BUENOS AIRES 



BUENOS AIRES 



name Buenos Aires means good air, but the 

 locality is not naturally very healthful, though 

 improved sanitation has done much to make 

 the death rate low. On a broad, spreading 

 plain but fifteen or twenty-five feet above sea 

 level, it stretches over about 72.8 square miles, 

 and has all the characteristics the business 

 section, residence section, factory section, 

 slums, parks and show places of a Northern 

 city. 



The streets are for the most part broad, 

 though in certain of the busy downtown dis- 

 tricts they are too narrow for the throngs that 

 crowd through them, and congestion is avoided 

 by allowing vehicles of all kinds to move in 

 but one direction on one street. Trees line 

 many of the streets, such as the Avenida de 

 Mayo and the Avenida Alvear; handsome 

 homes and magnificent business blocks are 

 common, and attractive parks display the 

 plants and animals of the region. Some of the 

 city's most beautiful buildings, the hall of 

 Congress, the municipal building, the palace 

 of justice, the government palace, the cathe- 

 dral and the Episcopal palace, are grouped 

 about the Plaza de Mayo. Buenos Aires prides 

 itself on having the finest and most perfectly- 

 equipped newspaper building in the world a 

 building which contains, in addition to the 

 necessary plant, a library, a museum, club 

 rooms and offices for physicians whose expert 

 advice may be had for the asking. 



While this modern part of the city is the 

 most attractive, the old section is even more 

 interesting. Low, flat-roofed houses, built in 

 Spanish style about an open court and pre- 

 senting to the street heavily-barred windows, 

 are most in evidence. 



The People. Like most great cities of Amer- 

 ica, Buenos Aires has drawn its inhabitants 

 from all over the world. Native Argentinians, 

 descended from old Spanish settlers, make up 

 about half the population, but the other half 

 comprises Italians in large numbers, Spaniards, 

 Frenchmen, Englishmen, Germans and a few 

 Americans. True to its Latin origin and char- 

 acter, the city is pleasure-loving, and life for 

 the well-to-do there has the gayety, the bright- 

 ness and the excitement which are usually asso- 

 ciated with Paris. It is far from being a cheap 

 place to live, and the authorities encourage 

 immigrants to find their way inward to the 

 rich agricultural land and not to settle in the 

 city. 



Progressiveness. The city has excellent 

 communications with other towns, and a 



Outline and Questions on 

 Buenos Aires 



I. Location and Size 



(1) Latitude, 34 36' 21" south 



(2) Longitude, 58 21' 33" west 



(3) Latitude compared with that of 



Northern cities 



( 4 ) Area 



( 5 ) Population 



II. Description 



(1) Streets 



(a) How overcrowding is avoided 



(2) Public buildings 



(a) Government palace 



(b) Cathedral 



(c) Finest newspaper building in 



the world 



(3) Parks 



(4) The old section 



(5) Schools 



(6) Public hygiene 



III. Commerce 



(1) Exports 



(a) Value 



(b) Character 



( 2 ) Imports 



(a) Value 



(b) Character 



IV. The People 



(1) Native Argentinians 



( 2 ) Foreigners 

 (a) Origins 



(3) Character of the people 



(a) Gay and pleasure-loving 



V. History 



(1) Settlement 



(2) Troubled times 



(3) Recent progress 



Questions 



Why is there little danger of col- 

 lisions in the narrow crowded streets 

 of the downtown section? 



What has been the attitude of the 

 city toward the question of public 

 hygiene? 



How many cities larger than Buenos 

 Aires are there in which a Romance 

 language is the ordinary language of 

 the people? 



What picturesque buildings are to be 

 seen in the old section of the city? 



Has Buenos Aires always been the 

 capital of Argentina? 



What does the name of the city 

 mean? The name of the river on 

 which it is situated? 



What attitude does the government 

 take toward emigration? 



How does one newspaper in the city 

 provide for its employees? 



How many cities in the western hem- 

 isphere have a larger commerce? 



What is meant by calling Buenos 

 Aires the "Paris of America"? 



What encouraged the Argentinians to 

 declare themselves independent of 

 Spain in 1810? 



How can a city which is 175 miles 

 inland be reckoned a coast city? 



Besides the native Argentinians, 

 what nationalities make up the largest 

 part of the population? 



How many cities in the United "States 

 surpass Buenos Aires in population? 



