Buenos Aires (Civ5)/Civilopedia

An energetic and seductive city, which stretches north to south along the Río de la Plata covering 78.5 square miles, Buenos Aires has been the gateway to Argentina for centuries. Porteños, as the multinational citizens of Buenos Aires term themselves, possess an elaborate and rich cultural identity, drawing on Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Irish, Polish, Jewish as well as native influences; the city has often been referred to as the "Paris of South America." Its lifestyle and architecture is more distinctly European than those of any other city in the southern hemisphere. Its physical layout is a mosaic as varied as its people, its cuisine, and its music. Buenos Aires is, not surprisingly, the most visited city in South America (ahead of even Rio de Janeiro).
The city was founded as Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre ("City of Our Lady Saint Mary of the Fair Winds") in 1536 AD by a Spanish expedition. When Argentina became independent in 1816, the cosmopolitan city became its capital. In the decades between 1880 and 1940, Buenos Aires became a haven for those seeking refuge from political, religious, ideological and artistic persecution in countries across Europe. From hungry Irish to devout Jews to Tsarist survivors, each wave of immigrants brought their traditions and talents to add to the stew, making the city the cultural rival of any world capital.
Perhaps nothing reflects the city's unique cultural blend as does the tango. A combination of several dances, the tango evolved in Buenos Aires in the late 1880s. Practiced in dance halls, parks, open plazas and ballrooms, it became the national dance, combining both "elegant reserve and an exuberant passion." Few dances have been so identified with a place as the tango is with Buenos Aires, the soul of Argentina.