What is the capital of Argentina?

Buenos Aires, and its people are called portenos - people of the port - which is the whole history of the city in one word. It was founded twice, the first attempt in 1536 being abandoned after starvation and attacks, and the successful one in 1580.

It became one of the richest cities in the world on beef and grain. Refrigerated shipping from the 1870s meant Argentine meat could reach Europe, and the money built the opera house, the boulevards and the mausoleums of Recoleta - by 1913 Argentina had a higher income per head than France or Germany, and the phrase rich as an Argentine was current in Paris. What happened afterwards is one of the standard puzzles of economic history: no other country has made that journey in reverse.

It is also probably the most European-looking city in Latin America, because of who arrived. Some six million immigrants came between 1870 and 1930, the majority Italian and Spanish, which is why the Spanish spoken there has an Italian intonation, why the local slang is full of Italian, and why the tango - which came out of the port district's bars and brothels and was thoroughly disreputable before Paris made it fashionable - sounds the way it does.