Mar de Ajó is a coastal city in Buenos Aires Province

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 is located in the southern end of the seaside La Costa Partido

La Costa Partido

La Costa Partido is a partido located on the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina.-Overview:The provincial subdivision has a population of about 60,000 inhabitants in an area of , and its capital city is Mar del Tuyú, which is located from Buenos Aires.The economy of La Costa...

 (district).

History and overview

Named for the original Pertido de Ajó district established by Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas

Juan Manuel de Rosas

Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...

 in 1839, the fishing village became of interest to tourism during the 1920s, when district Mayor Jorge Gibson graded the area's beaches. The town was officially established on December 21, 1935, and in 1936, its pier

Pier

A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...

 was completed; measuring 270 m (886 ft), the Mar de Ajó Pier is the largest of the five in the La Costa District. Mar de Ajó grew to become the most populous of the thirteen La Costa District municipalities, and rivals San Clemente del Tuyú

San Clemente del Tuyú

San Clemente del Tuyú is an Argentine town in the Partido de la Costa district of the Province of Buenos Aires.-History:Noticed by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520, who gave nearby Cape San Antonio its name, Spanish authorities first surveyed the area in 1580...

, the northernmost La Costa town, in tourist activity.

Renewed growth in the 1990s led to the establishment of the Universidad Atlántida Argentina in 1994, and a casino

Casino

In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

 in 1996. Other notable installations include the Rubén Luis Di Palma Regional Racetack (among the venues of the TC2000 rally), the Historical Museum and Archives (featuring glyptodon

Glyptodon

Glyptodon was a large, armored mammal of the family Glyptodontidae, a relative of armadillos that lived during the Pleistocene Epoch. It was roughly the same size and weight as a Volkswagen Beetle, though flatter in shape...

s and other cenozoic

Cenozoic

The Cenozoic era is the current and most recent of the three Phanerozoic geological eras and covers the period from 65.5 mya to the present. The era began in the wake of the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous that saw the demise of the last non-avian dinosaurs and...

 era fossils), the Parish of Santa Margarita María de Alacoque, and the ship graveyard at Nueva Atlantissite of the shipwreck of numerous 19th century merchant vessels, notably the Margaretha, a German Empire ship that ran aground in 1880, and whose remains appear during low tide.

The town had a permanent population of 13,769 during the , and is expected to be home to nearly twice the number for the upcoming 2010 Census.