Bienvenidos a La República de Bienvenidos a La República de ArgentinaArgentina

Argentina is located at the

base of the South American

continent.

Buenos Aires is the Argentine capitol and has 13 million inhabitants. It is known as the “Paris of the New World” for its wide boulevards,

outdoor cafés, and cosmopolitan outlook.

El Obelisco was built in 1936 to

commemorate the 400th anniversary of Buenos Aires. It is located on the world’s widest

avenue, La Avenida 9 de Julio,

named for the date of the

country’s founding in 1816.

La Avenida 9 de Julio has eighteen lanes of traffic and is lined with many of the city’s most

important landmarks.

Buenos Aires is a port city located along the Rio de la Plata whose people are called porteños. Its population is very

dense with 34,800 people per square mile.

An interesting profession in BA is that of a paseaperros, professional dog walkers, who

give the canines a break from their lives inside high-rise apartments or pisos.

LLAA BBOOCCAA

La Boca is a barrio or neighborhood in Buenos Aires that was principally settled by immigrants from Genoa,

Italy.

Some believe the name is derived from the genoese neighborhood of

Bocadaze. Others say that its name comes from

its location at the mouth or la boca of the Riachuelo river.

LLAA BBOOCCAA

Sailors painted their homes with

left over paint from the ships

they worked on. This led to a

frenzy of colors and gives the

neighborhood its unique look.

El Caminito is a street in La Boca where tourists

can relax in one of the many cafés and watch tango artists perform.

La Boca is most famous for being the home of the Boca Juniors, one of the most popular

soccer clubs in South America.

Support for the team is so strong that there is a cemetery reserved for players,

managers and the most rabid fans who wish to be buried among them. They can even be buried in a special-order Boca coffin.

The Boca Juniors were formed by five young men in 1905. They named their team after

their neighborhood but added the word “Juniors” with the hope that its British sound

might give the team more prestige.

Rated by many as the best soccer player of all time, Diego Maradona had early success with the

Boca Juniors and is considered an idol in Argentina. His image is found virtually

everywhere.

Argentina ranks #1 in the world for beef consumption. Its citizens annually consume 70.2 kilograms (154 lbs.) per person compared to third-ranked U.S. with 45.3 kg (100 lbs.).

A parrilla refers to meat cooked on

a grill like a barbecue. The price of meat is relatively low in Argentina.

More popular than coffee, yerba mate

is an herbal tea steeped in a

hollowed out gourd called a mate and strained through a

straw called a bombilla. A social custom is to drink

from the same mate with your

friends.

Calle Florida is lined with leather goods shops. As a by- product of the

beef industry, leather items are in

great abundance and well priced.

Many tourists purchase a leather

coat, shoes or boots that are

custom-made in special workshops.

Tango performers can also be found

all along calle Florida as no cars are permitted on this pedestrian

walkway that runs through the heart

of the city.

Calle Florida also has many shops

that sell accessories for gauchos, the

Argentine cowboys who live on the plains or

pampas .

Cementerio La Recoleta is the final resting place for many of Argentina’s most

prominent people.

The most famous person buried in La Recoleta is

Eva Perón, the controversial First Lady of

Argentina from 1946-1952.

This colony of gatos watch over the cemetery as its

unofficial guards.

La Casa Rosada is Argentina’s version of the White House. It is

said that the pink hue was originally derived from white paint

that was mixed with blood from nearby slaughter houses to

protect against damage from humidity.

The balcony of the Casa Rosada has been the scene of many important events including

speeches made by Juan Perón and his wife Eva. Pope John Paul II visited here in 1998. Madonna

sang “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” from the balcony when the film version of the musical Evita

was being made.

Facing the Casa Rosada is the Plaza de Mayo. Here on May 25, 1810, the first steps were taken that led to independence from

Spain.

Each Thursday afternoon,Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo meet here bearing pictures of los

desaparecidos, children taken from them by the Argentine military in what is called the Dirty War (1976-1983). They wear white head scarves for

peace and as a reminder that at least 9,000 kidnapped victims have never been accounted

for.

Plaza San MartínThis leafy plaza in the heart of the city is a favorite gathering spot for

porteños.

The Islas Malvinas Memorial is

located in the Plaza San Martín.

Argentina and Great Britain

fought over the Malvinas (Falkland Islands) in 1982. This monument honors the 700

casualties of the Argentine defeat.

Las Cataratas de Iguazú

Iguazú is derived from a Guarani Indian words meaning “big water”.

The falls are composed of 275 separate cascades which grows to over 300 in rainy

season.

Most tourists cross over to Brazil for a better view.

La Garganta de Diablo or Devil’s Throat marks the border between Argentina and

Brazil. Two-thirds of the falls are in

Argentina.

350,000 to 400,000 gallons of water fall per second. Niagara Falls has a flow of 75,000 gallons per second.

The best views at Iguazú come from inside a zodiac raft that will take you as close as its

captain dares to go.

The coatimundi is a mammal related to the raccoon. It lives in small groups and

eats both meat and plants.

This coati is severely overweight from being fed by tourists.

Iguazú Falls has been featured in

many movies including James

Bond’s Moonraker,

Academy Award winner The

Mission, and most recently Indiana

Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull..

Materials may not be sold and are for the purchaser’s individual use only.

All photographs are the property of the original creator.

2008

CreditsPhotographs: taken by Lisa Lilley in 2007

Contact Information

sralil@mchsi.com