Buenos Aries Essay Research Paper Buenos Aries

Buenos Aries Essay, Research Paper

Buenos Aries

The capital of the country, Buenos Aires is also Argentina’s leading

city in population, commerce, and industry. It is located near the

Atlantic Ocean coast, on the broad Rio de la Plata, an estuary at the

mouth of the Parana and Paraguay rivers. The early Spanish colonists

named the city for the “good winds” that brought them to the port.

Today about 10 million people live in the Buenos Aires metropolitan

area, one of the largest in the world. The city proper makes up a

federal district, and its mayor is appointed by the nation’s president.

The city is not a part of Buenos Aires province, which surrounds it.

The City–Its People and Commerce

Greater Buenos Aires is made up of many settlements that grew

together. The oldest European center lay in the neighborhood of the

present Plaza de Mayo, a large plaza in the downtown area. Streets

in the city were laid out according to a grid pattern described in the

Codigo de las Indias, a legal document followed by the Spaniards in

settling the Western Hemisphere. The original grid is today

surrounded by Balcarce, 25 de Mayo, Viamonte, Libertad, Salta, and

Estados Unidos streets.

Growth of the city first followed the high elevations, along which ox-

and horse-drawn two-wheeled carretas carried freight and which the

modern main avenues and the rail lines also follow. The most recent

developments in the city are the industrial sectors that extend from

the old center southward, such as Dock Sud, La Boca, Barracas,

Pinero, and Lanus.

The Parana River plays an important role in the life of Buenos Aires.

Oranges, grapefruit, cherries, plums, and vegetables are raised in its

delta area. Vacation housing is widespread, and on weekends

thousands of people fill the area to engage in recreational activities.

The Parana not only provides recreation, but also links the hinterlands

with Buenos Aires and supplies water to the population.

The central business district has high-rise office buildings and retail

stores. Automobiles are not allowed on the Calle Florida, and

shoppers roam its elegant stores, coffee houses, and hotels. The

nearby Calle Reconquista is the financial center.

Outside the central business district much of the surrounding city has

attractive cobblestone streets bordered by large, elegant houses and

small shops. Many parks and local shopping districts blend in with the

residential areas.

Various languages may be heard, and in addition to many other

languages,. newsstands sell papers in Spanish, English, and German.

Buenos Aires is noted for its many excellent bookstores.

Transportation

Buenos Aires is South America’s greatest railroad center, with lines

radiating from the city toward Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and

southern Brazil. Within the city there is an extensive subway

network. Air transportation is well developed in Argentina and has its

focal point in the capital. About three miles (five kilometers)

northwest from the downtown center is the airport, Aeroparque Jorge

Newberry, which handles domestic flights and some flights from

neighboring countries. Approximately 20 miles (35 kilometers) from the

city center lies Ezeiza Airport, the largest in the country and one of

the world’s major international air terminals.

The vast harbor system in Buenos Aires has opened the shallow river

channels to the largest ships. Huge warehouses line the 15 miles (24

kilometers) of wharves. The port is the largest in South America, but

the port facilities are old and inefficient. Proposals to move the port

to another, better harbor have met with little response. Avellaneda,

the main industrial center, is located just south of the Riachuelo

River. From north to south major parts of the harbor stand out in a

line extending for 6 miles (10 kilometers): huge power plants for the

city; the yacht harbor, also used for seaplanes; wharves for large

oceangoing vessels; and docks for smaller ships and for river and

coastal shipping.

Culture

Buenos Aires is a major publishing center, noted for the

world-renowned newspapers printed there. Among the most

outstanding are La Prensa and La Nacion. La Prensa became well

known for offering social services, library facilities, free evening

schools in commerce and music, free medical and legal aid, and a free

chemical laboratory. The paper had trouble with President Juan

Peron, who expropriated it because of its opposition to him. After

Peron was ousted in 1956, the paper was returned to its owners.

The city has many schools and technical colleges. The University of

Buenos Aires, the major university in Argentina, provides high-level

education. In music the city boasts one of the largest opera houses

in South America, the

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