Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
for the picking, and they came from every-
where.
The national constitution contains a paragraph
describing the Argentinean as “... anybody in
the world who wishes to reside in Argentina.” It
may not be so simple nowadays, but it was at
one time. The 32 million people in Argentina all
have roots in far away places; but most of them
can claim Europe as their motherland. The
strong influence of Spain remains just beneath
the surface in many
porteño
s, as residents of
Buenos Aires are known. Others can trace their
roots to Italy, Germany, Britain and France.
Wars have always instigated mass migrations
to Argentina, where hopes of peace and pros-
perity could be fulfilled. That hasn't changed -
you will find a surprising number of Southeast
Asians in Argentina today.
Buenos Aires is the center of the nation and has
a population of more than 15 million. The bur-
den of this intense concentration of people has
compelled the government to take drastic mea-
sures. Housing projects offering affordable shel-
ter and jobs have been constructed in the
interior of Argentina to lure people away from
Buenos Aires. This policy has enjoyed only mod-
erate success. Another idea in the works for too
many years to mention is the shifting of the capi-
tal from Buenos Aires to a town called Viedma in
the southeast. This attempt to create another
Brasilia has yet to prove successful and Buenos
Aires seems reluctant to give up its title.
