Informations on Buenos Aires

About Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina. Buenos Aires is located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent. Greater Buenos Aires is the third largest conurbation in Latin America, with a population of about 13 million.

After the internal conflicts of the 19th century, Buenos Aires was federalised and removed from Buenos Aires Province in 1880; its city limits were enlarged to include the former towns of Belgrano and Flores; both are now neighbourhoods in the city.

Buenos Aires (English: Fair Winds, pronounced ['bwe.n?s 'aj.s]) was originally named after the sanctuary of "Nostra Signora di Bonaria" (Italian for "Our Lady of Fair Winds", also known as "Virgine de Bonaria") located in Cagliari, Sardinia.

Argentines sometimes refer to the city as Capital Federal to differentiate the city from the province of the same name. In the 1994 constitution, the city was given autonomy, hence its formal name: Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires.

The abbreviations Bs. As. and Baires are sometimes used, the former mostly in writing and the latter in everyday speech. The city is sometimes called La Reina del Plata, in English: "The Queen of the Plata" (a reference to the Plata river basin).

History

Seaman Juan Díaz de Solís, navigating in the name of Spain, was the first European to reach the Río de la Plata in 1516. His expedition was cut short when he was killed during an attack by the native Charrúa tribe in what is now Uruguay.

The city of Buenos Aires was first established as Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre (literally "City of Our Lady Saint Mary of the Fair Winds") on February 2, 1536 by a Spanish expedition led by Pedro de Mendoza. The city founded by Mendoza was located in what is today the San Telmo district of Buenos Aires, south of the city center.

More attacks by the indigenous peoples forced the settlers away, and in 1541 the site was abandoned. A second (and permanent) settlement was established in 1580 by Juan de Garay, who arrived by sailing down the Paraná River from Asunción (now the capital of Paraguay).

From its earliest days, the success of Buenos Aires depended on trade. During most of the 17th and 18th centuries, Spain insisted that all trade to Europe pass through Lima, Peru so that taxes could be collected. This scheme frustrated the traders of Buenos Aires, and a thriving contraband industry developed. Unsurprisingly, this also instilled a deep resentment in porteños towards Spanish authorities.

Sensing these feelings, Charles III of Spain progressively eased the trade restrictions and finally declared Buenos Aires an open port in the late 1700s. The capture of Porto Bello by British forces also fueled the need to foster commerce via the Atlantic route, to the detriment of Lima-based trade. Charles's placating actions did not have the desired effect; and the porteños, some of them versed in the ideology of the French revolution, became even more desirous of independence from Spain.

During the British invasions of the Río de la Plata, British forces attacked Buenos Aires twice, in 1806 and 1807, but were repelled both times by local militias. Ultimately, on May 25, 1810, while Spain was occupied with the Peninsular War, and after a week of mostly pacific demonstrations, the criollo citizens of Buenos Aires successfully ousted the Spanish Viceroy and established a provisional government. May 25 is now celebrated as a national holiday (May Revolution Day). Formal independence from Spain was later declared in 1816.

Historically, Buenos Aires has been Argentina's main venue for liberal and free-trade ideas, while many of the provinces, especially to the Northwest, advocated a more conservative Catholic approach to political and social issues. Much of the internal tension in Argentina's history, starting with the centralist-federalist conflicts of the 19th century, can be traced back to these contrasting views. In the months immediately following the May 25 Revolution, Buenos Aires sent a number of military envoys to the provinces with the intention of obtaining their approval. Many of these missions ended in violent clashes, and the enterprise fueled the tensions between the capital and the provinces.

In the 19th century the city was blockaded twice by naval forces: by the French from 1838 to 1840, and later by a joint Anglo-French expedition from 1845 to 1848. Both blockades failed to force the city into submission, and the foreign powers eventually desisted from their demands.

