Buenos Aires Research

Up next...facts from the World Book Encyclopedia from the last city on my South American tour...Buenos Aires!

Buenos Aires is the largest city of Argentina and is also the capital.  Population is listed as 2,776,138; met.area 11,460,575.  About 1/3 of Argentines live in this metropolitan area.  The name comes from the Spanish for "fair winds". "Early Spanish sailors named the harbor at the site for the patron saint of fair winds, Nuestra Senora Santa Maria del Buen Aire (Our Lady Saint Mary of the Fair Wind).

Plaza de Mayo, in the oldest part of Buenos Aires, is the city's hisotry and political center.  It is in this area that you can find the Casa Rosada (Pink House) where the office of the presdient is located.  "Through the years, the Plaza has been a forum for protests."

There are several "barrios" (residential neighborhoods).  San Telmo is one of the oldest. "Originally the home of the city's leaders and upper classes, it now attracts artists, tango dancers, and antique dealers."  there is also the "colorful" barrio, La Boca, "known for its brightly painted houses and excelent Italian restaurants." Recoleta has a "European feel" while Palermo "is a neighborhood of gardens, mansions, and parks."  The Colon Theater downtown "ranks as one of the world's finest opera houses." (above from page 672)

People of Buenos Aires are called "portenos" (port dwellers).  About 3/4 are of Spanish or Italian ancestry.  Spanish is the official language, although many also speak other languages. Many are Roman Catholic.

"The gap between the rich and the poor has become more evident.  Homelessness and crime have also risen because of the city's economic troubles."

"kleading industries in the Buenos Aires area include meat packaging, food processing, and the manufacture of textiles, rubber products and electical equipment."

The period from 1880-1940 is considered Buenos Aires "Golden Age" as it became "one of the most beautiful and modern cities in the Western Hemisphere, and the cultural center of Latin America."