Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina and also one of South America's largest cities. More than one-third of Argentina's population lives in or around Buenos Aires, which is the nation's financial and cultural center. The graceful European-inspired architecture that dominates much of Buenos Aires inspired the city's historical reputation as "the Paris of the Pampas."

Landscape

Buenos Aires is built along the bank of the Río de la Plata, a broad estuary that divides Argentina from Uruguay before it opens out onto the Atlantic Ocean. From its riverbank perch, Buenos Aires expands inland to encompass more than 200 square kilometers (75 square miles) of pampas, the grassy plains that make up much of Argentina's interior.

Buenos Aires is divided into forty-eight barrios, which are further subdivided into a collection of small neighborhoods. The heart of the city (the Microcentro) is divided north to south by one of the world's widest streets, the 120-meter-wide (400 feet) and 2,600-meter-long (8,500 feet) Avenida 9 de Julio (July 9 Avenue). The eastern portion of the Microcentro features the Plaza de Mayo, which is home to the presidential palace as well as the city's main cathedral. To the south lies a concentration of working-class neighborhoods, while to the north are the city's upscale residential districts.

The climate of Buenos Aires is mild and humid, with average temperatures ranging from 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) in January to 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) in July. During the months of December, January, and February, which typically see conditions of oppressive heat and humidity, many residents seek relief at Argentina's coastal resorts.

Buenos Aires is also susceptible to heavy rainfall and occasional flooding triggered by local wind phenomena. Sudestada, a regional climatic event, results from a sudden southeastern rotation in the regional wind pattern. It causes milder temperatures but also high winds, heavy rains, and violent seas. The pampero, a line of powerful squalls originating on Argentina's inland prairies, can also bring torrential rain, hail, and thunder.

People

As of 2023, the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area was home to approximately 15.49 million people, making it the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the Americas, after São Paulo, Mexico City, and New York. Natives of Buenos Aires colloquially refer to themselves as porteños, meaning a person from a port city. The nickname is tied to the immigrant heritage of many of the city's inhabitants. Eighty-five percent of Argentines have European ancestors. More than 3.5 million immigrants disembarked in "El Puerto" (as Buenos Aires is known throughout South America) between the middle of the nineteenth century and World War I.

Nearly half of these immigrants came from Italy and a third from Spain. Strong reflections of this heritage can be found in the city's architecture, which has much more in common with Rome or Paris than it does with any other South American capital. This heritage is also evident in the culture of the city's residents. Many people have Italian or German surnames and are fluent in various European languages in addition to Spanish.

Another aspect of their culture for which the people of Buenos Aires enjoy an international reputation is the tango—a sensual, intricate ballroom dance characterized by elegant stepping motions and deft head movements. Buenos Aires is regarded as the place where this distinctive dance tradition came into its own.

Tango traces its origins, according to many historians, to the slums of late nineteenth-century Buenos Aires, where dancers were drawn largely from the city's vibrant immigrant communities. Immigrants drew on African, South American, and European styles of dance to develop a new style that, over time, evolved into the elaborate art form of the tango. Today Buenos Aires celebrates an annual Tango Day on December 11. In 2009, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization added the tango to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Economy

Although Buenos Aires has experienced periods of financial crisis and instability, the city remains one of South America's premier economic centers. The local economy is driven primarily by the service sector, especially financial services and hospitality, but also by the construction, chemical, oil and gas, electrical, automotive, and shipbuilding industries. Buenos Aires also features immense processing facilities where the country's wheat, wool, and leather products are prepared for export.

In 2001, the Argentine economy experienced a dramatic collapse caused by defaults on its huge foreign debt. This led to financial panic and, eventually, to riots in the streets of Buenos Aires which resulted in some deaths. Following reforms implemented by the Argentine government, the city's economy stabilized significantly.

After the government's 2001 devaluation of the Argentine peso, once equal to the dollar, the currency fell to a third of its former value, which helped to fuel a boom in the city's tourist industry. The privatization of formerly state-run utility enterprises has made Buenos Aires increasingly attractive to foreign investors. In 2006, the country succeeded in paying off its International Monetary Fund (IMF) debt, which provided another boost to its economy. The country was rocked again by the global financial crisis that began in 2007; the economy rebounded in 2010, although growth slowed and inflation has risen since late 2011.

Argentina, though an upper-middle-income economy, struggled with billions of dollars in debt owed to private investors and inflation rates of higher than 10 percent in 2013. In 2014, the Argentine government took steps to address these problems, agreeing to pay $9.7 billion in arrears to the Paris Club over five years and entering a technical default on external debt after failing to reach a deal with US-based creditors. Then, President Mauricio Macri—a former Buenos Aires mayor who became president in 2015—moved to liberalize the economy and renegotiate debt payments. Argentina emerged from recession in 2017, though inflation and economic volatility in general remained quite high.

Residents of Argentina have continued to struggle. In 2019, the CIA World Factbook estimated 35.5 percen of the population lived below the poverty line. The Catholic University of Argentina announced the poverty level in January 2024 was 57.4 percent, the highest in two decades. The report attributed this increase in part to government devaluation of the Argentine peso the previous month. President Javier Milei, who had taken office December 10, pointed at the previous administration.