During most of the 19th century, the political status of the city remained a sensitive subject. It was already capital of Buenos Aires Province, and between 1853 and 1860 it was the capital of the seceded State of Buenos Aires. The issue was debated more than once on the battlefield, until the matter was finally settled in 1880 when the city was federalised and became the seat of government, with its Mayor appointed by the President. The Casa Rosada became the seat of the office of the President.

In addition to the wealth generated by the fertile pampas, railroad construction in the second half of the 19th century increased the economic power of Buenos Aires as raw materials flowed into its factories; Buenos Aires became a multicultural city that ranked itself with the major European capitals. The Colón Theater became one of the world's top opera venues. The city's main avenues were built during those years, and the dawn of the 20th century saw the construction of South America's then-tallest buildings and first subway network.

By the 1920s Buenos Aires was a favoured destination for immigrants from Europe, as well as from Argentina's poorer provinces and neighbouring countries. Large shanty towns (villas miseria) started growing around the city's industrial areas, leading to extensive social problems which contrasted sharply with Argentina's image as a country of riches. Buenos Aires was the cradle of Peronism: the now-mythical demonstration of October 17, 1945 took place in Plaza de Mayo. Industrial workers of the Greater Buenos Aires industrial belt have been Peronism's main support base ever since, and Plaza de Mayo became the site for demonstrations and many of the country's political events.

On June 16, 1955, a splinter faction of the Navy bombed the Plaza de Mayo area, killing 364 civilians (see Bombing of Plaza de Mayo). This was the only time the city was attacked from the air; this event was followed by a military uprising which deposed President Perón three months later (see Revolución Libertadora).

In the 1970s, the city suffered from the fighting between left-wing revolutionary movements (Montoneros, E.R.P. and F.A.R.) and the right-wing paramilitary group Triple A, supported by Isabel Perón, who became president of Argentina in 1974 after Juan Perón's death.

The military coup of 1976, led by Jorge Rafael Videla, only escalated this conflict; the "Dirty War" resulted in 10,000 and 30,000 desaparecidos (people kidnapped and killed by the military during the years of the junta). The silent marches of their mothers (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo) are a well-known image of Argentines suffering during those times.

The city was visited by Pope John Paul II twice: in 1982, due to the outbreak of the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur), and a second visit in 1987, which gathered crowds never before seen in the city.

On March 17, 1992 a bomb exploded in the Israeli Embassy, killing 29 and injuring 242. Another explosion on July 18, 1994 destroyed a building housing several Jewish organizations, killing 85 and injuring many more.

On December 30, 2004, a fire at the República Cromagnon nightclub killed almost 200 people, one of the greatest non-natural tragedies in Argentine history.

Government and politics

The Executive of the city is held by the Chief of Government ("Jefe de Gobierno"), who is directly elected for a four-year term, together with a Deputy Chief, who presides over the 60-member Legislature.

Each member of the Legislature is elected to a four year term; half of the Legislature is renewed every two years. Elections use the D'Hondt method. The Judicial branch is composed of the Supreme Court of Justice (Tribunal Superior de Justicia), the Magistrate's Council (Consejo de la Magistratura), the Public Ministry, and other City Courts.

In legal terms, the city's organizational autonomy is less than any province in the country. The national Judiciary branch determines the autonomy of the city's Judicial branch with regards to common law, while the national Executive branch controls the city's police.

Beginning in 2007, the city has embarked on a new decentralization scheme, creating new communes (comunas) that are governed by a seven-person committee.

Article 61 of the 1996 Constitution of the City of Buenos Aires states that "Suffrage is free, equal, secret, universal, compulsory and non-accumulative. Resident aliens enjoy this same right, with its corresponding obligations, on equal terms with Argentine citizens registered in the district, under the terms established by law."

In 1996, following the 1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution, the city held its first mayoral elections under the new statutes, with the mayor's title formally changed to "Chief of Government". The winner was Fernando de la Rúa, who would later become President of Argentina for the period 1999 to 2001.

