Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city in the South American country of Argentina. It has its own executive, legislative and judicial powers. It is in the central-eastern region of the country, on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata, in the Pampas region. The city was ceded in 1880 by the Province of Buenos Aires to be the federal capital of the country. It is the "main capital", along with 24 alternate capitals, because of the constitutional reform of 1994. Buenos Aires city is also known as Capital Federal to differentiate the city from the Buenos Aires Province. Until 1994 Buenos Aires city was under the presidential government, but after a constitutional reform in that year, the city became self-governed, allowing citizens to elect their city authorities.

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Ciudad
Buenos Aires City Collage.png
Flag of Autonomous City of Buenos Aires
Coat of arms of Autonomous City of Buenos Aires
 
Location in Argentina
Location in Argentina
Coordinates: 34°36′12″S 58°22′54″W / 34.60333°S 58.38167°W / -34.60333; -58.38167Coordinates: 34°36′12″S 58°22′54″W / 34.60333°S 58.38167°W / -34.60333; -58.38167
CountryArgentina
Established1536, 1580
Government
 • TypeAutonomous city
 • Chief of GovernmentHoracio Rodríguez Larreta
Area
 • Autonomous City203 km2 (78.5 sq mi)
 • Land203 km2 (78.5 sq mi)
 • Metro
4,758 km2 (1,837 sq mi)
Elevation
25 m (82 ft)
Population
 (2010 census.)[3]
 • Autonomous City2,890,151
 • Rank4th
 • Density14,240/km2 (36,817/sq mi)
 • Metro
12,801,364
Time zoneUTC−3 (ART)
HDI (2010)0.953 – Very High[4]
Websitewww.buenosaires.gob.ar (in Spanish) bue.gov.ar (in English)
Catalinas Norte Towers

Population

3,040,000 people live in Buenos Aires. Spanish is the main language, but English is widely spoken and understood well. Italian is also widespread.

Climate

Buenos Aires has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa). The average temperature is 17 °C. During the 20th century the temperature went up because of the urbanization. Rainfall is 1222.6 mm. per year. Summers are hot and humid. Winters are mild, the highest medium temperature is 13.7 °C during this season. Temperature rarely reaches 0 °C or below. Fog is frequent. Snow is extremely rare, and falls once or twice in a century.

Climate data for Buenos Aires Central Observatory, located in Villa Ortúzar (1981–2010, extremes 1906–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 43.3
(109.9)
38.7
(101.7)
37.9
(100.2)
36.0
(96.8)
31.6
(88.9)
28.5
(83.3)
30.2
(86.4)
34.4
(93.9)
35.3
(95.5)
35.6
(96.1)
36.8
(98.2)
40.5
(104.9)
43.3
(109.9)
Average high °C (°F) 30.1
(86.2)
28.6
(83.5)
26.8
(80.2)
22.9
(73.2)
19.3
(66.7)
16.0
(60.8)
15.4
(59.7)
17.7
(63.9)
19.3
(66.7)
22.6
(72.7)
25.6
(78.1)
28.5
(83.3)
22.7
(72.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 24.9
(76.8)
23.6
(74.5)
21.9
(71.4)
17.9
(64.2)
14.5
(58.1)
11.7
(53.1)
11.0
(51.8)
12.8
(55)
14.6
(58.3)
17.8
(64)
20.7
(69.3)
23.3
(73.9)
17.9
(64.2)
Average low °C (°F) 20.1
(68.2)
19.3
(66.7)
17.7
(63.9)
13.8
(56.8)
10.7
(51.3)
8.0
(46.4)
7.4
(45.3)
8.8
(47.8)
10.3
(50.5)
13.3
(55.9)
15.9
(60.6)
18.4
(65.1)
13.6
(56.5)
Record low °C (°F) 5.9
(42.6)
4.2
(39.6)
2.8
(37)
−2.3
(27.9)
−4.0
(25)
−5.3
(22.5)
−5.4
(22.3)
−4.0
(25)
−2.4
(27.7)
−2.0
(28)
1.6
(34.9)
3.7
(38.7)
−5.4
(22.3)
Precipitation mm (inches) 138.8
(5.465)
127.1
(5.004)
140.1
(5.516)
119.0
(4.685)
92.3
(3.634)
58.8
(2.315)
60.6
(2.386)
64.2
(2.528)
72.0
(2.835)
127.2
(5.008)
117.3
(4.618)
118.9
(4.681)
1,236.3
(48.673)
Humidity 64 68 72 76 77 79 79 74 70 69 66 63 71
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 9 8 9 9 7 7 7 7 7 10 10 9 99
Source #1: Servicio Meteorológico Nacional[5]
Source #2: NOAA (humidity, 1961–1990)[6]

Neighborhoods

Buenos Aires is divided into 48 neighborhoods. Most populated areas are:

  • Palermo: Located in the northeast of the city, it also is the largest neighborhood in Buenos Aires. Some parts of Palermo are highly touristic: Bosques de Palermo (Palermo Woods), Palermo Soho, Palermo Hollywood
  • Caballito: This mostly residential neighborhood is located in the geographical centre of the city.
  • Recoleta: Recoleta is one of the most wealthy neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. Recoleta Cemetery is located there.

Tourism

Buenos Aires is the most visited city in South America.[7] The most touristic areas are the historical center, Palermo, Recoleta and San Telmo.

  • Historical Center / Plaza de Mayo: It is the historical place of the foundation of the city. On Plaza de Mayo, many interesting buildings can be found : Cabildo (where the colonial government was), Cathedral, Casa Rosada (current Government Palace).
  • San Telmo is one of the most ancient neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. It used to be a very expensive area. But in the 18th Century, an epidemic made people move to Recoleta area, farther from the river.
  • Recoleta: In this neighborhood, there are many beautiful Palaces from the 19th Century. Tourists also visit Recoleta Cemetery where many political figures are buried. One famous person buried in Recoleta Cemetery is political woman Eva Perón.
  • Palermo: Palermo is divided in several sub-areas. Palermo Soho is full of designers and clothing shops. Palermo Hollywood is the gastronomical heart of Buenos Aires.
  • Boedo: Classical and very interesting tango and literature historical district. A remarkable episode in the Argentine literature's history is the social and literary dialogue between the Florida Group, named this way because its members used to meet up at the Richmond Cafeteria at Florida street and publish their work in the Martin Fierro magazine, like Jorge Luis Borges, Leopoldo Marechal, Antonio Berni (artist), among others, versus the Boedo Group of Roberto Arlt, Manzi and other writers and artists. They used to meet together at the Japanese Cafe and published their works with the Editorial Claridad, with both the cafe and the publisher located at the Boedo Avenue.

Wikimania

The fifth Wikimania was hosted in this city in 2009.

References

  1. Owens, Mitchell. "Travel+Leisure: Buenos Aires Reinventing Itself". Travelandleisure.com. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  2. "Sitio oficial de turismo de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires". Bue.gov.ar. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
  3. "Argentina: Censo2010". Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  4. "Reports | National Reports | Latin America and the Caribbean | Argentina | Human Development Reports (HDR) | United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)". Hdr.undp.org. Archived from the original on 2013-04-26. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  5. "Caracteristicas Climaticas de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires" (in Spanish). Servicio Meteorológico Nacional. Retrieved 18 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  6. "Buenos Aires Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  7. "México DF, Buenos Aires y San Pablo, los destinos turísticos favoritos - América". Archived from the original on 2014-10-10. Retrieved 2013-12-17.

Other websites

 
Avenida de Mayo avenue.

Online newspapers

Provinces of Argentina  
Buenos Aires | Buenos Aires Province | 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, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands | Tucumán