Landmarks

Buenos Aires blends Old World European and ultramodern architectural styles. The broad avenues, ornate mansions, and manicured parklands of some districts reflect the ambitions of nineteenth-century urban planners to emulate the grandeur of cities like Paris. Buenos Aires has among the most skyscrapers of any city in the world.

Lying in the heart of Buenos Aires is the Plaza de Mayo, an epicenter for historical, political, and celebratory moments in Argentine culture. The Plaza de Mayo is home to the eighteenth-century municipal cathedral where the ashes of General José de San Martín, a hero of Argentina's battle for independence from Spain, are interred.

The Plaza de Mayo is also home to the official seat of the Argentine government's executive branch. It was from the balcony of the Casa Rosada ("Pink House") in the 1940s that the charismatic Eva Perón enthralled throngs of Argentines, many of whom came to regard her as the nation's spiritual leader.

Another famous square is the Plaza San Martín, where the residents of Buenos Aires put up a fierce resistance against British invaders in 1807. The square features a monument to José de San Martín, also a hero of that action. In addition, plaques honor participants in a more contemporary Argentine conflict: the 1982 Falkland Islands War with Britain over the Malvinas (the Falkland Islands).

Other key Buenos Aires landmarks include the Teatro Colon, built in 1908, and considered one the world's finest opera houses; the 120-meter (394 foot) Kavanagh Building, which was the tallest concrete structure in all of South America when it was completed in 1936; and the 67-meter (219 foot) Obelisk, built in 1936 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Buenos Aires.

Important museums in Buenos Aires include the Museo Histórico Nacional, whose holdings offer perspectives on Argentine history from the sixteenth century to the present day, and the Fragata Sarmiento, a ship once used to train Argentine Navy students. The Museo del Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), which opened in 2001, houses the world's finest collection of contemporary Latin American art.

The city also features a botanical garden at its heart and a zoo dating back to 1874. The Bosques de Palermo, a large wooded park located near many of the city's foreign embassies, contains three artificial lakes and numerous gardens. It serves as a venue for many outdoor activities and events during the summer.

History

Buenos Aires was founded in 1536 by an expedition financed by the Spanish Empire in its quest for gold. Hostilities from the native peoples inhabiting the area, however, led to the destruction of this settlement just five years later. In 1580, Juan de Garay settled Buenos Aires a second time.

In 1776, Buenos Aires was declared the capital of a territory under Spanish authority that included much of what today comprises Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia. The Spanish king authorized construction of a port in Buenos Aires, which fueled a surge in trade—and also the desire of Buenos Aires residents for independence from the Spanish crown.

Further inflaming this growing spirit in the capital was the success of local forces, unaided by the Spanish, in repelling British attacks in Buenos Aires in 1806 and 1807. In 1811, local authorities in Buenos Aires forced out Spanish rule, a revolt that would eventually spread across Latin America. In 1816, Argentine independence was formally proclaimed in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires underwent explosive growth and development during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as immigrants eager to leave behind the stagnant, war-torn economies of Europe came to Argentina to seek their fortunes. The Industrial Revolution and the construction of a national railway system created job opportunities that drew millions.

By the early decades of the twentieth century, Buenos Aires was among the richest cities in the world. Many of the city's most grandiose building projects were completed in this era. The city's rapid expansion continued after World War II but, as Buenos Aires grew, so did its struggles with housing shortages, inadequate public services, and a fraying transportation infrastructure. Joblessness, high crime rates, and rampant inflation contributed to cycles of social unrest followed by government crackdowns.

A military coup in 1943 led to the rise of dictator Juan Perón, who ruled until his 1955 banishment to Spain. Decades of harsh military rule followed. The terror tactics of the three-man military junta that held power from 1976 to 1983 continue to generate protests in Buenos Aires today. The city's Plaza de Mayo still serves as a weekly gathering place for the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, a group of mothers and grandmothers demanding justice for their loved ones who vanished during the so-called Guerra Sucia ("Dirty War").

During the seven years of the Dirty War (1976–1983), thousands of suspected dissidents were detained, tortured, and murdered at secret government detention centers. Historians estimate the number of victims, knows as "los desaparecidos," or "the disappeared," at somewhere between 11,000 and 30,000 people. Democracy was reestablished in 1983, following the junta's failed attempt to seize the Falkland Islands by force.

In 2003, two years after Argentina's economic collapse and the social upheavals it triggered, the new government in Buenos Aires instituted a program of economic and political reforms. The economic rebound these reforms produced, together with the tourism boom, encouraged a campaign of urban revitalization in some quarters. Many relics of the city's industrial past, such as old mills and warehouses, have been converted into new residential and commercial properties. The economy of Argentina improved steadily in the 2000s, rebounding after the setbacks of the 2007–10 global recession to growth rates of around 9 percent in 2010 and 2011; however, this economic growth rate had slowed to the low single digits by the end of the decade.

In 2013, Argentina was the first country censured by the International Monetary Fund. The IMF took this step because Argentina had provided inaccurate inflation and economic growth data. The following year, the country defaulted on its international debt. By early 2024, inflation was more than 140 percent. In February 2024, the IMF issued a blistering summary of its most recent review of the country's financial situation, referencing distortions and imbalances as well as increasing fiscal deficit. The IMF praised the new administration for taking steps to address the issues.

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