Departments form the second level of administrative division in Argentina, subdividing the
provinces, except for the province of
Buenos Aires and the national capital,
Buenos Aires. For historical reasons, Buenos Aires Province is divided into
partidos, which means "parts" or "divisions". Each
partido is normally governed by a popularly-elected Intendant. Likewise, there are no departments in the city of Buenos Aires, which was administratively divided into neighbourhoods (
barrios), which have been called "
comunas" since 1996.