Argentines

Argentines (also known as Argentinians or Argentineans; Spanish: argentinos; feminine argentinas) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Argentine.

"Argentine" redirects here. For the country, see Argentina. For other uses, see Argentine (disambiguation).

Argentines
Argentinos
Total population
c. 44 million
Regions with significant populations
 Argentina        43 million[1]
Diaspora totalc. 800,000
 Spain72,190[2]–256,071[3][lower-alpha 1]
 United States196,095[5]
 Chile85,724[6]
 Israel48,312[7]
 Brazil42,202[8]
 Uruguay22,743[7]
 Italy20,311[7]
 Canada19,210[7]
 France17,999[7]
 Australia14,190[7]
 Mexico13,696[7]
 United Kingdom10,200[7]
Languages
Spanish
(Rioplatense dialect, Cordobés dialect)
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic[9][10]
Related ethnic groups
Other Latin Americans
(especially Paraguayans and Uruguayans)

Argentina is a multiethnic and multilingual society, home to people of various ethnic, religious, and national origins, with the majority of the population made up of Old World immigrants and their descendants. As a result, Argentines do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizenship and allegiance to Argentina. Aside from the indigenous population, nearly all Argentines or their ancestors immigrated within the past five centuries. In fact, among countries in the world that have received the most immigrants in modern history, Argentina, with 6.6 million, ranks second to the United States (27 million), and ahead of other immigrant destinations such as Canada, Brazil and Australia.[11][12]

According to the 2010 census [INDEC], Argentina had a population of 40,091,359 inhabitants, of which 1,805,957 or 4.6%, were born abroad. The country has long had one of Latin America's lowest growth rates, estimated in 2008 to be 0.917% annually, with a birth rate of 16.32 live births per 1,000 inhabitants and a mortality rate of 7.54 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants.[13] It also enjoys a comparatively low infant mortality rate. Its fertility rate is still nearly twice as high (2.3 children per woman) as that in Spain or Italy, despite comparable religiosity figures.[14][15] The median age is approximately 30 years and life expectancy at birth is 76 years.[16]

Ethnic groups
Main articles: Ethnography of Argentina and Immigration to Argentina

Overview

Argentina is a multiethnic society, which means that it is home to people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Argentina is, along with other areas of new settlement like the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, or New Zealand a melting pot of different peoples.[17]

In the mid-19th century a large wave of immigration started to arrive in Argentina due to new Constitutional policies that encouraged immigration, and issues in the countries the immigrants came from such as wars, poverty, hunger, famines, pursuit of a better life, among other reasons. The main immigration sources were from Europe, the countries from the Near and Middle East, Russia and Japan. Eventually Argentina became the country with the second-largest number of immigrants in the period, with 6.6 million, second only to the United States with 27 million..[18][19]

Therefore, most Argentines are of European descent, and are either descendants of colonial-era settlers and/or of the 19th and 20th century immigrants from Europe, with about 86% of the population being of ethnic European descent.[20]

The most common ethnic groups are Italian and Spanish (including Galicians and Basques). It is estimated that up to 25 million Argentines, up to 60% of the total population, have Italian ancestry, wholly or in part.[21] There are also some Germanic, Slavic, British and French populations.[22] Smaller Jewish, Native, Arab, Asian, Romani and African communities contribute to the melting pot.

Recent decades immigration includes mainly Paraguayans, Bolivians and Peruvians, among other Latin Americans, Eastern Europeans, Africans and Asians.[23][24]

DNA genetics studies
  • Homburguer et al., 2015, PLOS One Genetics: 67% European, 28% Amerindian, 4% African and 1,4% Asian.[25]
  • Avena et al., 2012, PLOS One Genetics: 65% European, 31% Amerindian, and 4% African.[26]
    • Buenos Aires Province: 76% European and 24% others.
    • South Zone (Chubut Province): 54% European and 46% others.
    • Northeast Zone (Misiones, Corrientes, Chaco & Formosa provinces): 54% European and 46% others.
    • Northwest Zone (Salta Province): 33% European and 67% others.
  • Oliveira, 2008, on Universidade de Brasília: 60% European, 31% Amerindian and 9% African.[27]
  • National Geographic: 52% European, 27% Amerindian ancestry, 9% African and 9% others.[28]

