1.
Buenos Aires
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Buenos Aires is the capital and most populous city of Argentina. The city is located on the shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata. The city of Buenos Aires is neither part of Buenos Aires Province nor the Provinces capital, rather, in 1880, after decades of political infighting, Buenos Aires was federalized and removed from Buenos Aires Province. The city limits were enlarged to include the towns of Belgrano and Flores, the 1994 constitutional amendment granted the city autonomy, hence its formal name, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Its citizens first elected a chief of government in 1996, previously, Buenos Aires is considered an alpha city by the study GaWC5. Buenos Aires quality of life was ranked 81st in the world and one of the best in Latin America in 2012 and it is the most visited city in South America, and the second-most visited city of Latin America. Buenos Aires is a top tourist destination, and is known for its preserved Spanish/European-style architecture, Buenos Aires held the 1st Pan American Games in 1951 as well as hosting two venues in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Buenos Aires will host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2018 G20 summit, Buenos Aires is a multicultural city, being home to multiple ethnic and religious groups. Several languages are spoken in the city in addition to Spanish, contributing to its culture, the hill was known to them as Buen Ayre, as it was free of the foul smell prevalent in the old city, which is adjacent to swampland. During the siege of Cagliari, the Aragonese built a sanctuary to the Virgin Mary on top of the hill, in 1335, King Alfonso the Gentle donated the church to the Mercedarians, who built an abbey that stands to this day. In the years after that, a story circulated, claiming that a statue of the Virgin Mary was retrieved from the sea after it miraculously helped to calm a storm in the Mediterranean Sea, the statue was placed in the abbey. Spanish sailors, especially Andalusians, venerated this image and frequently invoked the Fair Winds to aid them in their navigation, a sanctuary to the Virgin of Buen Ayre would be later erected in Seville. Pedro de Mendoza called the city Holy Mary of the Fair Winds, mendoza’s settlement soon came under attack by indigenous people, and was abandoned in 1541. For many years, the name was attributed to a Sancho del Campo, a second settlement was established in 1580 by Juan de Garay, who sailed down the Paraná River from Asunción. Garay preserved the name chosen by Mendoza, calling the city Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María del Buen Aire. The short form Buenos Aires became the common usage during the 17th century, the usual abbreviation for Buenos Aires in Spanish is Bs. As. It is common as well to refer to it as B. A. or BA /ˌbiːˈeɪ/ bee-AY), while BA is used more by expats residing in the city, the locals more often use the abbreviation Baires, in one word. Seaman Juan Díaz de Solís, navigating in the name of Spain, was the first European to reach the Río de la Plata in 1516 and his expedition was cut short when he was killed during an attack by the native Charrúa tribe in what is now Uruguay
2.
Argentina
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Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a federal republic in the southern half of South America. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system, Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The earliest recorded presence in the area of modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century, Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with waves of European immigration radically reshaping its cultural. The almost-unparalleled increase in prosperity led to Argentina becoming the seventh wealthiest developed nation in the world by the early 20th century, Argentina retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs, and is a prominent regional power in the Southern Cone and Latin America. Argentina has the second largest economy in South America, the third-largest in Latin America and is a member of the G-15 and it is the country with the second highest Human Development Index in Latin America with a rating of very high. Because of its stability, market size and growing high-tech sector, the description of the country by the word Argentina has to be found on a Venice map in 1536. In English the name Argentina probably comes from the Spanish language, however the naming itself is not Spanish, Argentina means in Italian of silver, silver coloured, probably borrowed from the Old French adjective argentine of silver > silver coloured already mentioned in the 12th century. The French word argentine is the form of argentin and derives of argent silver with the suffix -in. The Italian naming Argentina for the country implies Argentina Terra land of silver or Argentina costa coast of silver, in Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said lArgentina. The name Argentina was probably first given by the Venitian and Genoese navigators, in Spanish and Portuguese, the words for silver are respectively plata and prata and of silver is said plateado and prateado. Argentina was first associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin. The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced to La Argentina, a 1602 poem by Martín del Barco Centenera describing the region, the 1826 constitution included the first use of the name Argentine Republic in legal documents. The name Argentine Confederation was also used and was formalized in the Argentine Constitution of 1853. In 1860 a presidential decree settled the name as Argentine Republic
3.