De la Rúa's successor, Aníbal Ibarra, won two popular elections, but was impeached (and ultimately deposed on March 6, 2006) as a result of the fire at the República Cromagnon nightclub. Jorge Telerman, who had been the acting mayor, was invested with the office.

In the mayoral election of June 3, 2007, Mauricio Macri obtained a plurality of the vote, forcing a second round of voting between Macri and Daniel Filmus on June 24, which Macri won with over 60% of the vote. Macri assumed the office on December 9, 2007.

Following the 2004 República Cromagnon nightclub fire, it was discovered that the club was owned by shell corporations. Ricardo Nissen, Inspector General of Justice for Buenos Aires, subsequently froze $20 million, and then banned offshore corporations from Buenos Aires which cannot prove that they have real economic activity in the city. Such a ban is the first in the world to be implemented.

Buenos Aires is represented in the Argentine Senate by three senators (as of December 2007: María Eugenia Estenssoro, Samuel Cabanchik and Daniel Filmus). The people of Buenos Aires also elect 25 national deputies to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies.

Demographics

As of the census of 2001, there are 12.4 million people residing in the city and residential zones, making Buenos Aires the most populated city in Argentina. The population density is 13,000 inhabitants per square kilometer (33,700/sq mi). The racial makeup of the city is 88.9 % White, 2% Black or of African descent, 7% Native American, and 2.1% Asian.

According to the census, the city proper has a population of 2,776,138, while the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area has more than 12.4 million inhabitants (2001 census [INDEC]). The population of the city has been stagnant since the 1950s, due to low birth rates and a slow emigration to the suburbs.

The majority of porteños have European origins, with Spanish and Italian descent being the most common, mainly from the Galician, Asturian, and Basque regions of Spain; and the Calabrian, Ligurian, Piedmont, Lombardy and Neapolitan regions of Italy.

Other European origins include German, Portuguese, Polish, Irish, French, Croatian, English and Welsh. In the 1990s, there was a small wave of immigration from Romania and Ukraine.

There is a minority of old criollo stock, dating back to the Spanish colonial days. The Criollo and Spanish-aboriginal (mestizo) population in the city has increased mostly as a result of migration, from countries such as Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay, since the second half of the 20th century.

Important Arab (mostly Syrian-Lebanese) and Armenian communities have had a significant presence in commerce and civic life since the beginning of the 20th century.

The Jewish community in Greater Buenos Aires numbers around 250,000, and is the largest in Latin America. Most are of Northern and Eastern European Ashkenazi origin, primarily Russian and Polish Jews, with a significant Sephardic minority, mostly made up of Syrian Jews.

The first major East Asian community in Buenos Aires was the Japanese, mainly from Okinawa. Traditionally, Japanese-Argentines were noted as flower growers; in the city proper, there was a Japanese near-monopoly in dry cleaning. Later generations have branched out into all fields of economic activity. Starting in the 1970s there has been an important influx of immigration from China and Korea, the latter known mostly for small, family-owned supermarkets.

The city is divided into 48 barrios (neighbourhoods) for administrative purposes. The division was originally based on Catholic parroquias (parishes), but has undergone a series of changes since the 1940s. A newer scheme has divided the city into 15 comunas (communes).

Most inhabitants are Roman Catholic. Buenos Aires is the seat of a Roman Catholic metropolitan archbishop (who is the prelate of Argentina), as well as several Eastern Orthodox and Anglican hierarchs.

Sizable Jewish and Muslim communities have existed in the city for over a century.

Geography

The limits of the City of Buenos Aires are determined in the eastern part and north-east by theRio de la Plata, in the southern part and southeast by the Riachuelo and to the northwest, west and Southwest by Avenida General Paz, highway of 24 km from extension that separates the province of Buenos Aires from the city.

Buenos Aires city ubiactes in the pampa region, except some zones like the Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve, the Sports City of Athletic Club Boca Juniors, Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, or the neighborhood of Puerto Madero, because they are emerged artificially by means of the landfill of the coasts of Rio de la Plata.

