BUENOS AIRES, Federal capital and principal port of importation and exportation of the Argentine Republic, and the largest of all the cities of the southern hemisphere. From its population (estimated at 1,700,000 on 1 Jan. 1917), it occupies the second place among the Latin cities of the world, coming directly after Paris. It is situated in lat. 34° 36' 21" S., which in the northern hemisphere corresponds to the latitudes of Los Angeles, Cal., and Yokohama, Japan; its longitude is 58° 21' 33" west from Greenwich; it is built, 65 feet at the highest point, above the level of the sea, upon the right bank of the La Plata River, which is here about 30 miles wide, and distant 172 miles from its mouth where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. It is the metropolis, corn mercially, politically and socially, of the ex treme southeastern of the continent. Distant 5,220 miles from London and 4,370 miles from New York, it is the terminal port for 10 transatlantic lines of steamships which unite it with European ports, and it is also the centre from which radiate 6,600 miles of rail roads, which end in Patagonia in the south, and in the west and north connect it with the fron tiers of Chile and Bolivia. It is also the prin cipal port for all the river traffic for a distance of 2,250 miles, extending the whole length of the rivers La Plata, Uruguay, Parana and trib utaries, connecting it with Montevideo, capital of the eastern republic of Uruguay, and with Asuncion, capital of Paraguay. Its climate is one of the most changeable in the world, though its annual average temperature corresponds to those of Genoa, San Francisco, Tokio and Sydney.
General The city is spread out upon a plain on the right bank of the Rio de la Plata, 125 miles west of the city of Monte video, which lies on the north bank of the estuary. Buenos Aires extends 11% miles from north to south and 15% miles from east to west, with a circumference of more than 38 miles.
The plan of the city is quadrangular, similar to a chess-board. In the central part the streets are 32 feet wide and the blocks are 429 feet in length. By municipal regulations the height of the front of the buildings cannot exceed one and one-third times the width of the street. In
1892 the Avenida de Mayo was completed and opened. This avenue is 100 feet wide and a mile and a half long, and divides from east to west the oldest and most densely populated part of the city. It is well paved with asphalt and has in the centre, facing each block, three safety islands, with double electric light posts, and a row of plane trees extending the entire length. The buildings along this avenue vary in materials and in the number of stories. At the extreme eastern end it opens upon the Plaza de Mayo with an area of more than four acres, beautified with trees and flanked with public buildings ;— the °Casa Rosade ("Pink House") or executive palace, the old House of Con gress, the commercial exchange, the cathe dral, the municipal buildings, the °Bank of the Nation" and other estabhshments of impor tance. At the extreme western end is the new House of Congress of monumental proportions, which cost $6,000,000.
The district of the Boca (about 100,000 in habitants) in the city of Buenos Aires, upon the left bank of the Riachuelo, and the district of Avellaneda (12,000 inhabitants) in front of Barracas to the south, upon the right bank in the jurisdiction of the province of Buenos Aires, are united by a draw-bridge and other similar devices, and the people living there are for the most part occupied in the traffic of the harbor, there being in all a business capital of $150,000,000 invested in this traffic. Moreover, the railroads to the west and to the south, which assist in this traffic, represent a capital of $201, 500,000.
Harbors, Wharves, Markets, The location of the city, owing to the shallowness of the river, demanded the construction of an ex tensive harbor. Its facilities are as follows:— inner harbor, comprising the north and south basins and docks and the Boca del Riachuelo; outer harbor, comprising the outer roads and channels through which shipping enters; the south channel, 11 miles long, having a depth of 17 to 22 feet; and the north channel, with a depth of from 20 to 23 feet. Both channels are 350 feet wide at entrance and marked by buoys.