The capital of Argentina is located in the east of the country, in the bay of La Plata. The area of the Argentine capital is 202 square kilometers, the population of Buenos Aires together with its suburbs is more than 11 million people. It is a cosmopolitan city with the bulk of its inhabitants being Spanish and Italian.
The national language is Spanish, but English is also spoken.
The national currency is the Argentine peso (ARS).
The name of the metropolis translates to "good winds" in Spanish. Tourists should know that the city is also known simply as the federal capital, which sounds like "capitale federal". It's the most unusual and most "European" city in Southern America.
Buenos Aires was founded in 1536 by the Spanish conqueror Pedro de Mendoza. The first settlement was burned by the Indians and then rebuilt again in 1580. Originally part of the Spanish Empire, the city was then proclaimed the capital of the Viceroyalty of Spain, and only after several rebellions and the May Revolution in 1861 did Buenos Aires become the capital of the Argentine Republic.
