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Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port. It is located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata (also known as the River Plate), on the southeastern coast of the South American continent.
Strongly influenced by European culture, Buenos Aires is sometimes referred to as the "Paris of South America".
Buenos Aires was originally called Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María del Buen Aire, "City of the Most Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Fair Wind". The city name was chosen by the chaplain of Mendoza's expedition, who was a devout follower of the Virgine de Bonaria .
The city is divided into 48 barrios (neighbourhoods) for administrative purposes. The division was originally based on Catholic parroquias (parishes), but has undergone a series of changes since the 1940s. A newer scheme has divided the city into 15 comunas (communes).
The people of Buenos Aires are known as porteños (people of the port), due to the significance of the port in the development of the city and the nation. The people of Buenos Aires province (sometimes including the city's suburbia) are called bonaerenses.
Deeply influenced by (and self-consciously modeled after) its European heritage, Buenos Aires is the site of the Teatro Colón, one of the world's greatest opera houses. There are several symphony orchestras and choral societies. The city has numerous museums related to history, fine arts, modern arts, decorative arts, popular arts, sacred art, arts and crafts, theatre and popular music, as well as the preserved homes of noted art collectors, writers, composers and artists. It harbours many public libraries and cultural associations as well as the largest concentration of active theatres in Latin America. It has a world-famous zoo and Botanical Garden, a large number of landscaped parks and squares, as well as churches and places of worship of many denominations, many of which are architecturally noteworthy.
The city has many museums, historical buildings, shopping centres, hotels. The main tourist attractions are around the downtown area, including Plaza de Mayo, Florida Street, San Telmo and Puerto Madero.
Football (soccer) is a passion for Argentines. Buenos Aires has the highest concentration of football teams of any city in the world (featuring no less than 24 professional football teams), with many of its teams playing in the major league. The best-known rivalry is the one between Boca Juniors and River Plate; a match between these two teams was named as one of the "50 sporting things you must do before you die" by The Observer. Other major clubs include San Lorenzo de Almagro, Vélez Sársfield and Huracán.
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