|
|
|
|
|
|
Buenos Aires - "Good Airs" in Spanish,
originally meaning "Fair Winds" - is the
capital of Argentina and its largest city
and port, as well as one of the largest
cities in Latin America. Buenos Aires is
located on the southern shore of the River
Plate, on the southeastern coast of the
South American continent, opposite Colonia
del Sacramento, Uruguay. The City of Miami
and Buenos Aires signed a Sister City
agreement on April 19, 1979.
Argentines sometimes refer to the city as
Capital Federal to differentiate the city
from the province of the same name. Since
1994 its name formally includes the title of
Autonomous City (Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos
Aires). The people of Buenos Aires are known
as porteños ("people of the port"),
acknowledging the major historical
importance of the port in the development of
the city and the whole nation.
The city proper has a population of
2,776,138 according to the 2001 census,
while the Greater Buenos Aires, which also
encompasses suburbia that belong to the
province of Buenos Aires, has more than 11.4
million inhabitants. Suburbanites are called
porteños and also bonaerenses; only the last
term applies to the rest of the province.
Buenos Aires is the financial, industrial,
commercial, and cultural hub of Argentina.
Its port is one of the busiest in the world;
navigable rivers connect it to north-east
Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. As
a result, it serves as the distribution hub
for a vast area of the south-eastern region
of the continent.
To the west of Buenos Aires is the Pampa
Húmeda, the most productive agricultural
region of Argentina (as opposed to the dry
southern pampa, mostly used for cattle
farms). Meat, dairy, grain, tobacco, wool
and hide products are processed or
manufactured in the Buenos Aires area. Other
leading industries are automobile
manufacturing, oil refining, metalworking,
machine building, and the production of
textiles, chemicals, clothing, and
beverages. |
|
|
|
|
© 2005 City of Miami
|
|
