About Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, located on the western bank of the Rio de la Plata, inland from the Atlantic Ocean. Founded in 1580, Buenos Aires is one of the world's great cities. The city's name, which means fair winds in Spanish, was given by early Spanish sailors. In 1996, 11.9 million peopleor about one-third of Argentina's populationlived within Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires, an area that includes both the city proper and its 22 suburbs. Buenos Aires is inhabited mostly by people of Spanish and Italian extraction, but there are many residents of French, British, German, Eastern European, and Syrian background and some communities of Paraguayans and other Latin Americans. Buenos Aires is a modern city of great wealth. In its center are the Plaza de Mayo, a square whose buildings include the Casa Rosada [pink house], the office of the Argentine president, and the cabildo, the former meeting place of the colonial town council and now a national museum. Buenos Aires also has many beautiful parks, including Palmero Park. The cathedral (completed 1804) is a well-known landmark containing the tomb of Jose de San Martin. Among the numerous educational, scientific, and cultural institutions are the Univ. of Buenos Aires and several private universities; the National Library; the Teatro Colon, one of the world's most famous opera houses; and the Museum of Latin American Art (Malba). La Prensa and La Nacion are daily newspapers famous throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The city has a subway system and is a railroad hub as well as a center of inland seaborne traffic. Nearby, at Ezeiza, is a large international airport.
