The murder rate in the City of Buenos Aires is quite low compared with many other major world cities, according to the latest data from Argentina’s Justice Ministry.

Last year 4.92 people were murdered for every 100,000 people in the city. That’s lower than a broad range of major cities (see graph above) except for Toronto, where the rate was just 2.47.

It also means it was safer to live in Buenos Aires last year than in New York City, which had its lowest murder rate on record in 2009.

This should dispel some of the exaggerated claims that Buenos Aires is one of the more dangerous cities in Latin America or in the world. Still, the number is up from 2008, when it was 4.6.

That means the murder rate rose about 7% in just one year. Moreover, while the murder rate rose in Buenos Aires, it either declined or remained stable in the other cities compared.

This should give weight to the widely published claims that the city has become more dangerous or, literally, more deadly. (more…)

Adam Williams, a U.S. expat who is studying Spanish in Argentina, has created a new iPhone app to help people learn Argentine slang, or “lunfardo.”

I haven’t tested the app thoroughly, so I can’t confirm that all the definitions are spot on.

But I’ve used it enough to say that it’s a simple, fun and easy-to-use way to improve your understanding of lunfardo.

In addition to providing basic definitions, the app lets you to test your knowledge of local slang by taking multiple choice quizzes.

You can download it via iTunes for $1.99 by clicking here.

For more information, check out Adam’s Porteño Spanish website here.

To download free iTunes lunfardo videos, produced by The Argentine Post, click here. You can also see some of them on YouTube by clicking here.