European Argentines
Main article: Argentines of European descent

Argentines of European descent constitute the majority of Argentina's population. Ethnic Europeans include the Argentine descendants of colonists from Spain during the colonial period prior to 1810[29], and mainly of immigrants from Europe in the great immigratory wave from the mid 19th century to the mid 20th century.[30] No recent Argentine census has included comprehensive questions on ethnicity, although numerous studies have determined that European Argentinians have been a majority in the country since 1914.[31] Some international sources claim the European component of the population to be at around 97%[32] of Argentina's population.

The most numerous immigrant European communities are: Italians (62.5% of the population have some degree of Italian descent),[33] Spaniards (including Basques, Asturians and Galicians), Germans, Scandinavians (mainly Danes and Swedes), Slavs (including Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs, Bulgarians, Slovenes, Serbs, Macedonians and Croats), Finns, the French (including francophone Basques), the Irish, Portuguese, the Dutch among others in smaller number.

Arab Argentines

Arabs and Argentines with partial Arab ancestry exist. They represent about 3.2 million people, whose ancestry traces back to any of various waves of immigrants, largely of Arab cultural and linguistic heritage and/or identity, originating mainly from what is now Syria and Lebanon[34]. Due to the fact that many Arab countries were under control of the Ottoman Empire by the time the large immigration wave took place, most Arabs entered the country with Turkish passports, and so they are colloquially referred to as los turcos. The majority of Arab-Argentines are Christians.

Native Argentines
See also: Indigenous peoples in Argentina

Contemporary Native cultures are represented in the country mainly by the Mapuche, Kolla, Wichí and Toba peoples. According to the provisional data of INDEC's Complementary Survey of Indigenous Peoples (ECPI) 2004 – 2005, 600,329 Natives (about 1.49% of the total population) reside in Argentina. The most numerous of these communities are the Mapuches, who live mostly in the south, the Kollas and Wichís, from the northwest, and the Tobas, who live mostly in the northeast.[22] Some Mestizo population may identify with Native ethnicity.

Mestizo Argentines

Within the population totals, there may be an imprecise amount of mixed Mestizo population. In one of the most comprehensive genetic studies involving the population of Argentina, 441 Argentines from across the North East, North West, Southern, and Central provinces (especially the urban conglomeration of Buenos Aires) of the country, it was observed that the sample population comprised on average of 65% European, followed by 31% Amerindian, and finally 4% of African ancestry; however, this study was unweighted and meant to be a representation of the diversity of Argentine DNA rather than a demonstration of the average ethnic composition of the country. It was also found there were great differences in the ancestry amongst Argentines as one traveled across the country. A study that attempted to find the average Argentine ancestry by Daniel Corach by weighing the population of various regions gave a significantly higher estimate of European ancestry at 78.5% of the average Argentine's autosomal DNA.[35]

Afro-Argentines

Genetic studies carried out in 2005 showed that the average level of African genetic contribution in the population of Buenos Aires is 2.2%, but that this component is concentrated in 10% of the population who display notably higher levels of African ancestry. Blacks, Mulattos (mixed Black and European ancestry) and Zambos (mixed Black and Native ancestry) in Argentina might be about 67,000 people; this figure includes 53,000 direct descendants from slaves, plus 12,000–15,000 Caboverdian Mulatto immigrants and their descendants, who arrived in the 1950s and 1960s. With constant wars in the 19th century, spread of diseases like the yellow fever, thousands of immigrants from Europe arriving to Argentine soil, and most black women intermarrying with them; noting that their populations were already low, the Afro-Argentine population faded into oblivion.

