Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Buenos Aires the capital of Argentina and the largest city of the southern hemisphere
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the capital of Argentina and the largest city of the southern hemisphere. It has a population of 1,637,155 (1918). It is situated on the right bank of the La Plata river, twelve miles from its mouth. It extends eleven and a half miles from N. to S. and fifteen and a half miles from E. to W. The plan of the city is quadrangular. It is well paved and abounds with beautiful structures. The commerce of Buenos Aires vastly exceeds that of any city in South America. There are ten trans-atlantic lines of steamships which connect it with Europe, and railroad connections with Patagonia, Chile, and Bolivia. It has a harbor, largely artificial, that cost $35,000,000 and covers an area of 165 acres, and twenty-four warehouses with the capacity of 24,000- 000 tons of merchandise. Although Argentina is essentially a grazing and agricultural country, there are 10,350 industrial establishments in the capitol, employing about 119,000 workmen. The principal manufactures are chemical products, construction materials, hide products, furniture, carpets, and preserved foods. There are twenty-one banks in Buenos Aires with a combined capital of $100,000,000. There are a number of branches of American and European banks. The annual clearings amount to $3,000,000,000. There are 250 public schools with 3,000 teachers and an enrolment of 300,000 pupils. The university has about 4,700 students. There are several technical schools, normal schools, and business colleges. The public libraries hold 50,000 volumes. The city is governed on a commission plan, and the amount of annual expenditure is about $100,000,000.
Buenos Aires the largest province of Argentina
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the largest province of Argentina. It has an area of 117,- 807 square miles. The southern part is crossed by two mountain chains. With this exception the province consists of an extensive plain, for the most part treeless. The coasts are low and sandy. The chief rivers are the Paraná and the Rio Salado. The chief industry of the province is cattle-raising and the growing of cereals, and the interest in the former was greatly stimulated by the demand of meat products as a result of the World War. Wheat growing has developed in the province in recent years. There are over 3,000 miles of railway. Through its geographical position the province controls the foreign commerce of Argentina. The chief exports are wool, beef, and other animal products. The province is independent of the central government in its administration. The capital l is is La Plata. Pop. of the province in 1918 was 2,290,102.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's in 1921 called Buenos Aires "the largest city of the southern hemisphere" with 1,637,155 people; the city proper now holds about 3.1 million and has barely grown since the 1940s, while its metropolitan area of roughly 15 million spills far beyond the old quadrangular grid. That title has gone: São Paulo overtook Buenos Aires during the second half of the twentieth century and is now several times larger. Politically the biggest break came in 1994, when constitutional reform made the city an autonomous district; from 1996 it elected its own head of government instead of receiving a mayor appointed by the president. The province, still the largest and still administered from La Plata, has grown from 2.29 million in 1918 to roughly 17 million, well over a third of all Argentines.
Written for this edition, 2026.