The region was formerly crossed by different creeks and lagoons, some of which were refilled and other tubed. The most important creeks are, Maldonado, Vega, Medrano, Cildañez and White. In 1908 many creeks were channelled and rectified, since with several floods were causing damages to the infrastructure of the city. They were canalized but were kept to opened sky, along with the years, bridges were constructed for its crossing. Finally in 1919 its closed channeling was arranged, but the constrution began newly in 1927, finishing some in 1938 and others, as the Maldonado, in 1954.

Climate

The city has a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa" by Köppen classification) with average temperatures in the afternoon ranging from 30 °C (86 °F) in January to 15 °C (59 °F) in July. Rain can be expected at any time of year and hailstorms are not unusual.

The lowest temperature ever recorded in central Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires Central Observatory) was -5.4 °C (22.3 °F) on July 9, 1918. The highest temperature ever recorded was 43.3 °C (109.9 °F) on January 29, 1957.

The last snowfall occurred recently on July 9, 2007. It was the first major snowfall in the city in 89 years (since June 22, 1918).

Many locals leave Buenos Aires during the hot summer months (December, January and February) and head for seaside resorts on the Atlantic coast.

Economy

Buenos Aires is the financial, industrial, commercial, and cultural hub of Argentina. Its port is one of the busiest in South America. Tax collection related to it has caused many political problems in the past; navigable rivers by way of the Rio de la Plata connect the port 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 South American continent. The Buenos Aires Human Development Index was about 0.923 in 1998.

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 farming). 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.

Culture

Strongly influenced by European culture, Buenos Aires is sometimes referred to as the "Paris of South America".

Buenos Aires is the site of the Teatro Colón, one of the world's greatest opera houses. It is closed for renovations until at least 2010. There are several symphony orchestras and choral societies. The city has numerous museums related to history, fine arts, modern arts, decorative arts, popular arts, sacred art, arts and crafts, theatre and popular music, as well as the preserved homes of noted art collectors, writers, composers and artists. It harbours many public libraries and cultural associations as well as the largest concentration of active theatres in Latin America[citation needed]. It has a world-famous zoo and Botanical Garden, a large number of landscaped parks and squares, as well as churches and places of worship of many denominations, many of which are architecturally noteworthy.

Known as Rioplatense Spanish, Buenos Aires' Spanish (and also in other cities like Rosario and Montevideo, Uruguay) is characterised by voseo, yeísmo and aspiration of s in various contexts. It is heavily influenced by the dialects of Spanish spoken in Andalusia and Murcia. A phonetic study conducted by the Laboratory for Sensory Investigations of CONICET and the University of Toronto showed that the porteño accent is closer to the Neapolitan dialect of Italian than any other spoken language.

In the early 20th century, Argentina absorbed millions of immigrants, many of them Italians, who spoke mostly in their local dialects (mainly Neapolitan, Sicilian and Genoan). Their adoption of Spanish was gradual, creating a pidgin of Italian dialects and Spanish that was called cocoliche. Its usage declined around the 1950s.

Many Spanish immigrants were from Galicia, to the extent that Spaniards are still generically referred to in Argentina as gallegos (Galicians). Galician language, cuisine and culture had a major presence in the city for most of the 20th century. In recent years, descendants of Galician immigrants have led a mini-boom in Celtic music (which also highlighted the Welsh traditions of Patagonia).

Yiddish was commonly heard in Buenos Aires, especially in the Balvanera garment district and in Villa Crespo until the 1960s. Korean and Chinese have become significant since the 1970s. Most of the newer immigrants learn Spanish quickly and assimilate into city life.

The Lunfardo argot originated within the prison population, and in time spread to all porteños. Lunfardo uses words from Italian dialects, from Brazilian Portuguese, from African and Caribbean languages and even from English. Lunfardo employs humorous tricks such as inverting the syllables within a word (vesre). Today, Lunfardo is mostly heard in tango lyrics ; the slang of the younger generations has been evolving away from it.