A new wave of Black immigration started in the 1990s, from African countries (Cape Verde, Nigeria, Senegal, Angola, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana, Sierra Leone, etc.). In recent years Africa Vive, an organization that helps to keep alive Afro-Argentine heritage, calculates that there are between 1 and 2 million Afro-descendants in Argentina.

Asian Argentines

Argentines of Asian ancestry are defined as either born within Argentina, or born elsewhere and later to become a citizen or resident of Argentina. Asian Argentines settled in Argentina in large numbers during several waves of immigration in the 20th century. Primarily living in their own neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires, many currently own their own businesses of varying sizes – largely textiles, grocery stores, and buffet-style restaurants. The small Asian Argentine population has generally kept a low profile, and is accepted by greater Argentine society.

The first Argentines of Asian descent were a small group of Japanese immigrants, mainly from the Okinawa prefecture, which came in the period between the early and mid 20th century. In the 1960s, Koreans began to arrive, and in the 1980s, Taiwanese immigrants. The 1990s brought the largest so far wave of Asian immigration to Argentina, from mainland Chinese immigrants, eventually becoming the 4th largest foreigner community in 2013, after Paraguayans, Bolivians, and Peruvians.[23]

Languages
Main article: Languages of Argentina

Although Spanish is dominant, being the national language spoken by virtually all Argentines, the spoken languages of Argentina number at least 40. Languages spoken by at least 100,000 Argentines include Amerindian languages such as Southern Quechua, Guaraní and Mapudungun, and immigrant languages such as German, Italian, or Levantine Arabic.

Two native languages are extinct (Abipón and Chané), while some others are endangered, spoken by elderly people whose descendants do not speak the languages[36] (such as Vilela, Puelche, Tehuelche and Selknam).

There are also other communities of immigrants that speak their native languages, such as the Chinese language spoken by at least half of the over 60,000 Chinese immigrants (mostly in Buenos Aires) and an Occitan-speaking community in Pigüé, Buenos Aires Province. Welsh is also spoken by over 35,000 people in the Chubut Province. This includes a dialect called Patagonian Welsh, which has developed since the start of the Welsh settlement in Argentina in 1865.

Religion
Main article: Religion in Argentina
Procession of Our Lord and the Virgin of the Miracle in Salta city. Christianity is the largest religion in Argentina.

A majority of the population of Argentina is Christian. According to CONICET survey on creeds, about 76.5% of Argentines are Roman Catholic, 11.3% religiously indifferent, 9% Protestant (with 7.9% in Pentecostal denominations), 1.2% Jehovah's Witnesses, and 0.9% Mormons.[37]

Although Jews account for less than 1% of Argentina's population, Buenos Aires has the second largest population of Jews in the Americas, second only to New York City. Argentina also has the largest Muslim minority in Latin America (see Islam in Argentina).

Emigration

Most Argentines outside Argentina are people who have migrated from the middle and upper middle classes. According to official estimates there are 600,000 worldwide Argentine, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration are about 806,369 since 2001. It is estimated that their descendants would be around 1,900,000. The first wave of emigration occurred during the military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983, with principally to Spain, USA, Mexico and Venezuela. During the 1990s, due to the abolition of visas between Argentina and the United States, thousands of Argentines emigrated to the North American country. The last major wave of emigration occurred during the 2001 crisis, mainly to Europe, especially Spain, although there was also an increase in emigration to neighboring countries, particularly Brazil, Chile and Paraguay.

Europe
See also: Argentines in Spain

The rate of Argentine emigration to Europe (especially to Spain and Italy[38]) peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s and is noteworthy.[39] Spain and Italy have the largest Argentine communities in Europe, however, there are also important communities in France, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Americas
See also: Argentine American, Argentine Canadian, Argentine immigration to Mexico, Argentine Brazilian, and Argentines in Uruguay

The most popular immigration destinations in the Americas are: the United States, Mexico and Canada, and to a lesser degree, South America (mostly to Uruguay and Brazil): Chile, Paraguay and Bolivia, while other communities settled in Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica.

