Partidos of Buenos Aires

A partido is the second-level administrative subdivision in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. They are formally considered to be a single administrative unit, and usually contain one or more population centers (i.e. towns and cities). They are divided into localidades, which correspond to the municipalities in other departments. Partidos are distinct from all other provinces of Argentina, which call their second-level subdivisions departamento, and are further subdivided into distinct municipalities.

History

By the end of 17th century the municipal council (cabildo) of Buenos Aires established the first partidos in the countryside: San Isidro del Pago de la Costa (San Isidro) in 1779 and San Vicente, Quilmes, Magdalena, La Matanza, Cañada de Morón (Morón), Las Conchas (Tigre) and San Pedro in 1784.

At the head of every partido, the cabildo appointed a rural judge called Alcalde de la Santa Hermandad. The judge, or alcalde, had the mission to maintain the law and order in the surrounding rural area of Buenos Aires, fighting against cattle raiders. The alcalde was helped by a constabulary called Santa Hermandad (Holy Brotherhood) created in the late 15th century by the Catholic Monarchs and transplanted to the colonies.

In 1821 the Governor Martín Rodríguez and his minister Bernardino Rivadavia dissolved the cabildo and since then was the governor itself who appointed the judge, now called Juez de Paz (Justice of Peace).

In 1856 the office of Juez de Paz was replaced by a Presidente de la Municipalidad, or Municipal President. It was appointed by the Governor from a list of three candidates presented by the Municipales, or Councillors, who were elected by the citizens of the different partidos.

Since 1890 the head of the government is called Intendente (Intendant), or Mayor, and it is directly elected by the citizens.

On October 24, 1864 the Legislature of the Province of Buenos Aires sanctioned law № 422, dividing the province into 45 partidos: Arrecifes, Baradero, Barrancas al Sud (Avellaneda), Belgrano (Barrio Belgrano), Cañuelas, Carmen de Areco, Chacabuco, Chascomús, Chivilcoy, del Pilar, Ensenada, Exaltación de la Cruz, General las Heras, General San Martín, Giles, Junín, Matanza, Las Conchas (Tigre), Lobos, Lomas de Zamora, Luján, Magdalena, Mercedes, Merlo, Monte, Moreno, Morón, Navarro, Pergamino, Quilmes, Ramallo, Ranchos, Rivadavia, Rojas, Salto, San Antonio, San Fernando, San Isidro, San José de Flores (Barrio Flores), San Nicolás, San Pedro, San Vicente, Suipacha, Viedma and Zárate.

Government

Population	Councillors
at most 5,000	6
5,000-10,000	10
10,000-20,000	12
20,000-30,000	14
30,000-40,000	16
40,000-80,000	18
80,000-200,000	20
more than 200,000	24

Every partido is administrated by a municipality. It is divided in an executive and a legislative branch: the mayor (intendente) and the city council (consejo deliberante), respectively. The municipality is a strong mayor-council form of government.

The mayor is elected to four-year terms and can be reelected indefinitely.

The City Council is a unicameral body consisting and one-half of the members are elected every two years to serve four-year term.

The mayor and councilors can be reelected indefinitely.

The number of councillors depends on the population of every partido. According to decret-law 6769/58 the number of councillors varies as follows:

List of partidos

Political division of the province and its capital La Plata (red dot)

Buenos Aires Province is divided into 135 partidos (administrative centres in brackets).