Buenos Aires architecture is characterized by its individuality and uniqueness, with elements resembling Barcelona, Paris and Rome.

Italian and French influences increased after the declaration of independence at the beginning of the 19th century, though the academic style persisted until the first decades of the 20th century.

Attempts at renovation took place during the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, when European influences penetrated into the country, reflected by several buildings of Buenos Aires such as the Iglesia Santa Felicitam by Ernesto Bunge; the Palace of Justice, the National Congress, and the Teatro Colón, all of them by Vittorio Meano.

The simplicity of the Rioplatense baroque style can be clearly seen in Buenos Aires through the works of Italian architects such as André Blanqui and Antonio Masella, in the churches of San Ignacio, Nuestra Señora del Pilar, the Cathedral and the Cabildo.

The architecture of the second half of the 20th century continued to reproduce French neoclassic models, such as the headquarters of the Banco Nacional de Buenos Aires built by Alejandro Bustillo, and the Museo Hispanoamericano de Buenos Aires|Museo Hispanoamericano of Martín Noel. However, since the 1930s the influence of Le Corbusier and European rationalism consolidated in a group of young architects from the University of Tucumán, among whom Amancio Williams stands out. The construction of skyscrapers proliferated in Buenos Aires until the 1950s. Newer high-technology buildings by Argentine architects in the last years of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st include the Le Parc Tower by Mario Álvarez and the Torre Fortabat by Sánchez Elía.

Tango music was born in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, notably in the brothels of the Junín y Lavalle district and in the arrabales (poorer suburbs). Its sensual dance moves were not seen as respectable until adopted by the Parisian high society in the 1920s, and then all over the world. In Buenos Aires, tango-dancing schools (known as academias) were usually men-only establishments.

Tango consists of a variety of styles that developed in different regions and eras of Argentina and Uruguay as well as in other locations around the world. The dance developed in response to many cultural elements, such as the crowding of the venue and even the fashions in clothing. The styles are mostly danced in either open embrace, where lead and follow connect at arms length, or close embrace, where the lead and follow connect chest-to-chest.

Early tango was known as tango criollo, or simply tango. Today, there are many tango dance styles, including Argentine Tango, Uruguayan Tango, Ballroom tango (American and International styles), Finnish tango and vintage tangos.

The cinema first appeared in Buenos Aires in 1896. The city has been the centre of the Argentine cinema industry in Argentina for over 100 years since French camera operator Eugene Py directed the pioneering film La Bandera Argentina in 1897. Since then, over 2000 films have been directed and produced within the city, many of them referring to the city in their titles, such as Buenos Aires Plateada, and Buenos Aires a la vista. The culture of tango music has been incorporated into many films produced in the city, especially since the 1930s. Many films have starred tango performers such as Hugo del Carril, Tita Merello, Carlos Gardel and Edmundo Rivero.

Notable residents

Others include businesspeople John S. Reed, Aristotle Onassis and advertising greats Gino Boccasile and Lucien-Achille Mauzan, who was considered to be Argentina's « father of the advertising poster ». During the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath, Buenos Aires provided refuge for many expatriate Spaniards, including philosopher José Ortega y Gasset and composer Manuel de Falla, who later moved to Córdoba. Luca Prodan arrived from England in the 1980s and became an icon of Argentine rock.

Musicians Daniel Barenboim, Alberto Ginastera and Martha Argerich among others, are Buenos Aires natives.

Education

Primary education comprises the first two EGB cycles (grades 1-6). Because of the system that was in place until 1995 (7 years of primary school plus 5 or 6 of secondary school), primary schools used to offer grades 1-7. Although most schools have already converted to teach the 8th and 9th grades, others chose to eliminate 7th grade altogether, forcing the students to complete the 3rd cycle in another institution.

