Buenos Aires | |||
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Province | |||
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Location of Buenos Aires province within Argentina |
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Coordinates: 33°42′S 61°00′W / 33.700°S 61.000°WCoordinates: 33°42′S 61°00′W / 33.700°S 61.000°W | |||
Country | Argentina | ||
Capital | La Plata | ||
Government | |||
• Governor | María Eugenia Vidal (Cambiemos) | ||
• Legislature | Chamber of Deputies (92) Senate (46) |
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• National Deputies |
70 |
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• National Senators | Juan Manuel Abal Medina, Jr., María Laura Leguizamón, Jaime Linares | ||
Area Ranked 1st |
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• Total | 307,571 km2 (118,754 sq mi) | ||
Population (2010) | |||
• Total | 15,625,084 | ||
• Rank | 1st | ||
• Density | 51/km2 (130/sq mi) | ||
Demonym(s) | bonaerense | ||
Time zone | ART (UTC−3) | ||
ISO 3166 code | AR-B | ||
Website | www |
Buenos Aires (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbwe.nos ˈai̯.ɾes], Provincia de Buenos Aires; English: "good airs") is the largest and most populous Argentinian province. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880. The current capital of the province is the city of La Plata, founded in 1882.
The province borders Entre Ríos to the northeast; Santa Fe to the north; Córdoba to the northwest, La Pampa to the west; and Río Negro to south and west; and the City of Buenos Aires to the northeast and Uruguay is just across the Rio de la Plata to the northeast near the Atlantic Ocean. The entire province is part of the Pampas geographical region.
The province has a population of about 15.6 million people, or 39% of Argentina's total population. Nearly 10 million people live in Greater Buenos Aires, the metropolitan area surrounding the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. The area of the province, 307,571 km2 (118,754 sq mi), makes it the largest in Argentina with around 11% of the country's total area.
The inhabitants of the province before the 16th century advent of Spanish colonisation were aboriginal peoples such as the Charrúas and the Querandíes. Their culture was lost over the next 350 years. They were subjected to Eurasian plagues from which few survived. The survivors joined other tribes or have been mostly absorbed by Argentina's European ethnic majority.