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According to the standards of the Argentine Republic, any human settlement that exceeds 10,000 inhabitants in total is considered a city, so that almost 70% of the country's population lives in cities. 91 of them have over 100,000 inhabitants and are almost all located in the Province of Buenos Aires, the most densely populated in the country.
However, the areas with the highest urban growth are currently the coastal, the coast and the central region, as well as the huge urban conglomerate of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (or Federal Capital), the largest in the country, which includes extensive satellite cities integrated into the so-called suburban belt.
This is in marked contrast to the Patagonian region, which is very sparsely populated due to its vast distances and harsh climatic conditions.
Argentine cities can be classified according to their main economic activity in:
- Ports, taking advantage of the coasts of the southern territory or the hydrographic network of the Paraná, Uruguay and Río de la Plata rivers.
- Industrial, mainly dedicated to oil or mining extraction.
- University, accompanied by large universities and inhabited mainly by student population from all corners of the country.
- Tourist, with a significant national and international influx.
Buenos Aires
Urban mass of around 13,000,000 inhabitants (2010), which includes both the Federal Capital (the city of Buenos Aires itself), as well as the belt of satellite cities integrated urbanistically and labor-based to it, called the suburbs or the province.
It is the largest settlement in the country (2,681 km2 surface) and the second in South America, as well as one of the best-known cities in the world, of considerable tourist, cultural and commercial importance. Its proximity to the Río de la Plata has been the source of outstanding commercial activity, a gateway to and from the country, as well as inspiration for numerous artists and poets.
Cordova
Located in the homonymous province and referred to as The learned, due to the presence in its interior of the National University of Córdoba with more than 400 years old, as well as the first private university in the country: the Catholic University of Córdoba, this city of around 1,700,000 inhabitants (2010) it is considered the second most important human conglomerate in the country.
Located in the heart of the Argentine territory, in one of the provinces with the greatest tourist potential in the central region, it played an important role in national history as an eventual counterweight to Buenos Aires and a bastion of Catholicism in the region, as evidenced by its numerous churches of the time.
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Located in the southeast of the province of Santa Fe next to the Paraná River and with a total metropolitan population of more or less 1,200,000 inhabitants (2010), it is the third largest city in the country and an educational, commercial and financial center of interest national, since about 70% of the cereals produced in the country is exported through it.
It is known as cradle of the flag, and it is the place of origin of Argentine artists and personalities such as Fito Páez, “che” Guevara, cartoonist Quino and soccer player Lionel Messi. Like Buenos Aires, it consists of a main urban area and a peripheral satellite conglomerate.
Mendoza
With around 1,000,000 inhabitants (2010), the capital of Mendoza and its urban belt occupy an area of 168 km2 very close to the Andes Mountains and the border with Chile.
It is a cosmopolitan city, nourished by migration from neighboring countries and by European immigration in the 20th century, whose economic and commercial role in the region is highly appreciated, as well as its enormous tourist potential and its wine growing, for which it is known as the International Capital of Wine.
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Capital of the Province of Buenos Aires, since the Federal Capital is considered an autonomous city, it is located 56km from it and is a university city (University of La Plata) whose perfectly geometric layout is recognized.
Between 1952 and 1955 it was called Ciudad Evita Perón, and today it brings together a total of almost 900,000 inhabitants between its urban center and peripheral towns. One of its main icons is the Cathedral of La Plata, the largest in the country.
San Miguel de Tucumán
Capital and largest city of the province of Tucumán in the northwest of the nation, it is known as The garden of the republic due to the exuberant jungle (yunga) that the province shares with Chaco, Jujuy and Bolivia.
In the city of San Miguel de Tucumán the Declaration of Independence of Argentina was produced in 1816, which gives it an outstanding patriotic iconicity. It has a population of about 800,000 inhabitants (2010) in its entire metropolitan area, the most important in the entire northern region of the country.
Mar del Plata
A coastal city in the southeast of the province of Buenos Aires, which overlooks the coast of the Argentine Sea, it is one of the most powerful tourist muscles in the region during the summer, during which its population increases more than 300%.
It is also an important fishing center, with more than 600,000 inhabitants (2016), and enjoys an outstanding sports participation in the country.
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The city of Salta, nicknamed The cute, is one of the most important cities in northern Argentina, both in demographic terms (more than 500,000 inhabitants, according to the 2010 census) and culturally, focused on historical and museum preservation, literature and music.
Of great tourist potential, since it is located in the Lerma Valley (1187 meters above sea level), with a humid and pleasant climate, lavish in natural landscapes and vineyard areas (the highest in the world).
Santa Fe
Capital of the homonymous province, this city of more than 500,000 inhabitants is one of the main educational centers of the country, led by the Universidad Nacional del Litoral.
Known as The cordial and located next to the Paraná River, it is connected by a tunnel under the river with the city of Gran Paraná (265,000 inhabitants according to the 2010 census), in addition to being the city in which the Argentine Constitution was signed for the first time, which also gave the name of Cradle of the constitution.
San Juan
The metropolitan area of this city, capital of the province of the same name, contains around 470,000 inhabitants (2010) and is the largest in the entire Cuyo region.
It is located in the Tulum Valley, in a dry temperate climate at the foot of the Andean Cordillera, surrounded by a space of aridity that has earned it the nickname of Oasis city. It is of tourist importance thanks to the San Juan Wine Routes, the nearby reservoirs, hot springs and streams, as well as the National Sun Festival and its proximity to Chile.
