Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
,
autonomous city
Autonomous city is a type of autonomous administrative division.
Argentina
The 1994 amendment of the Constitution of Argentina granted Buenos Aires city, previously the federal district of Argentina, the status of autonomous city, to allow its ...
and capital of
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, is composed of forty-eight neighborhoods (locally known as ''barrios''). Since 2008, the city is also legally divided into
communes
An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...
, each one including one or more ''barrios''. Among the most visited and populated ''barrios'' are
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
,
Recoleta,
Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land ...
,
Belgrano,
San Telmo
San Telmo ("Saint Pedro González Telmo") is the oldest ''barrio'' (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis and is characterized by its colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and antiqu ...
,
La Boca
La Boca (; "the Mouth", probably of the Matanza River) is a neighborhood (''barrio'') of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. It retains a strong Italian flavour, many of its early settlers having originated in the city of Genoa.
Geography
L ...
,
Monserrat and
Caballito
Caballito (; Spanish for "little horse") is a ''barrio'' (neighborhood) of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It is the only ''barrio'' in the administrative division ''Comuna'' 6.
It is located in the geographical centre of the city, limited ...
. Sectors of the city are also traditionally known as neighborhoods by the inhabitants of Buenos Aires, but not officially by the authorities of the city; some examples include
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
,
Barrio Norte and the
Microcentro.
List of neighborhoods
In alphabetical order, with the corresponding population and the commune they are grouped in.
Informal neighborhood names
The name
Barrio Norte refers to the area around
Avenida Santa Fe
Avenida Santa Fe is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The artery is essential to the imaginary axis of Barrio Norte in Buenos Aires, comprising the areas influenced by the route of the avenue through Retiro, Recole ...
, encompassing parts of Retiro, Recoleta, and Palermo.
The name ''Barrio Sur'' was used in the past to encompass the southern neighborhoods. This name has mostly fallen out of use, but survives in the lyrics of the
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
Sur, which refer to specific places in
Nueva Pompeya
Nueva Pompeya (Spanish for ''New Pompei''), often loosely referred to as Pompeya, is a neighbourhood in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located in the South side, it has long been one of the city's proletarian districts steeped in the tradit ...
and
Boedo
Boedo is a working-class ''barrio'' or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The neighborhood and one of its principal streets were named after Mariano Boedo, a leading figure in the Argentine independence.
It is the home of San Lorenzo de A ...
, and in the short story "
The South" by
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...
, where the conventional wisdom is recalled that "the South begins when crossing
Rivadavia Avenue".
''Abasto'' is sometimes used to refer to the zone around the
Abasto
The Abasto Shopping is one of the biggest shopping mall centers in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The building was the central wholesale fruit and vegetable market in the city ("Mercado de Abasto") from 1893 to 1984. Since 1999, it has served as a shop ...
market (now a shopping mall), many times in association with the life of
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel (born Charles Romuald Gardès; 11 December 1890 – 24 June 1935) was a French-born Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, and the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was one of the most influential inte ...
. It encompasses north-western Balvanera and north-eastern Almagro.
''Congreso'' is the area around
Congress square
Congress Square ( sl, Kongresni trg) is one of the central squares in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.
History
The square was built in 1821 at the site of the ruins of a medieval Capuchin monastery, which had been abolished during the reign ...
, encompassing southeastern
Balvanera
Balvanera is a barrio or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Origin of name and alternative names
The official name, Balvanera, is the name of the ''parroquia'' (parish) centered around the church of ''Nuestra Señora de Balvanera'', erected ...
, northern
San Cristóbal and western
Monserrat.
''Catalinas Norte'' is the high-rise district next to
Retiro transportation center and to the financial district, while ''Catalinas Sur'' is used (quite rarely) for the lowlands south of
San Telmo
San Telmo ("Saint Pedro González Telmo") is the oldest ''barrio'' (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis and is characterized by its colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and antiqu ...
(notably the area around
Cosme Argerich hospital and at the bottom of Parque Lezama).
Palermo is the largest barrio by area and has several informal subdivisions;
Palermo Viejo is the name usually given to the area between Coronel Diaz, Cordoba, Scalabrini Ortiz and Güemes;
Palermo Chico and Barrio Parque the most upmarket part of Palermo is on Palermo's north-eastern edge, includes the
National Museum of Decorative Arts
The National Museum of Decorative Arts is an art museum in Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
History
The museum has its origins in a marriage in 1897 between two prominent members of turn-of-the-century Argentine high society: Matías Errazúri ...
and
MALBA, the Museum of Latin American Art and many of the wealthy and famous old homes some now used as Ambassador's residences;
Palermo Soho
Palermo is a ''barrio'' or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located in the north of the city, near the Rio de la Plata.
It has a total land area of 17.4 km2 and a population of 256,927. It is the only ''barrio'' within the admi ...
, the city's fashion district, refers to Plaza Julio Cortázar and its surroundings;
Palermo Hollywood is a distinctive quarter located in the northern edge of the barrio where radio and TV stations, movie producers and workshops have settled in the late 1990s.
Las Cañitas refers to a few blocks around the
Campo Argentino de Polo, crowded with trendy bars, fancy restaurants and nightclubs. "Palermo Queens" is used sometimes to refer to the parts of Villa Crespo close to Palermo Viejo. Other than Palermo Viejo and Palermo Chico, these names are of recent vintage (1990s and later) and are related to the
gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
process that Palermo and its peripheral areas are undergoing.
''Parque Centenario'' is sometimes used to refer to the area around ''Centenario'' park, at the limit of Almagro, Caballito, and Villa Crespo.
The southern parts of Flores were reclaimed from swampland, and the names ''Bajo Flores'' and ''Bañado de Flores'' are used for these areas.
Within Belgrano, there are Belgrano "C" and "R" (widely and incorrectly believed to signify "commercial" and "residential", respectively) and Bajo Belgrano ("Belgrano lowlands"), which since the late 1990s includes a small
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
.
A
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
song named "Cien barrios porteños" (The 100 barrios of Buenos Aires), sung by
Alberto Castillo, is sometimes invoked (informally) to support the claim that there are indeed a hundred neighborhoods in the city. This number may be reached by including some suburbs in the tally.
References
External links
Barrios HistoryGovernment of the Buenos Aires city (Spanish)
{{Barrios of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...