Middle East

Israel is home to the largest Argentine diaspora group in Asia.

Oceania

In Oceania, Australia has the largest Argentine community, followed by New Zealand.

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See also

References
  1. There are two different groupings for Spanish citizens with Argentine origin. 256,071 is the size of the population in Spain who were born in Argentina (including those with dual Spanish citizenship). 72,041 is the size of the foreign population in Spain with Argentine citizenship (thus, no Spanish citizenship).[3][4]
  1. "United Nations population prospects" Archived 31 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine(PDF) 2015 revision
  2. "TablaPx". www.ine.es.
  3. "Población (españoles/extranjeros) por País de Nacimiento, sexo y año". Instituto Nacional de Estadística. 2018. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  4. "Población extranjera por Nacionalidad, comunidades, Sexo y Año". Instituto Nacional de Estadística. 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  5. "Emigrantes de Argentina según país de destino (2017)". 2017.
  6. "Gobierno cifra en más de un millón el número de inmigrantes que están en Chile" [Government figures are in, more than one million immigrants are in Chile]. La Tercera (in Spanish). 4 April 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  7. Perfil migratorio de Argentina 2012 [Migratory profile of Argentina 2012] (PDF). Buenos Aires: International Organization for Migration. 2012. p. 184. ISBN 978-92-9068-657-6. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  8. "EXCLUSIVO: OS NÚMEROS EXATOS E ATUALIZADOS DE ESTRANGEIROS NO BRASIL". Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  9. Religion in Latin America: Widespread Change in a Historically Catholic Region (PDF). Pew Research Center. 13 November 2014. pp. 14, 162, 164. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  10. Adams, Fiona (2011). CultureShock! Argentina: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette. Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd. p. 97. ISBN 9789814346771. Argentina despite this being a Catholic country.
  11. "Wayback Machine" (PDF). 10 June 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2007.
  12. "Wayback Machine" (PDF). 14 August 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2011.
  13. "Proyecciones provinciales de población por sexo y grupos de edad 2001–2015" (pdf). Gustavo Pérez (in Spanish). INDEC. p. 16. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  14. "PRB" (PDF).
  15. UN Demographic Yearbook, 2007
  16. "Life expectancy at birth, total (years) | Data | Table". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  17. "Enrique Oteiza and Susana Novick maintain that "Argentina since the 19th century has become, as have Australia, Canada and USA, a 'land of immigrants', meaning a society formed by massive immigration from a minute native population". (Oteiza, Enrique; Novick, Susana. Inmigración y derechos humanos. Política y discursos en el tramo final del menemismo Archived 31 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine. [en línea]. Buenos Aires: Instituto de Investigaciones Gino Germani, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, 2000 [Citado FECHA]. (IIGG Documentos de Trabajo, Nº 14). Available on: http://www.iigg.fsoc.uba.ar/docs/dt/dt14.pdf%5B%5D)]; "The Brazilian anthropologist Darcy Ribeiro places Argentina in a group of 'transplanted countries' with Uruguay, Canada, and United States. (Ribeiro, Darcy. Las Américas y la Civilización (1985). Buenos Aires: EUDEBA, pp. 449 ss.); The Argentine historian José Luis Romero defines Argentina as a 'flood country'". (Romero, José Luis. «Indicación sobre la situación de las masas en Argentina (1951)», en La experiencia argentina y otros ensayos, Buenos Aires: Universidad de Belgrano, 1980, p. 64). (in Spanish)
  18. https://web.archive.org/web/20070610215422/http://www.cels.org.ar/Site_cels/publicaciones/informes_pdf/1998.Capitulo7.pdf
  19. https://web.archive.org/web/20110814202421/http://docentes.fe.unl.pt/~satpeg/PapersInova/Labor%20and%20Immigration%20in%20LA-2005.pdf
  20. "Argentina, at worldstatesmen.org". Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  21. "Travelocity Travel: Vacations, Cheap Flights, Airline Tickets & