ALMIRANTE BROWN

cabecera (principal built-up area) and partido (political subdivision) of Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires, Argentina, south of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires province. The partido was founded in 1873 and the cabecera is often referred to as Adroqu, the name of its founder, and its railroad station bears that name. Esteban Adroqu petitioned the provincial government to expropriate land from the existing partidos of San Vicente and Quilmes to establish the new one. The original settlers were residents of Buenos Aires city who fled the capital during an epidemic of yellow fever. The partido covers 47 sq mi (122 sq km) and is bordered by the partidos of Lomas de Zamora (north), Quilmes and Florencio Varela (east), San Vicente (south), and Esteban Echeverra (west). Besides the cabecera, Almirante Brown, the major localities are Burzaco, Longchamps, Glew, Ministro Rivadavia, Claypole, Rafael Calzada, and Jos Mrml. In 1886 Adroqu unveiled a statue in the central plaza honouring Adm. Guillermo Brown (hero of the 1827 naval battle of Juncal, in which Argentine warships defeated a Brazilian fleet). The cabecera and partido grew slowly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By 1947 the region began growing at an accelerated rate as the urbanization of Buenos Aires city started to spill over to surrounding partidos. Since then, Almirante Brown has been absorbed into the southern suburban fringe of Gran Buenos Aires. About half of the partido is within Gran Buenos Aires urban area, and its density of settlement is lower than in the more urbanized partidos. Livestock is raised in the area, and there are textile mills and dairies. Pop. (1980) partido, 331,919.