Like Uruguay, Argentina is home to mostly people of European ancestry, specifically Spanish and Italian. Almost 90% of the people in Argentina live in cities, including 13 million of the 37 million total population that lives in the capital city of Buenos Aires. Argentina is the wealthiest Latin American country in terms of Gross National Product, though the wealth is not evenly distributed.

Buenos Aires from a distance. The smog is visible over the city.

The city of Bueno Aires is very modern and follows trends from Europe in terms of fashion, art, and style. Factories build products for export and the harbors are full of ships bringing in goods from all over the world. Because of its popularity and despite its name, Bueno Aires sits under a heavy blanket of pollution. But despite the bad air, it continues to attract people from rural areas who are looking for jobs and better lives.

Military dictators ruled Argentina from the 1940s until 1983. Juan Perón was the best known of these dictators. He wanted to build industry in Argentina and get the wealth to be more evenly distributed. His wife Eva Perón became an iconic heroine to Argentina’s poor people. Unlike Perón, though, other dictators used the government to continue to help the wealthy and ignore the poor. They censored newspapers and closed educational institutions. They borrowed a lot of money from other countries to build infrastructure. Under the military rule, people were kidnapped and never seen again.

After losing a war with Great Britain in 1982 over control of the Falkland Islands, the military allowed open elections. However, political stability has been problematic because the economy in Argentina is unstable. Debt to foreign countries and inflation continue to plague Argentina’s economy.