Buenos Aires, Argentina Population

The city of Buenos Aires serves as the capital of, and largest city in, Argentina. It has a population of 15.1 million people in the urban area. The city is located on the western shore of the Rio de la Plata and the Greater Buenos Aires conurbation is the second-most populous metropolitan area in South America.

The city is known for its high quality of life—one of the best in Latin America—and its rich cultural life. The city is actually an autonomous district, neither part of the Buenos Aires Province nor the province’s capital. The city was granted autonomy in a 1994 constitutional amendment, which led to its official name of Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.

A ballooning population

The population of the city proper of Buenos Aires currently sits at 13 million people. Since 1950, the population has grown around 160%—from 5.1 million people to its current population. The city is predicted to continue growing steadily and it’s estimated to reach a population of 17.1 million by 2035. The city is quite densely populated and there are about 13,680 people per square kilometer, however this drops quickly to around 2,400 per square kilometer in the suburbs.

A city of European descent

Most of the population of Buenos Aires is of European descent, with 88% of the population identifying as Caucasian. The most common ethnic groups within this are Italian and Spanish. Spaniards also founded the city, and they remain a large part of the city’s ethnic makeup. The rest of the city’s population is made up of people of Mestizo, Asian, and Black descent.

The largest Jewish community in Latin America

Buenos Aires’ Jewish community dates back to the sixteenth century. Following the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, many Sephardi Jews escaped persecution by immigrating to what is now Argentina. In the mid-Century, Jews from France and other countries in Western Europe began to settle in Argentina as well. This has led to Buenos Aires having a core Jewish population of 180,500 and an enlarged Jewish population (including families and non-Jewish relatives) of 330,000.

A stronghold of Roman Catholics

By far, the largest religion in Buenos Aires is Roman Catholicism. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the city was the second-largest Catholic city in the world after Paris. Around 20% of the city’s population currently identify as Roman Catholic, with the Archdiocese in 2014 pastorally serving 2.7 million people in an area of 205 square kilometres, which contained 186 missions and 783 priests.

A popular tourist destination

Buenos Aires is in the midst of a tourism boom. Readers of travel publication Travel + Leisure voted the city the second most desirable city to visit, after Florence. Tourists visit for the city’s legendary nightlife, gourmet cuisine and fashionable shopping options. In 2018, tourism to Buenos Aires increased by 5%, with an estimated 2 million people arriving my air. It’s estimated that this amount will increase to 3.1 million by 2025.

A city in love with football

Buenos Aires has 8 of Argentina’s 20 first division football teams (or soccer) play their home matches in the city. Football is deeply important to Argentinians and to citizens from Buenos Aires. The top three teams in Buenos Aires are the Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Racing. Together, their stadiums can fit 137,000 screaming fans. It is considered one of the top tourist attractions to attend a Buenos Aires football game, and for many Buenos Aires citizens, football is a kind of religion and they will try to attend as many games per year as they can. If not, Sunday night football is a guarantee in most homes.