Puerto Madero
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From its inception, the city of Buenos Aires had a problem accommodating large cargo ships, as per Puerto La Boca, because the shallow river did not allow for direct docking. Instead ships were moored away from the shore and passengers and merchandise were unloaded onto barges and ferries for transport to the pier, in 1882 the national government contracted the local businessman Eduardo Madero to take charge of the construction of a new port which would solve these problems. Construction began in 1887 and was completed in 1897, although the installed fittings had been partially operative some years before completion of the port. It was a project and an engineering landmark at the time. His plans resulted in the Puerto Nuevo, still operating today, the New Port of Buenos Aires was completed in 1926, making the existing Madero docks superfluous. Though these continued to serve in ancillary port functions, the zone gradually decayed, becoming one of the citys most degraded areas, having as objective the urbanization of the area, the federal and city governments participated as egalitarian partners. The 170 hectares of the place had overlapping jurisdictions, the General Administration of Ports, Argentine railroads, today one of the trendiest boroughs in Buenos Aires, it has become the preferred address for growing numbers of young professionals and retirees, alike. Increasing property prices have also generated interest in the area as a destination for foreign buyers, the neighborhoods road network has been entirely rebuilt, especially in the east side. The layout of the east side consists currently of three wide boulevards running east-west crossed by the east sides main street, Juana Manso Avenue, the layout is completed with some other avenues and minor streets, running both east-west and north-south, and by several pedestrianised streets. Every street in Puerto Madero is named after women, Puerto Madero currently represents the largest urban renewal project in the city of Buenos Aires. Having undergone a revival in merely a decade, it is one of the most successful recent waterfront renewal projects in the world. At Puerto Madero Dock 2 buildings belonging to the Universidad Católica Argentina stand successively to the west, here, there are some bars and coffee shops. Numerous new residential high-rises of up to 50 stories have been facing the Rio de la Plata since 2000. These include Alvear Tower, Renoir Towers, El Faro Towers, Chateau Tower of Puerto Madero, many other high-rises that have recently been inaugurated include the Le Parc Tower and Hilton and River View Towers. Additionally a St. Regis Starwood Hotel is being built in the first dique, where the famous nightclub Opera Bay was formerly located, a large Jumeirah Polo resort will also feature a hotel in Puerto Madero, working conjointly with polo fields outside Buenos Aires. The 2 kilometres Tranvía del Este, inaugurated in 2007 and closed in 2012, served the area running parallel to Alicia Moreau de Justo Avenue, the neighborhood is still not well-connected to the citys transit network. An expressway connecting the north and the south of the city through Puerto Madero has long been in the planning stage, placing the expressway between Puerto Madero and the Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve has also been considered, but has been strongly opposed by environmentalists
4.
Great European immigration wave to Argentina
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The great European immigration wave to Argentina took place in the late 19th and early 20th century. It consisted mostly of Italian and Spanish immigrants, along with other such as Slavs, French, Germans. During this period Argentina saw an increase in population. The European immigrants modified the politics of Argentina by introducing political movements from their countries, such as labor unionism, anarchism. Before the immigration, Argentina was sparsely populated, the Spanish colonization of the Americas favored Mexico and Peru, the southern Spanish regions had no sources of wealth and had lower populations. This population decreased even more in the 19th century, during the Argentine War of Independence, several Argentines from that time period, such as Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Juan Bautista Alberdi, thought that it was imperative to populate the country. The Constitution of Argentina of 1853 promoted European immigration in its 25th article, as the immigration came from several European countries, there was no single reason that led to the immigrants leaving their home countries. Some of them sought a better lifestyle, but many others escaped from ongoing conflicts within Europe. Spanish immigrants escaped from the Third Carlist War, Argentine migration policy and movements of the European population
5.