Secondary education in Argentina is called Polimodal ("polymodal", that is, having multiple modes), since it allows the student to choose his/her orientation. Polimodal is not yet obligatory but its completion is a requirement to enter colleges across the nation. Polimodal is usually 3 years of schooling, although some schools have a fourth year.

Conversely to what happened on primary schools, most secondary schools in Argentina contained grades 8th and 9th, plus Polimodal (old secondary) but then started converting to accept also 7th grade students, thus allowing them to keep their same classmates for the whole EGB III cycle.

In December 2006 the Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Congress approved a new National Education Law restoring the old system of primary followed by secondary education, making secondary education obligatory and a right, and increasing the length of compulsory education to 13 years. The government vowed to put the law in effect gradually, starting in 2007.

There are plenty of public, taxpayer-funded universities in Argentina, as well as a number of private universities. See University reform in Argentina and List of Argentine universities.

The University of Buenos Aires, one of the top learning institutions in South America, has produced five Nobel Prize winners and provides taxpayer-funded education for students from all around the globe.

Buenos Aires is a major center for psychoanalysis, particularly the Lacanian school.

Tourism

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, tourism has been growing in the Argentine capital since 2002. In a survey by the travel and tourism publication Travel + Leisure Magazine, travelers voted Buenos Aires the second most desirable city to visit after Florence, Italy.

The city offers a variety of cultural activities. Visitors may choose to visit a tango show, an estancia in the Province of Buenos Aires, or enjoy the traditional asado. New tourist circuits have recently evolved, devoted to famous Argentines such as Carlos Gardel, Eva Perón or Jorge Luis Borges. Due to the favourable exchange rate, its shopping centres such as Alto Palermo, Paseo Alcorta, Patio Bullrich, Abasto de Buenos Aires and Galerías Pacífico are frequently visited by tourists.

San Telmo is a frequently visited area south of city, with its cobblestoned streets and buildings from the colonial era that attest to its long history. There are churches, museums, antique shops and "Antique Fairs" ('Ferias de Antigüedades') in historic Dorrego Square, where the streets on weekends are filled with performers such as tango dancers. The city also plays host to musical festivals, the largest of which is Quilmes Rock.

Transportation

The original design of Buenos Aires was based on a grid, and most of the city still follows that pattern, save for natural barriers or the relatively rare developments explicitly designed otherwise (notably, Parque Chas). The rectangular grid provides for square blocks named "manzanas", with a length of roughly 110 meters. Two diagonal avenues were built in the city centre to alleviate traffic and provide a better access to Plaza de Mayo. Most avenues running into and out of the city centre are one-way and feature six or more lanes, with computer-controlled green waves that ensure fast traffic outside of peak times.

Main avenues of the city include the 140-metre (459 ft)-wide 9 de Julio Avenue, the over-35 km (22 mi)-long Rivadavia Avenue, and Corrientes Avenue, the main thoroughfare of culture and entertainment. Avenida General Paz is a beltway that surrounds the city and separates it from Buenos Aires Province.

Toll motorways opened in the late 1970s by then-mayor Osvaldo Cacciatore provided fast access to the city centre. Also during Cacciatore's tenure, the streets of the financial district (roughly one square kilometre in size) were closed to private cars during daytime.

Following the economic mini-boom of the 1990s, more people started commuting by car, and congestion increased. Most major avenues are gridlocked at peak hours. Another source of congestion is the flight of many people to the country on weekends.

A majority of residents in Buenos Aires and its suburbs use public transportation.

The Buenos Aires Metro (locally known as subte, from "subterráneo" meaning "underground") is a compact, high yield system providing access to various parts of the city. Opened in 1913, it is the oldest subway system in the Southern Hemisphere and in the Spanish-speaking world. The system has six lines, named by letters (A to E, and H) There are 84 stations, and 46 km (29 mi) of track. An expansion program is underway to extend existing lines into the outer neighborhoods and add a new north-south line. Track length is expected to reach 89 km (55 mi) by the year 2011.

