Buenos Aires

The second largest city in South America and the world's second most southerly capital after [b]Wellington [/b]in New Zealand, Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires, sitting on the south bank of the immense Río de la Plata, is home to around [b]13.5 million people[/b], of whom around 3 million live in the autonomous Capital Federal.

Bit of History

The second largest city in South America and the world's second most southerly capital after Wellington in New Zealand, Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires, sitting on the south bank of the immense Río de la Plata, is home to around 13.5 million people, of whom around 3 million live in the autonomous Capital Federal.

Buenos Aires is one of the few cities to have two dates of foundation. After an initial settlement in 1536 was hounded out by the local Querandí natives, the retreating Spaniards sailed further up the Río Paraná, founded the modern-day Paraguayan capital of Asunción, and returned in 1580 for another go, which went somewhat better.

On returning the Spaniards found that the cows they’d left behind years earlier had multiplied and spread out across the grassland surrounding the city. They didn’t know it at the time, but the Pampas are around the size of France, almost totally flat, and have very lush grass, which the cattle still graze on today. This, according to many Argentines, is what lends their beef its phenomenal flavour.

The monument in San Telmo to Pedro de Mendoza, who won the independence of Argentina, Chile and Peru from Spain.

Initially subordinate to Asunción and Lima under the Viceroyalty of Lima, Buenos Aires soon became a black market trading post and eventually won its own place as South America’s most important port, capital of the Viceroyalty of the River Plate, which eventually won independence from Spain and had something approaching the boundaries of modern-day Argentina in 1816. Following independence from Spain, which had been won with the backing and help of the British, eager to gain a foothold in South Ameirca, there developed a sizeable Anglo- and Irish-Argentine community, which is still visible today in the names of many businesses, districts and indeed of football clubs like Banfield and (in Rosario) Newell’s Old Boys.

At the end of the second World War, Argentina was one of the world’s richest countries, a major exporter of meat and other goods, and the only way seemed to be up. Since then a gradual slide not helped by the meddling of democratically elected despots such as Perón, or military dictatorships such as the junta of 1976-1983, has seen the city’s and country’s place in the world consciousness slide. In 2001 a major crash hit the country’s economy and Argentina is now picking itself up. The good news for foreigners is that as a result, this previously expensive destination has become much more affordable to visit – sophisticated, cultured, European-influenced and, compared with most cities its size, exceptionally safe Buenos Aires is now the cheapest capital city in South America.

(next to Sight-seeing and culture)