Retiro railway station
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Retiro Station is the name given to three railway terminus located in the district of Retiro of Buenos Aires, that are Retiro Mitre, Retiro Belgrano and Retiro San Martín. The stations are terminus of Mitre, Belgrano and San Martín Railways respectively and it is also found in the vicinity of Retiro bus station, the largest bus terminal in the country. The stations are close to the Retiro bus station, the principal long-distance bus terminal in Buenos Aires. The complex is accessible by the C line of the Buenos Aires Metro system. The stations will also be accessible by both Line E and Line H of the metro once their extensions are complete, three stations are located opposite Plaza San Martín, a large park. Retiro is the largest railway complex in Buenos Aires and more commuter trains arrive, long-distance services to Rosario and Tucumán cities. Belgrano Norte service to Villa Rosa, San Martín service calling at Villa Devoto, El Palomar, Hurlingham and Pilar, amongst others. As of 2015, state-owned Trenes Argentinos manages long-distance services to the cities of Córdoba, Tucumán and those services had been run by defunct company Ferrocentral. From the Retiro San Martín station trains depart to Rufino station in Santa Fe Province, media related to Retiro train station at Wikimedia Commons
6.
Yerba mate
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Yerba mate is a species of the holly family, with the botanical name Ilex paraguariensis A. St. -Hil. Named by the French botanist Auguste François César Prouvençal de Saint-Hilaire, Yerba mate is widely known as the source of the beverage called mate. It is also popular among the Druze community in Syria and Lebanon. Yerba mate was initially utilized and cultivated by the Guaraní people and in some Tupí communities in southern Brazil, Yerba mate can also be found in various energy drinks on the market today. Yerba mate, Ilex paraguariensis, begins as a shrub and then matures to a tree, the leaves are evergreen, 7–110 millimetres long and 30–55 millimetres wide, with a serrated margin. The leaves are often called yerba or erva, both of which mean herb and they contain caffeine and also contains related xanthine alkaloids and are harvested commercially. The flowers are small, greenish-white, with four petals, the fruit is a red drupe 4–6 millimetres in diameter. The yerba mate plant is grown and processed in South America, specifically in northern Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, cultivators are known as yerbateros or ervateiros. Seeds used to new plants are harvested from January until April only after they have turned dark purple. After harvest, they are submerged in water in order to eliminate floating non-viable seeds and detritus like twigs, leaves, new plants are started between March and May. For plants established in pots, transplanting takes place April through September, plants with bare roots are transplanted only during the months of June and July. Many of the enemies of yerba mate are difficult to control in a plantation setting. When yerba mate is harvested, the branches are dried by a wood fire. The plant Ilex paraguariensis can vary in strength of the flavor, caffeine levels, female plants tend to be milder in flavor and lower in caffeine. They are also relatively scarce in the areas where yerba mate is planted and cultivated. According to FAO in 2012, Brazil is the biggest producer of mate in the world with 513,256 MT, followed by Argentina with 290,000 MT, sugar may or may not be added, and the mate may be prepared with cold water. Although traditionally made from a calabash gourd, these days mate gourds are produced from a variety of materials including wood, glass, ceramic. Yerba mate is most popular in Uruguay, where people are walking the streets carrying the mate
7.
