Partidos of Buenos Aires

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

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

HistoryEdit

By the end of 18th century the town 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 cabildos and since then was the governor itself who appointed the judges, now called Juez de Paz (Justice of the Peace), his administrative territory was called Partido judicial (Judicial district) hence the name of the subdivision.

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 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.

GovernmentEdit

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 an executive and a legislative branch, respectively, the mayor (intendente) and a council (concejo deliberante), similar to a county council. It is considered a strong mayor-council form of government.

The mayor is elected to four-year terms and can be reelected for a new term. If they have been re-elected, they can not be re-elected in the same position, but with an interval of one period.

The council is a unicameral body, one-half of whose members are elected every two years to serve four-year terms and can be reelected for a new term. If they have been re-elected, they can not be re-elected in the same position, but with an interval of one period.

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

Partial list of partidosEdit

Buenos Aires Province is divided into 135 partidos.

Name	Capital	Area (km²)	Population
Adolfo Alsina	Carhué	5,875	16,245
Adolfo Gonzáles Chaves	Adolfo Gonzales Chaves	3,780	12,037
Alberti	Alberti	1,130	10,322
Almirante Brown	Adrogué	129.33	555,731
Arrecifes	Arrecifes	1,183	27,279
Avellaneda	Avellaneda	55.17	663,953
Ayacucho	Ayacucho	6,785	20,337
Azul	Azul	6,615	62,996
Bahía Blanca	Bahía Blanca	2,300	284,776
Balcarce	Balcarce	4,120	42,040
Baradero	Baradero	1,514	29,562
Benito Juárez	Benito Juárez	5,285	20,402
Berazategui	Berazategui	188	320,224
Berisso	Berisso	135	80,092
Bolívar	San Carlos de Bolívar	5,027	32,442
Bragado	Bragado	2,230	40,259
Brandsen	Brandsen	1,126	22,515
Campana	Campana	982	83,698
Cañuelas	Cañuelas	1,200	42,575
Capitán Sarmiento	Capitán Sarmiento	617	12,854
Carlos Casares	Carlos Casares	2,520	21,125
Carlos Tejedor	Carlos Tejedor	3,933	11,539
Carmen de Areco	Carmen de Areco	1,080	13,992
Castelli	Castelli	2,100	7,852
Chacabuco	Chacabuco	2,278	45,445
Chascomús	Chascomús	4,225	38,647
Chivilcoy	Chivilcoy	2,075	60,762
Colón	Colón	1,022	23,179
Coronel Dorrego	Coronel Dorrego	5,818	16,522
Coronel Pringles	Coronel Pringles	5,257	23,794
Coronel Rosales	Punta Alta	1,312	60,892
Coronel Suárez	Coronel Suárez	6,000	36,828
Daireaux	Daireaux	3,820	15,857
Dolores	Dolores	1,980	25,980
Ensenada	Ensenada	135	51,448
Escobar	Belén de Escobar	277	178,155
Esteban Echeverría	Monte Grande	120	300,959