Avellaneda is a port

Port

A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....

 city in the province

Provinces of Argentina

Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...

 of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, and the seat of the Avellaneda Partido

Avellaneda Partido

Avellaneda is a partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It has an area of 55.17 km²  and a population of 340,985 . Its capital is the city of Avellaneda....

, whose population was 328,980 as per the .

Avellaneda sits in the metropolitan area

Metropolitan area

The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...

 of the Greater Buenos Aires

Greater Buenos Aires

Greater Buenos Aires is the generic denomination to refer to the megalopolis comprising the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the conurbation around it, over the province of Buenos Aires—namely the adjacent 24 partidos or municipalities—which nonetheless do not constitute a single administrative...

, and is connected to Buenos Aires City

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

 by several bridges over the Riachuelo River. A major rail center, Avellaneda is also one of the foremost commercial and industrial centers of Argentina. Its population has been stable since around 1960. Avellaneda's largest employers are textile mills, meat-packing and grain-processing plants, oil

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

 refineries, metallurgical

Metallurgy

Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...

 works, extensive docking facilities, and markets for farm and ranch products.

Avellaneda is also the home of two of the most important Argentine football clubs: Independiente

Club Atlético Independiente

Club Atlético Independiente is an Argentine athletic, sports and social club, which has its headquarters and stadium in the city of Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División....

 and Racing

Racing Club de Avellaneda

Racing Club is an Argentine professional football club from Avellaneda, a suburb of Greater Buenos Aires. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered one of the "big five" clubs of Argentine football...

.

The city was formerly known as Barracas al Sur; it was renamed on January 11, 1904 after the statesman Nicolás Avellaneda

Nicolás Avellaneda

Nicolás Remigio Aurelio Avellaneda Silva was an Argentine politician and journalist, and president of Argentina from 1874 to 1880. Avellaneda's main projects while in office were banking and education reform, leading to Argentina's economic growth...

.