1. Adolfo Alsina (Carhué)
2. Adolfo Gonzales Chaves (Adolfo Gonzales Chaves)
3. Alberti (Alberti)
4. Almirante Brown (Adrogué)
5. Arrecifes (Arrecifes)
6. Avellaneda (Avellaneda)
7. Ayacucho (Ayacucho)
8. Azul (Azul)
9. Bahía Blanca (Bahía Blanca)
10. Balcarce (Balcarce)
11. Baradero (Baradero)
12. Benito Juárez (Benito Juárez)
13. Berazategui (Berazategui)
14. Berisso (Berisso)
15. Bolívar (San Carlos de Bolívar)
16. Bragado (Bragado)
17. Brandsen (Brandsen)
18. Campana (Campana)
19. Cañuelas (Cañuelas)
20. Capitán Sarmiento (Capitán Sarmiento)
21. Carlos Casares (Carlos Casares)
22. Carlos Tejedor (Carlos Tejedor)
23. Carmen de Areco (Carmen de Areco)
24. Castelli (Castelli)
25. Chacabuco (Chacabuco, Buenos Aires)
26. Chascomús (Chascomús)
27. Chivilcoy (Chivilcoy)
28. Colón (Colón)
29. Coronel Dorrego (Coronel Dorrego)
30. Coronel Pringles (Coronel Pringles)
31. Coronel Rosales (Punta Alta)
32. Coronel Suárez (Coronel Suárez)
33. Daireaux (Daireaux)
34. Dolores (Dolores)
35. Ensenada (Ensenada)
36. Escobar (Belén de Escobar)
37. Esteban Echeverría (Monte Grande)
38. Exaltación de la Cruz (Capilla del Señor)
39. Ezeiza (Ezeiza)
40. Florencio Varela (Florencio Varela)
41. Florentino Ameghino (Florentino Ameghino)
42. General Alvarado (Miramar)
43. General Alvear (General Alvear)
44. General Arenales (General Arenales)
45. General Belgrano (General Belgrano)
46. General Guido (General Guido)
47. General La Madrid (General La Madrid)
48. General Las Heras (General Las Heras)
49. General Lavalle (General Lavalle)
50. General Madariaga (General Juan Madariaga)
51. General Paz (Ranchos)
52. General Pinto (General Pinto)
53. General Pueyrredón (Mar del Plata)
54. General Rodríguez (General Rodríguez)
55. General San Martín (General San Martín)
56. General Viamonte (General Viamonte)
57. General Villegas (General Villegas)
58. Guaminí (Guaminí)
59. Hipólito Yrigoyen (Henderson)
60. Hurlingham (Hurlingham)
61. Ituzaingó (Ituzaingó)
62. José C. Paz (José C. Paz)
63. Junín (Junín)
64. La Costa (Mar del Tuyú)
65. La Matanza (San Justo)
66. La Plata (La Plata)
67. Lanús (Lanús)
68. Laprida (Laprida)
69. Las Flores (Las Flores)
70. Leandro N. Alem (Vedia)
71. Lezama (Lezama)
72. Lincoln (Lincoln)
73. Lobería (Lobería)
74. Lobos (Lobos)
75. Lomas de Zamora (Lomas de Zamora)
76. Luján (Luján)
77. Magdalena (Magdalena)
78. Maipú (Maipú)
79. Malvinas Argentinas (Los Polvorines)
80. Mar Chiquita (Coronel Vidal)
81. Marcos Paz (Marcos Paz)
82. Mercedes (Mercedes)
83. Merlo (Merlo)
84. Monte Hermoso (Monte Hermoso)
85. Moreno (Moreno)
86. Morón (Morón)
87. Navarro (Navarro)
88. Necochea (Necochea)
89. Nueve de Julio (Nueve de Julio)
90. Olavarría (Olavarría)
91. Patagones (Carmen de Patagones)
92. Pehuajó (Pehuajó)
93. Pellegrini (Pellegrini)
94. Pergamino (Pergamino)
95. Pila (Pila)
96. Pilar (Pilar)
97. Pinamar (Pinamar)
98. Presidente Perón (Guernica)
99. Puán (Puán)
100. Punta Indio (Verónica)
101. Quilmes (Quilmes)
102. Ramallo (Ramallo)
103. Rauch (Rauch)
104. Rivadavia (América)
105. Rojas (Rojas)
106. Roque Pérez (Roque Pérez)
107. Saavedra (Pigüé)
108. Saladillo (Saladillo)
109. Salto (Salto)
110. Salliqueló (Salliqueló)
111. San Andrés de Giles (San Andrés de Giles)
112. San Antonio de Areco (San Antonio de Areco)
113. San Cayetano (San Cayetano)
114. San Fernando (San Fernando)
115. San Isidro (San Isidro)
116. San Miguel (San Miguel)
117. San Miguel del Monte (or Monte) (San Miguel del Monte)
118. San Nicolás (San Nicolás de los Arroyos)
119. San Pedro (San Pedro)
120. San Vicente (San Vicente)
121. Suipacha (Suipacha)
122. Tandil (Tandil)
123. Tapalqué (Tapalqué)
124. Tigre (Tigre)
125. Tordillo (General Conesa)
126. Tornquist (Tornquist)
127. Trenque Lauquen (Trenque Lauquen)
128. Tres Arroyos (Tres Arroyos)
129. Tres de Febrero (Caseros)
130. Tres Lomas (Tres Lomas)
131. Veinticinco de Mayo (Veinticinco de Mayo)
132. Vicente López (Olivos)
133. Villa Gesell (Villa Gesell)
134. Villarino (Médanos)
135. Zárate (Zárate)

External links

• Gobierno de Buenos Aires - Official website of the government of the Province of Buenos Aires
• Short History of the partidos