San Miguel is a city in the northwest region of

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adjac ...

, 30 km from the

City of 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 Am ...

. San Miguel is the county seat of

San Miguel Partido San Miguel Partido is a partido in the Greater Buenos Aires urban area of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. Provisional results of the 2010 census report that the provincial subdivision has a population of about 281,120 inhabitants in an area ...

, and has been a part of Greater Buenos Aires since the early 2000s. The number of inhabitants was 157,532 according to the 2001 census. Part of a vast

estancia An estancia is a large, private plot of land used for farming or raising cattle or sheep. Estancias in the southern South American grasslands, the ''pampas'', have historically been estates used to raise livestock, such as cattle or sheep. In Pu ...

estate owned by General Ángel Pacheco, San Miguel was founded as ''San José del Pilar'' by a

French Argentine French Argentines (french: Franco-Argentins; es, franco-argentinos) refers to Argentine citizens of full or partial French ancestry or persons born in France who reside in Argentina. French Argentines form one of the largest ancestry groups af ...

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

, Adolfo Sourdeaux, on May 18, 1864. Part of

Pilar Partido Pilar Partido is a partido in the northern part of Greater Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The provincial subdivision has a population of about 232,000 inhabitants in an area of , and its capital city is Pilar, which is aroun ...

initially, the town was renamed San Miguel after the former district was subdivided shortly afterward. A Buenos Aires-Pacific Railway line was built along the town in 1870, and its first schools were opened at that time as part of President

Domingo Sarmiento Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (; born Domingo Faustino Fidel Valentín Sarmiento y Albarracín; 15 February 1811 – 11 September 1888) was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the second President of Argentina. His writing sp ...

's program for

education in Argentina Education in state institutions is at the initial, primary, secondary and tertiary levels and in the undergraduate university level (not for graduate programs). Private education is paid, although in some cases (especially in primary and secondary s ...

. The town was designated as county seat for the newly created ''General Sarmiento Partido'' in 1889, and was in turn made the county seat for

when the former was subdivided in 1994. San Miguel's transition from a rural community to that of a suburban

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

with high-rise buildings has caused it to lose its village character and strained its infrastructure. The largely service-oriented economy is complemented by industries such as the IPH steel cable facility. Cable television provider TeleRed broadcasts from San Miguel, covering audiences in most of the Greater Buenos Aires. Its programming includes a local Catholic channel, Señal Santa Marìa, which offers family-friendly content plus religious programmes, mostly from

EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network, more commonly known by its initials EWTN, is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic-themed programming. It is not only the largest Catholic television network in ...

. San Miguel is home to a number of educational institutions, including the

National University of General Sarmiento The National University of General Sarmiento (UNGS) (Castilian: Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento) is a national university in Argentina, founded in 1993. It is located in the ''localidad'' (small city) of Los Polvorines, of Malvinas Argen ...

and the parochial ''

Colegio Máximo de San José The Colegio Máximo de San José (English: ''Maximum College of St. Joseph'') is a Jesuit religious college in San Miguel, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Pope Francis studied in it during his youth. History When the Jesuits first established in San ...

'', from which Jorge Bergoglio (the future

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

) obtained a degree in philosophy. San Miguel has numerous bus lines running through the center and is served with several stations by the San Martin and Urquiza commuter railroad lines, which provide easy access to Buenos Aires.

Climate

Sport

The city is home to

Club Atlético San Miguel Club Atlético San Miguel is an Argentina, Argentine sports club from San Miguel, Buenos Aires The club's headquarters are located in San Miguel while its association football, football stadium is erected in Los Polvorines district of Malvinas Ar ...

football club.

References

External links

*
Sitio de interacción vecinal del Partido de San Miguel Guía, Farmacias, Foros, etc

Portal Comercial del Partido de San Miguel History, Photos, etc

El portal de San Miguel

Portal de San Miguel

Universidad Nacional De General Sarmiento

Universidad Nacional De Lujan, San Miguel regional centre

Universidad Del Salvador

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090215102218/http://www.24con.com/conurbano/localidades/sanmiguel/ San Miguel News {{Authority control Populated places in Buenos Aires Province Populated places established in 1864 Cities in Argentina