Juniors and later played for Boca Juniors (he also played for other clubs, notably Italian side SSC Napoli).
Buenos Aires has been a candidate city for the Summer Olympic Games on three occasions: for the 1956 Games, lost by a single vote to Melbourne; for the 1968 Summer Olympics, which were held in Mexico City (to this date, the only Games held in Latin America); and in 2004, when the games were awarded to Athens. As of 2006, Argentina is the only founding member of the International Olympic Committee that has never hosted the games.
Buenos Aires hosted the first Pan American Games which started on February 25, 1951, as well as the 1950 and 1990 basketball world championships and the 1978 football (soccer) World Cup (Argentina won that cup on June 25 1978, defeating the Netherlands by 3–1).
The Buenos Aires Oscar Gálvez car-racing track hosted twenty 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.
Argentines' love for horses can be experienced in several ways: horse racing in 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.
Other popular sports in Buenos Aires are golf, tennis, basketball, rugby, and field hockey.
Guillermo Vilas was a great Argentine tennis champion, born in Buenos Aires.
Internet
Buenos Aires ISPs provide dial-up, cable, satellite-based and ADSL connections to the Internet. In 2004, a major ISP introduced download quotas, which prompted a switch by many subscribers to smaller ISPs that still allow unlimited use, as of 2005. Suburban users routinely experience lower ADSL speeds, but their situation is improving steadily as investment in new facilities has been stepped up.
The Internet boom in the early 2000s gave birth to cibercafés (or locutorios). Their rates are usually much lower than those charged in developed countries. There is also a growing number of wi-fi hotspots, most of them in the downtown area.
Tourist attractions and places of interest
- Biblioteca Nacional de la República Argentina
- Casa Rosada
- Colón Theater
- Florida Street
- Jorge Newbery Airpark
- La Boca
- La Recoleta Cemetery
- Palermo Hollywood and Palermo SOHO
- Plaza de Mayo
- Puerto Madero
- San Telmo
See also
References
External links
Template:Commons Template:Wiktionarypar
- Template:Es icon Official government website
- Template:En icon Official tourism website
- Template:Es icon City guide
- Template:En icon Google Maps satellite view
- Template:En icon Buenos Aires Tourist guide
- Template:En icon Travel and accommodation guide
- Template:En icon Template:Wikitravelpar
- Template:En icon Encyclopædia Britannica
- Template:En icon Microsoft Encarta
Newspapers
- Template:En icon Buenos Aires Herald
- Template:Es icon Clarín
- Template:Es icon La Nación
- Template:Es icon Página 12
- Template:Es icon Infobae
- Template:Es icon Edición Nacional
- Template:Es icon La Prensa
Template:Barrios of Buenos Aires
Federal Capital | Buenos Aires | Catamarca | Chaco | Chubut | Córdoba | Corrientes | Entre Ríos | Formosa | Jujuy | La Pampa | La Rioja | Mendoza | Misiones | Neuquen | Río Negro | Salta | San Juan | San Luis | Santa Cruz | Santa Fe | Santiago del Estero | Tierra del Fuego | Tucumán
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