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INTRODUCTION
 The land of Tango. 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.
After the internal conflicts of the 19th century, Buenos Aires was federalised and removed from Buenos Aires Province; its city limits were enlarged to include the former towns of Belgrano and Flores (both are now neighbourhoods in the city).
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 Autonoma de Buenos Aires).
History
Spanish seaman Juan Diaz de Sol discovered Rio de la Plata (River Plate) in 1516 but his expedition was cut short by an attack in which he was killed (and supposedly cannibalized) by the native tribe (disputed).
The city was first founded as Santa MarÃa del Buen Ayre on February 2, 1536 by a Spanish gold-seeking expedition under Pedro de Mendoza. The name was chosen by Mendoza's chaplain, who was a devout follower of the Virgine de Bonaria (Our Lady of the Fair Winds) of Cagliari, Sardinia. The location of Mendoza's city was on today's San Telmo district (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 sailed down the Paraná River from Asunción (now capital of Paraguay).
From its earliest days the success of Buenos Aires depended on trade. The Spanish administration of the 17th and 18th centuries insisted that all trade to Europe initially 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 this instability, Charles III of Spain progressively eased the trade restrictions and finally declared Buenos Aires an open port in the late 1700s. Those 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 River Plate British forces invaded Buenos Aires twice in 1806–1807 but were rebuffed by local militias. Ultimately, on May 25, 1810, while Spain endured the Peninsular War and after a week of mostly pacific deliberations, the creole citizens of Buenos Aires successfully ousted the Spanish Viceroy and established a provincial government; the date is now celebrated as a national holiday (May Revolution Day). Formal independence from Spain was declared only in 1816.
Buenos Aires historically was Argentina's main stage for liberal and free-trade ideas, with many of the provinces advocating for a more conservative-Catholic approach. Many tensions within Argentine history, starting with the centralist-federalist conflicts of the 19th century, can be traced back to this contrast.
In the 19th century the city suffered naval blockades on two occasions: first by the French, from 1838 to 1840, and then a joint Anglo-French blockade from 1845 to 1848. Both blockades failed to surrender the city, and the foreign powers eventually desisted from their demands.
Railroad construction during the second half of the 19th century increased the economic power of Buenos Aires as raw materials flowed into its factories, and the town became a metropolitan and multicultural city that ranked itself with the major European capitals. For example, the Teatro Colón was one of the world's top opera venues. The city's main avenues were built in those years, and the dawn of the 20th century saw the construction of South America's tallest buildings and first subway.
By the 1920s Buenos Aires was a favoured destination for immigrants from Europe, as well as from the poorer provinces and neighboring countries, and large shanty towns (villas miseria) started growing around the city's industrial areas, leading to extensive social problems.
During the 20th century, military juntas and governments seized power several times, to impose a combination of political repression and neoliberal economics. Buenos Aires was also the cradle of Peronism: the now-mythical demonstration of October 17, 1945 took place in Plaza de Mayo. Industrial workers of the Buenos Aires suburbia have been Peronism's main support base ever since, and Plaza de Mayo became the site for social demonstrations and many of the country's political events.
In 1955, the military uprising that would depose President Perón (the Revolución Libertadora) sent planes that bombed the Plaza de Mayo area. It was the only time the city was attacked from the air.
In the 1970s, the city suffered from the fighting between revolutionary movements (the left-wing Montoneros, E.R.P. and F.A.R.) and the right-wing paramilitary group Triple A. The military coup of 1976 only escalated this conflict; the "Dirty War" produced between 10,000 and 30,000 desaparecidos. The silent marches of their mothers (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo) are a well-known image of Argentine suffering during those times.
The city was visited by Pope John Paul II on two occasions: in 1982, due to the outbreak of the Falklands (Malvinas) War, and a second visit in 1987, which gathered crowds never seen before 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 96 and injuring many more.
Culture
Language variations
Argentines refer to their language as castellano (Castilian). The dialect spoken in Buenos Aires (as well as in other large cities like Rosario and Montevideo, Uruguay) is characterised by voseo, yeÃsmo and aspiration or loss of syllable-final -s. Due to its geographical location, it is known as Rioplatense Spanish.
In the early 20th century, Argentina absorbed millions of immigrants, mostly from Italy and Spain. Italian immigrants spoke mostly in their local dialects (mainly Napulitano, Sicilianu and Genovese), and their adoption of Spanish was gradual. A pidgin of Italian dialects and Spanish called cocoliche was widely heard in the beginning of the 20th century; its usage decayed around the 1950s, and today survives mostly as comic relief.
As many Spanish immigrants were from Galicia, to the extent that Spaniards are still called gallegos (Galicians), Galician language 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 common in Buenos Aires, especially in the Balvanera garment district, until the 1960s. A lively Korean language and Chinese language press has developed since the 1980s. Most of the newer immigrants learn Spanish quickly and assimilate into city life.
The lunfardo argot originated within the prison population, and spread to all porteños with time. Lunfardo uses words from Italian dialects, and tricks such as inverting the syllables within a word (vesre). Lunfardo is used by porteños mostly in informal settings.
Tango
Many immigrants arrived in Buenos Aires without their families. This led to a significant phenomenon of prostitution starting around 1870. The erotically charged tango dance originated in brothels, but later found a wider audience. In 1902, the Teatro Opera started organising tango balls. In the 1920s, tango was adopted by the Parisian high society and then all over the world.
The Buenos Aires style of tango music evolved into an elaborated genre. In its heyday, tango had many famous orchestras such as those led by AnÃbal Troilo and Juan D'Arienzo, and singers such as Carlos Gardel and Edmundo Rivero.
Buenos Aires now holds an annual "Tango Day" each December 11.
In San Telmo, Sundays are devoted to tango shows on the streets and antiques trade in the bazaars around Dorrego Square.
Miscellaneous
Buenos Aires was home of Argentine writers Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Ernesto Sábato and Victoria Ocampo. Writer Julio Cortázar, who was born in Brussels, lived for a long period in Buenos Aires, before relocating to France where he died. International figures who lived in Buenos Aires include René Goscinny, Witold Gombrowicz, Jerry Masucci, and businessmen John S. Reed and Aristotle Onassis.
During the Spanish Civil War and in its aftermath, Buenos Aires provided refuge for many, including philosopher José Ortega y Gasset.
The University of Buenos Aires, which used to be the premier learning institution in South America, has produced five Nobel Prize winners.
For much of the 20th century, Buenos Aires was the cultural capital of the Spanish-speaking world, and many porteños flaunted their riches abroad (for example, famed New York nightclub El Morocco was owned by a porteño playboy). This led to an stereotype of Argentines as vain and arrogant that became widespread across Latin America; some (especially Uruguayans) make the distinction between porteños and provincianos (people from the provinces), who are excluded from this characterization.
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