Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina. The primitive settlers of the area today included in the Buenos Aires scope were the Querandi people. In 1536, the Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza, under orders by the Spanish kingdom to establish a settlement, and 1,600 of his men camped on a bluff overlooking the Río de la Plata. Attacks by local indigenous tribes forced the settlers to move to Asunción, Paraguay in 1539 and the site had been burned and abandoned. On May 29, 1580 Juan de Garay arrived on a second attempt and made the second founding. Buenos Aires finally gained its independence along with the rest of the country on May 25th, 1810 (formally declared six years later), a date now celebrated annually.
The Rio de la Plata keeps Buenos Aires climate temperate: the city is cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter than inland locations at the same latitude. The heaviest rain falls during autumn (March to June) and spring (September to December), though rain can be expected at any time of the year. The weather is hot and humid in the summer (December to March). The annual average temperature is 18°C (64.4°F).
Historically the city has served as Argentina’s major trading center, and trade continues to play a key role in the region’s economy. The vast majority of the country’s agricultural exports passes through Buenos Aires; wool, flax, hides, wheat, meat and dairy products are the chief exports. The intense trade helped Buenos Aires develop a diversified economy, and by the twentieth century the city was the nation's center of banking and finance. Banks in Buenos Aires hold the largest share of the country’s bank deposits, a large portion of which are held by foreign investors. Other leading industries are printing and publishing, metalworking, machine building, chemicals, oil refining, automobile manufacturing, beverages, clothing, and tobacco products.
The public transport in Buenos Aires is very good, although crowded during rush hour. The city has a metro network ("subte", short form of "subterráneo ", which means "underground"). It is very efficient, not very large, but reaches most tourist attractions of the city. The subway consists of 5 different lines which were all established one after the other and which are referred to by letters. Buenos Aires has a many busses that transport passengers to most destinations in the city. This type of transportation is both safety and extremely inexpensive. Thousands of standard issue, black car with yellow roof, taxis navigate Buenos Aires and especially its tourist and business center.
Buenos Aires is the intellectual capital of Argentina. The primary and secondary education are based on the neighbourhood system, most primary and secondary schools are public, including special national high schools that function as college preparatory schools. Buenos Aires is home to the nation’s largest and oldest public university. The University of Buenos Aires, founded in 1821, has a student body of more than 200,000 and provides a comprehensive university education.
Buenos Aires is the most European of all Latin American cities. its physical structure is a mosaic as varied and diverse as its culture. The city's neighbourhoods are small and highly individualized each with its own characteristic colours and forms. Buenos Aires offers a great number of attractions: plazas, museums, monuments, churches, art galleries and theatres, traditional and modern style hotels, parks and gardens with old trees, restaurants offering local and international cuisine. The most visited destinations in the beautiful city include the San Telmo Market, Costanera Sur, La Boca neighborhood, the center of town with the obelisk and the Tigre delta, a few kilometers away from the urban center.
Buenos Aires Tango is the biggest cultural contribution Argentina has made to the world in the last 100 years and is currently enjoying a comeback. There are hundreds of Buenos Aires tango shows to view as well as large nightly tango dances called “milongas”. Tango lessons can be found in a variety of different forms and tango history is around almost every corner and city cafe.
