Editing Buenos Aires Province (section)

==History==
[[File:Juan Manuel de Rosas.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Governor [[Juan Manuel de Rosas]] (1841 oil portrait by [[Cayetano Descalzi]]) ruled until 1852 with an [[Totalitarianism|iron fist]] and kept the fragile [[Argentine Confederation|Confederation]] under the tutelage of Buenos Aires Province.]]
The inhabitants of the province before the 16th-century advent of [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish colonization]] were [[indigenous people|aboriginal peoples]] such as the [[Charrúa]]s and the [[Querandí]]es. Their culture was lost over the next 350 years. They were subjected to Eurasian plagues from which few survived. The survivors joined other [[tribe]]s or have been mostly absorbed by Argentina's [[European ethnic groups|European]] immigration.

[[Pedro de Mendoza]] founded ''[[Buenos Aires|Santa María del Buen Ayre]]'' in 1536. Even though the first contact with the aboriginals was peaceful, it soon became hostile. The city was evacuated in 1541. [[Juan de Garay]] re-founded the settlement in 1580 as ''Santísima Trinidad y Puerto Santa María de Los Buenos Aires''.

Amidst ongoing conflict with the aboriginals, the cattle farms extended from [[Buenos Aires]], whose port was always the center of the economy of the territory. Following the creation of the [[Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata]] at the end of the 18th century, the export of meat, leather and their derivatives through the port of Buenos Aires was the basis of the economic development of the region.

[[Jesuit]]s unsuccessfully tried to peacefully assimilate the aboriginals into the European culture brought by the [[Spanish people|Spanish]] conquistadores. A certain balance was found at the end of the 18th century when the [[Salado River (Buenos Aires)|Salado River]] became the limit between both civilizations, despite frequent ''[[malón|malones]]'' (aboriginal attacks on border settlements). The end to this situation came in 1879 with the [[Conquest of the Desert]] (''Conquista del Desierto'') in which the aboriginals were almost completely exterminated.
[[File:1 decimo, Argentina, province of Buenos Aires, 1822.jpg|thumb|left|200px|1 [[Decimo (coins)|decimo]] coin minted for the province in 1822. The reverse features the provincial coat of arms.]]

After the independence from [[Spain]] in 1816, the city and province of Buenos Aires became the focus of an intermittent [[Argentine Civil War]] with other provinces. A [[Pacto Federal|Federal Pact]] secured by Governor [[Juan Manuel de Rosas]] in 1831 led to the establishment of the [[Argentine Confederation]] and to his gaining the [[sum of public power]], which provided a tenuous unity. Ongoing disputes regarding the influence of Buenos Aires, between [[Federalist Party (Argentina)|Federalists]] and [[Unitarian Party|Unitarians]], and over the [[Port of Buenos Aires]] (the prime source of public revenue at the time) fueled periodic hostilities. The province was declared independent on 11 September 1852, as the [[State of Buenos Aires]]. Concessions gained in 1859 [[Pact of San José de Flores]] and a victory at the [[Battle of Pavón]] led to its reincorporation into the Argentine Republic on 17 December 1861. Intermittent conflicts with the nation did not truly cease until 1880, when the city of Buenos Aires was formally [[Federalization of Buenos Aires|federalized]] and, thus, administratively separated from the province.

[[File:Fundación La Plata.jpg|thumb|right|Period illustration of the 1882 placement of La Plata's [[foundation stone]].]]
[[La Plata]] was founded in 1882 by Governor [[Dardo Rocha]] for the purpose of becoming the provincial capital. The equivalent of a billion (1880s) dollars of British investment and pro-development, education and immigration [[Generation of '80|policies]] pursued at the national level subsequently spurred dramatic economic growth. Driven by [[Immigration in Argentina|European immigration]] and improved health, the province's population, like Argentina's, nearly doubled to one million by 1895 and doubled again by 1914.<ref name="indec">{{cite web |title=Población según los censos nacionales de 1895 a 2001 por provincia ordenadas por la cantidad de población en 2001 |url=http://www.indec.mecon.gov.ar/nuevaweb/cuadros/2/pobl_1895-01.xls |format=ms xls |publisher=Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos |language=es |access-date=14 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213191403/http://www.indec.mecon.gov.ar/nuevaweb/cuadros/2/pobl_1895-01.xls |archive-date=13 February 2012}}</ref> [[Rail transport in Argentina|Rail lines]] connected nearly every town and hamlet in the province by 1914; many developed around the new railway stations.

This era of accelerated development was cut short by the [[Wall Street crash of 1929]], which caused a sharp drop in commodity prices (99% of Argentine exports were agricultural) and led to a halt in the flow of investment funds between nations. The new [[Concordancia (Argentina)|Concordance]] and [[Juan Perón|Perón]] governments funded ambitious lending and public works programs, visible in Buenos Aires Province through the panoply of levees, power plants, water works, paved roads, municipal buildings, and (particularly during Perón's 1946-55 tenure) schools, clinics and massive regional hospitals.

