Gran La Plata (Greater La Plata) is an urban agglomeration formed around the city of La Plata, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It includes the La Plata, Berisso and Ensenada partidos (departments).
Location
Gran La Plata is located to the south of the Greater Buenos Aires agglomeration next to Rio de La Plata. To a small extent, the two metropolitan areas have slowly begun to merge. Nevertheless, the main centres remain separated by two dense forest reserves: the "Punta Lara jungle" ("Selva marginal") by the River Plate, and the "Pereyra Iraola Park" ("Parque Pereyra Iraola") a few kilometers inland.
History
The cities of Berisso and Ensenada existed well before La Plata and were both candidates to become the capital city of Buenos Aires Province once Buenos Aires city was federalized in 1880. Eventually, it was decided to build a new city, La Plata, entirely designed to serve as the provincial capital. It was founded in 1882. Soon after, irregular suburbs began to appear outside the designed limits of La Plata. These suburbs would go on to become an integral part of La Plata Partido municipality. Neighboring Berisso and Ensenada, on the Río de la Plata shore, acted from then on as natural harbors for the new capital city of the Province, and gradually they also became integrated as a conurbation into Greater La Plata.
Population
Settlement PartidoPopulation (2010) Population (2001)La Plata Partido 774,369 La PlataNot including Country Club El Rodeo, Ignacio Correas, Lomas de Copello or Ruta SolLa Plata643,133 Villa ElviraLa Plata align="right" |62,480 Los HornosLa Plata align="right" |54,406 TolosaLa Plata align="right" |44,977 City BellLa Plata align="right" |32,646 Villa ElisaLa Plata align="right" |22,229 Manuel B. GonnetLa Plata align="right" |22,963 José Melchor RomeroLa Plata align="right" |20,730 RingueletLa Plata align="right" |15,312 Lisandro OlmosLa Plata align="right" |15,059 Villa MontoroLa Plata align="right" |13,835 El RetiroLa Plata align="right" |12,649 Barrio Las MalvinasLa Plata align="right" |11,414 Barrio Las QuintasLa Plata align="right" |8,003 Barrio GambierLa Plata align="right" |7,477 La CumbreLa Plata align="right" |7,313 Joaquín GorinaLa Plata align="right" |6,857 Rufino de ElizaldeLa Plata align="right" |6,428 Barrio El CarmenLa Plata align="right" |5,906 José HernándezLa Plata align="right" |5,333 AbastoLa Plata align="right" |4,577 Arturo SeguíLa Plata align="right" |3,894 TransradioLa Plata align="right" |3,713 Ángel EtcheverryLa Plata align="right" |2,671 Villa Parque SicardiLa Plata align="right" |1,228 AranaLa Plata align="right" |268 Villa GaribaldiLa Plata align="right" |242Berisso Partido 80,092 Villa PorteñaBerisso align="right" |14,343 BerissoBerisso87,698 Villa ProgresoBerisso align="right" |7,870 Villa San CarlosBerisso align="right" |7,089 Barrio El CarmenBerisso align="right" |6,894 Villa DoloresBerisso align="right" |6,535 Villa IndependenciaBerisso align="right" |6,472 Villa ArgüelloBerisso align="right" |5,662 Villa ZulaBerisso align="right" |5,124 Barrio Banco ProvinciaBerisso align="right" |1,867 Villa NuevaBerisso align="right" |1,585 Barrio UniversitarioBerisso align="right" |1,032 Los TalasBerisso align="right" |494Ensenada Partido 56,72951,448 EnsenadaIncluding Barrio Las CasuarinasEnsenada54,463 Punta LaraEnsenada align="right" |8,410 Villa CatellaEnsenada align="right" |5,959 Dique Nº 1Ensenada align="right" |5,685 Isla Santiago OesteIncluding Escuela and Liceo Naval Río SantiagoEnsenada align="right" |237
Notes