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Illinois
Alumni Club Argentina
Information
for visitors to Argentina
The Name Argentina
Location, Area and Frontiers
Geography
Population
Language
The City
Climate
Information
about Argentina
The
Name Argentina
Comes from the Latin argentum, which means silver. The origin of the name goes
back to the voyages made by the first Spanish conquistadores (conquerors) to the
Río de la Plata. The shipwrecked survivors of the expedition mounted by Juan
Díaz de Solís discovered Indians in the region who presented them with silver
objects. The news about the legendary Sierra del Plata, a mountain rich in
silver, reached Spain around 1524. From this date the Portuguese named the river
of Solís, the Silver River (Río de la Plata). Two years later the Spanish used
the same name. Since 1853 the official name of the country has been the
República Argentina (Republic of Argentina).
Location, Area and Frontiers
Located in the southern part of South America and thus in the southern
hemisphere, continental Argentina has an area of almost 2.8 million square
kilometers. It is bounded by Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chile.
Geography
The fundamental characteristic of Argentina is the enormous contrast between the
immense eastern plains and the imposing mountain range of the Andes to the west.
This is the frontier with Chile and it has the highest peak in the Western
Hemisphere: the Aconcagua, 6.959 meters high.
In its
passage from Jujuy to Tierra del Fuego the range presents marvellous contrasts,
the plateaux of the Northwest, the lake region, the forests and the glaciers of
the Patagonian Andes.
To the
north, Chaco is a forested area that follows the rivers Bermejo, Salado and
Pilcomayo.
Between
the Paraná and Uruguay, the Mesopotamia of Argentina (the provinces of Entre
Ríos, Corrientes and Misiones) is formed by low hills where pools and
marshlands show the ancient courses of these great rivers. Occasionally there
are fissures that provide such spectacular phenomena as the Falls of Iguazú.
La
Pampa, in the center of Argentina, is the largest and best-known area of plains.
It has a large amount of agriculture and livestock and includes the provinces of
Buenos Aires, La Pampa, the south of Santa Fe and the southeast of Córdoba. Its
landscape is broken to the south by the small mountains of Tandil and La Ventana
and to the west by the Córdoba mountain ranges.
Further
south, from the Andes to the sea, are the sterile and stony plateaux of
Patagonia, swept by the wind almost all year long. The Atlantic coast lined with
high cliffs, forms massive indentations like the Valdés Peninsula, with its
spectacular and unique colonies of marine animals.
Population
The current population of Argentina is estimated to be some 36 million of which
almost half live in the Federal Capital and the province of Buenos Aires. These
figures give us a population density of 12.9 inhabitants per square kilometer.
95% of Argentineans are principally descendants of Spaniards and Italians due to
the massive European immigration.
Language
Spanish is the official language of the Argentine Republic. In Buenos Aires
forms of lunfardo are used which is a city slang.
Information
about Buenos Aires
The
City
Buenos Aires is a great metropolis with 11 million inhabitants and one of the
largest in the world. It is also one of the most elegant and busy cities in
South America and is in some way the essence of the variety of the Argentinean.
Whilst
of modern construction and dynamic activity, it has managed to preserve old
traditions and charming corners. The atmosphere, the individual personality of
each of its neighbourhoods (barrios),
the cordiality of its people and the wide selection of its cultural and
commercial opportunities, fascinates one.
Buenos
Aires, close to the splendid countryside surrounding it, is the great
cosmopolitan doorway to South America. The Capital Federal, bounded by the Río
de la Plata and its tributary the Riachuelo, plus the ring roads of Av. General
Paz and Av. 27 de Febrero, consists of 47 distinct barrios, some of them very small and others quite large. These barrios have clearly defined limits, but
informal boundaries are rarely congruent and often contradictory -the line
between Palermo and Recoleta, for instance, is often indistinct, while Av.
Cordoba boundary between Balvanera and Recoleta/Barrio Norte so rigidly
demarcates two very distinct parts of the city that every porteño (as inhabitants of the port capital are known) who crosses
the street recognizes the division. Porteños use the term microcentro for the area north of Av. de Mayo and east of Av. 9 de
Julio, a sector that includes the Florida and Lavalle peatonales (pedestrian malls), Plaza San Martin and the important
commercial and entertainment areas along Avs. Corrientes, Cordoba and Santa Fe.
In fact, this also comprises parts of the barrio of Retiro and the area
popularly known as Congreso, which overlaps the barrio of Balvanera. Barrio
Norte, for that matter, is not a formal barrio but rather a neighborhood that
comprises mostly residential parts of Recoleta and Retiro.