Immigration to Argentina
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Upon arrival of the Spaniards, the inhabitants of Argentine territory were approximately 300,000 people belonging to many civilizations, cultures and tribes. After the Spanish conquest, an abundant amount of immigrants from all over the world arrived in the country, the history of immigration to Argentina can be divided into several major stages, Spanish colonization starting in the 16th century with the conquest of South America and following colonisation. European immigration in the 19th century focused on colonization and sponsored by the government and this immigration wave made Argentina the country with the second-largest number of immigrants, with 6.6 million, second only to the United States with 27 million. Mostly urban immigration during the era of growth in the late 19th century. The one which came from the west, from Chile, across the Andes, from the cities of Santiago, the one which came from the east, that used the Río de la Plata and its tributaries, especially the Paraná River to settle on the banks thereof. Also, this migration flow settled in Asunción, Paraguay where they colonised much of the region, the Spanish conquistadores and settlers were mainly from Biscay, as well from Galicia and Portugal, founding cities and establishing estancias for supplies of agricultural and livestock products. The scale of operations was reduced, mainly focused on the domestic market, since its unification as a country, Argentine rulers intended the country to welcome immigration. The Preamble of the Constitution dictates a number of goals that apply to all men in the world who wish to dwell on Argentine soil. The Constitution incorporates, along with influences, the thought of Juan Bautista Alberdi. The legal and organizational precedents of todays National Migrations Office can be found in 1825, after the Commission was dissolved, the government of Rosas continued to allow immigration. Urquiza, under whose sponsorship the Constitution was drawn, encouraged the establishment of colonies in the Littoral. The first law dealing with immigration policies was Law 817 of Immigration and Colonization, the General Immigration Office was created in 1898, together with the Hotel de Inmigrantes, in Buenos Aires. However, immigrants did not bring only their knowledge and skills and these laws were a reaction by the ruling elite against imported ideas such as labor unionism, anarchism and other forms of popular organization. The modern National Migrations Office was created by decree on February 4,1949, under the Technical Secretariat of the Presidency, in order to deal with the new post-war immigration scenario. New regulations were added to the Office by Law 22439 of 1981 and a decree of 1994, but the current regulations are the Law 25871 of 2004, the majority of immigrants, since the 19th century, have come from Europe, mostly from Italy and Spain. Also notable were Jewish immigrants escaping persecution, giving Argentina the highest Jewish population in Latin America, and the 7th in all the world. The total population of Argentina rose from 4 million in 1895 to 7.9 million in 1914, Argentine immigration records also mention immigrants from Australia, South Africa and the United States. These trends made Argentina the country with the second-largest number of immigrants, with 6.6 million, most immigrants arrived through the port of Buenos Aires and stayed in the capital or within Buenos Aires Province, as it still happens today
8.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
9.
Palace of the Argentine National Congress
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The Palace of the Argentine National Congress is a monumental building, seat of the Argentine National Congress, located in Buenos Aires at the western end of Avenida de Mayo. Constructed between 1898 and 1906, the palace is a National Historic Landmark, the Kilometre Zero for all Argentine National Highways is marked on a milestone at the Congressional Plaza, next to the building. The idea of a palace was first proposed and decreed in 1895. Designed by the Italian architect Vittorio Meano and completed by Argentine architect Julio Dormal, inaugurated that year, its aesthetic details were not completed until 1946. The edifice was built at a cost of US$6 million allocated by the federal government, the building was officially accepted by Congress on 12 May 1906. As time went by, the building proved too small for its purpose, and in 1974 the construction of the Annex, from 1976 to 1983 the palace housed the Legislative Advisory Commission, which was a group of officers from the three Armed Forces. Congressional Plaza, built by French Argentine urbanist Charles Thays, faces the palace, popular among tourists since its inauguration in 1910, the plaza is also a preferred location for protesters and those who want to voice their opinion about congressional activities. The palace is in Neoclassical style, largely made of marble with elaborately furnished interiors, especially in the Lost Steps Hall. It is crowned by a bronze-plated dome 80 metres in height, weighing 3,000 tonnes and this cupola is supported over a 10 metres deep inverted dome foundation. The dome is lit during Argentina’s national holidays and other special occasions, the main entrance, called the Entrada de Honor, is exclusively used for ceremonial purposes. In front of it is the 8 metres high quadriga sculpture and it is made of bronze and weighs 20 tonnes. The palace used to have a shop in the basement. In 1997, with the first general restoration of facades, representatives of the Government of Buenos Aires promoted the recovery of the statues designed by Lola Mora to crown the entrance to Congress. As the sculptor had personally donated to the government of province of Jujuy, however, at that time the idea did not materialize. Only in 2012, with the new Master Plan, the initiative gained momentum again, on 1 March 2014 replicas of the statues were inaugurated by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner at the opening of the regular session. Casa Rosada Palace of Justice of the Argentine Nation List of National Historic Monuments of Argentina Web Bibliography International Bureau of the American Republics, Argentine Republic, A Geographical Sketch, with Special Reference to Economic Conditions, Actual Development, and Prospects of Future Growth. This Is Buenos Aires. de Dios Editores