Buenos Aires had an extensive street railway (tram) system with over 857 km (535 mi) of track, which was dismantled during the 1960s in favor of bus transportation.

A new 2 km (1,25 miles) tramway (LRT), "Tranvía del Este" runs across the Puerto Madero district. Extensions planned will link the Retiro and La Boca terminal train stations. Other routes are being studied.

Argentina's extensive railway network converges on Buenos Aires. The three principal stations for both long-distance passenger services and commuter trains are Estación Retiro, Estación Constitución, and Estación Once. Some lines use Diesel power, several commuter lines switched to electric power during the 1980s and 1990s .

There is a project to build a Buenos Aires-Rosario-Córdoba high-speed railway, which would join the three largest cities in Argentina. Bids were opened in mid-2006; the only proposal standing as of June 2007 is by French firm Alstom. Financing is a major stumbling block for the project.

The Buenos Aires international airport, Ministro Pistarini International Airport, is located in the suburb of Ezeiza and is often called simply "Ezeiza". The Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport, located in the Palermo district next to the riverbank, serves mostly domestic traffic and general aviation.

Today, 142 bus routes (owned and operated by private companies), with over 19,000 "colectivos" (city buses) traverse the city. There is no city operated transit, and there is no transfer scheme across lines, or between the bus and the underground. Most companies operate only one line, which implies that each line is expected to be profitable in itself (otherwise it goes out of business). This entails a situation in which popular trips are served by many lines with slightly different routes. Bus line operators must comply with city regulations on security and pollution control.

A fleet of 40,000 black-and-yellow taxis roam the streets at all hours. License controls are not enforced rigorously. There have been numerous reports of organized crime controlling the access of taxis to the city airports and other major destinations . Radio-link companies provide reliable and safe service; many such companies provide incentives for frequent users.

Low-fare limo services known as remises, have become popular in recent years.

Sports

Football is a passion for Argentines. Buenos Aires has the highest concentration of football teams of any city in the world (featuring no less than 24 professional football teams), with many of its teams playing in the major league. The best-known rivalry is the one between Boca Juniors and River Plate; a match between these two teams was named as one of the "50 sporting things you must do before you die" by The Observer. Other major clubs include San Lorenzo de Almagro, Vélez Sársfield and Huracán.

Diego Armando Maradona, born in Villa Fiorito, a villa miseria in the Lomas de Zamora Partido (then part of Lanús Partido) of Greater Buenos Aires, is widely hailed as one of the greatest football players of all time. Maradona started his career with Argentinos Juniors, later playing for Boca Juniors, the Argentina national football team and others (most notably FC Barcelona in Spain and SSC Napoli in Italy).

Buenos Aires has been a candidate city for the Summer Olympic Games on three occasions: for the 1956 Games, which were lost by a single vote to Melbourne; for the 1968 Summer Olympics, held in Mexico City; and in 2004, when the games were awarded to Athens.

However, Buenos Aires hosted the 1951 Pan American Games - the first, and was also host city to several World Championship events: the 1950 and 1990 Basketball World Championships, the 1982 and 2002 Men's Volleyball World Championships and, most remembered, the 1978 FIFA World Cup, won by Argentina on June 25, 1978 when it defeated the Netherlands by 3-1.

The Buenos Aires Oscar Gálvez car-racing track hosted 20 editions of the Formula One Argentine Grand Prix between 1953 and 1998; its discontinuation was due to financial reasons. The track features local categories on most weekends.

Argentines' love for horses can be experienced in several ways: horse racing at the Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo racetrack, polo in the Campo Argentino de Polo (located just across Libertador Avenue from the Hipódromo), and pato, a kind of basketball played on horseback that was declared the national game in 1953.

Buenos Aires native Guillermo Vilas (who was raised in Mar del Plata) was one of the great tennis players of the 1970s and 1980s, and popularized tennis in all of Argentina. He won the ATP Buenos Aires numerous times in the 1970s.

Other popular sports in Buenos Aires are golf, basketball, rugby, and field hockey.