The
major divisions are the microcentro and Av. de Mayo, Congreso and Corrientes,
San Telmo and Constitución, La Boca, Retiro, Recoleta and Barrio Norte, and
Palermo and Belgrano (including the 'Costanera', which provides access to the
Rio de la Plata). The capital's traditional focus of activity is the Plaza de
Mayo, opposite the Casa Rosada presidential palace. Both the Catedral
Metropolitana (cathedral) and portions of the original Cabildo (colonial town
council) are also here, at the east end of Av. de Mayo. Street names change, and
street numbers rise, on each side of Av. de Mayo, while numbers on east-west
streets rise from zero near the waterfront. The broad Av. 9 de Julio forms a
second north-south axis, simultaneously encompassing Cerrito and Carlos
Pellegrini north of Av. de Mayo, and Lima and Bernardo de Irigoyen south of Av
de Mayo. It runs from Plaza Constitución in San Telmo to Av. del Libertador in
Recoleta, which continues to the city's exclusive northern suburbs and their
spacious parks.
Climate
Buenos Aires' climate is humid, with an annual rainfall of 900 mm spread fairly
evenly throughout the year. The changeable spring, hot summer and mild autumn
resemble their counterparts in New York City, but the proximity of the South
Atlantic moderates winter temperatures in a city where the relatively low
latitude of 34: 37' S is more comparable to Northern Hemisphere locations like
Los Angeles and Atlanta, or Cape Town. Frosts are exceedingly rare -the lowest
temperature ever recorded is -5.4:C, while snow has only fallen once this
century, in 1918. The warmest temperature ever recorded was 43.3:C, but much
lower temperatures can seem oppressive when humidity is high. Occasional pamperos (cold fronts out of the
southwest) can cause the ambient temperature to fall dramatically. From the
other direction, the occasional sudestada
(southeasterly) combines with high tides and heavy runoff in the estuary of the
Río de la Plata to flood low-lying areas like La Boca.
Links
about Buenos Aires
Ø
Buenos
Aires Antiguo.
Historic
Buenos Aires: old and contemporary photographs. Historical information. Urban
architecture. Traditional shopping stores guide and colonial tourism resources.
http://www.buenosairesantiguo.com/
Ø
Guia
turístico de Buenos Aires.
Travel
Buenos Aires with local guides. Airport transfer, accommodation, tango shows,
Pampas´s ranches lodging and tours. Tradition, culture, ecology tours, either personal or group.
http://www.buetour.com/
Ø
Buenos
Aires Herald
English
digital newspaper edition.
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/
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Buenos
Aires Tango
Tango
teaching and clubs. Shows and related links.
http://www.buenosairestango.com/
Ø
ABA
Hotels.
Online
ticket and hotel reservations.
http://www.hotel-reservation-buenos-aires.com/espanol.htm
Ø
Buenos
Aires Architecture.
City
photographs, links.
http://personales.ciudad.com.ar/bs-as-arq/index.html
Ø
Buenos
Aires Restaurant Guide.
http://www.southamerica-business.com/restguide/
Ø
Postales
de Buenos Aires.
Buenos
Aires and Iguazu Falls photographs by Arrosi, Magiart and Publicart.
http://www.magiart.com.ar/
Ø
Teatros
de Buenos Aires.
Theater,
Ballet, opera, tango reservations.
http://www.viaggidelpoeta.com/buenos_aires/argentina/it_bue_teatros.htm
Ø
San
Isidro - Buenos Aires.
Photographs,
historic brief.
http://members.tripod.com/~sisidro/home.htm
Ø
Revista
Buenos Aires Lounge.
Social
and cultural online guide.
http://www.bsaslounge.com.ar/
Ø
Mi
Buenos Aires querido
Buenos
Aires photos and tango archives.
http://www.oocities.org/Paris/LeftBank/4134/
Ø
Apart
Buenos Aires.
Temporary
accommodation for students and businessmen in the neighbourhoods of Palermo,
Retiro and Barrio Norte.
http://www.apartplaza.8k.com/eindex.htm
Ø
Buenos
Aires Internet mall.
Cinema,
restaurant and café concert guide in Buenos Aires and surroundings. Emergency
and pharmacy phones.
http://buenosaires.webjump.com/
Ø
Buenos
Aires.
Fishing,
sailing, agrotourism. Ecotourism, lodging, restaurants, real estate. Tourist
agencies, car rental.
http://www.mercotour.com/buenosaires/
Ø
Milongas
de Buenos Aires.
Tango
teaching, clubs.
http://www.buenosairestango.com/milongas/milpra.htm
Ø
Travel
Line Argentina Buenos Aires.
City
tours, Coast Train, Tigre and delta, tango, Evita and ranch tours and services.
http://www.travelline.com.ar
Contacts
in Urbana Champaign
Ellen
and Gene Amberg
Work-telephone: 217
244 8781
Home-telephone: 217
367 0928
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