In February 1516, the Spanish navigator Juan Diaz de Solis, engaged in search of a southwest passage to the East Indies, piloted his vessel into the great estuary now known as the Rio de la Plata and claimed the surrounding region in the name of Spain.


European influences permeate Argentina's art, architecture, literature and lifestyle. However, in the field of literature in particular, this has been a cross-cultural transaction, with Argentina producing writers of international stature such as Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortazar, Ernesto Sábasto, Manuel Puig and Osvaldo Soriano. With the education of many Argentines taking place in Europe, Buenos Aires in particular has self-consciously emulated European cultural trends in art, music and architecture. As a result, there are many important art museums and galleries in the city, and it has a vigorous theater community. Argentine cinema has also achieved international stature, and has been used as a vehicle to exorcise the horrors of the Dirty War.


The Atlantic Rim Institute
World Fact Book 2002