The province's population, after 1930, began to grow disproportionately quickly in the suburban areas of Buenos Aires. These suburbs had grown to include 4 million out of the province's total 7 million people in 1960.<ref name="indec" /> Much of the area these new suburbs were developed on (particularly the poorer ones) consisted of wetlands and were prone to flooding. To address this, Governor [[Oscar Alende]] initiated the province's most important flood-control project to date, the Roggero Reservoir. Completed a decade later, in 1971, the reservoir and associated electric and water-treatment facilities encouraged still more, and more orderly, development of the [[Greater Buenos Aires]] region, which today includes around 10 million people ({{frac|2|3}} of the provincial population). It did not address worsening pollution resulting from the area's industrial growth, which had made itself evident since around 1920. This problem has been at its worst along the [[Reconquista River]] west and north of the city of Buenos Aires; over 4 million people (one in 10 Argentines) today live on the Reconquista's basin.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unsam.edu.ar/home/rr.pdf |title=Title unknown |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912122242/http://www.unsam.edu.ar/home/rr.pdf |archive-date=12 September 2008}}</ref> Of these, about a million still live with seriously compromised water quality, despite the province's (sometimes counterproductive) efforts to remedy the issue.<ref>

{{cite web |url=http://www.argentina.indymedia.org/news/2007/07/535599.php |title=Río Reconquista, un basural acuático |publisher=Argentina Centro de Medios Independientes |date=24 July 2012 |language=es |access-date=14 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218095101/http://www.argentina.indymedia.org/news/2007/07/535599.php |archive-date=18 February 2012}}</ref>

===Contemporary history===
In [[2013 Argentina floods|April 2013]], the northeastern section of Buenos Aires Province, particularly its capital, La Plata, experienced several flash floods that claimed the lives of at least 89 people.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Corsalini |first1=Claudio |title=Diez años de la trágica inundación en La Plata: dudas sobre la cantidad de muertos y una multa de $ 12 mil |url=https://www.perfil.com/noticias/sociedad/diez-anos-de-la-tragica-inundacion-en-la-plata-dudas-sobre-la-cantidad-de-muertos-y-una-multa-de-12-mil.phtml |access-date=20 April 2024 |work=[[Perfil]] |date=1 April 2023 |language=es}}</ref>

[[Alejandro Armendáriz]], of the [[Radical Civic Union]], was elected governor in 1983, when [[Raúl Alfonsín]] became president. Alfonsín lost the [[1987 Argentine legislative election|1987 midterm elections]], leading to the victory of [[Antonio Cafiero]]. From then to 2015, all governors have been Peronists. The high population of the province makes it highly influential in Argentine politics. With both ruling for two terms, the rivalry of the president [[Carlos Menem]] and governor [[Eduardo Duhalde]] dominated the Argentine politics during the nineties. A similar case took place with the president [[Cristina Fernández de Kirchner]] and governor [[Daniel Scioli]]. [[María Eugenia Vidal]], from [[Republican Proposal]], won the 2015 elections, and became the first female governor of the province.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1839835-vidal-dio-la-gran-sorpresa-y-le-gano-a-anibal-fernandez-en-la-provincia |title=Vidal dio la gran sorpresa y le ganó a Aníbal Fernández en la provincia |trans-title=Vidal gave a great surprise and defeated Aníbal Fernández in the province |language=es |author=Ramiro Sagasti |date=26 October 2015 |publisher=La Nación |access-date=26 October 2015 |archive-date=13 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113003753/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1839835-vidal-dio-la-gran-sorpresa-y-le-gano-a-anibal-fernandez-en-la-provincia |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Paleontology ===
In February 2021, researchers led by [[paleontologist]] Nicolás Chimento of the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales announced the discovery of a well-preserved fossilized skull of the giant ground sloth [[Megatherium]] near San Eduardo del Mar, Province of Buenos Aires. According to [[Paleontology|paleontologists]], the [[fossil]] belonged to a juvenile and dated back approximately 3.58 million years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Paleontologists Find 3.58-Million-Year-Old Ground Sloth Fossil {{!}} Paleontology {{!}} Sci-News.com |url=http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/megatherium-fossil-argentina-09315.html |access-date=21 June 2021 |website=Breaking Science News {{!}} Sci-News.com |language=en-US |archive-date=13 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213161237/http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/megatherium-fossil-argentina-09315.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Spry |first=Jeff |date=9 February 2021 |title=South American scientists unearth skull of ancient 12-foot-tall ground sloth |url=https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/scientists-unearth-skull-of-ancient-12-foot-tall-ground-sloth |access-date=21 June 2021 |website=SYFY WIRE |language=en |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202225/https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/scientists-unearth-skull-of-ancient-12-foot-tall-ground-sloth |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 April 2021 |title=A new record of Megatherium (Folivora, Megatheriidae) in the late Pliocene of the Pampean region (Argentina) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0895981120304934 |journal=Journal of South American Earth Sciences |language=en |volume=107 |pages=102950 |doi=10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102950 |issn=0895-9811 |last1=Chimento |first1=Nicolás R. |last2=Agnolin |first2=Federico L. |last3=Brandoni |first3=Diego |last4=Boh |first4=Daniel |last5=Magnussen |first5=Mariano |last6=De Cianni |first6=Francisco |last7=Isla |first7=Federico |bibcode=2021JSAES.10702950C |s2cid=225141277 |access-date=21 June 2021 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202431/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0895981120304934 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>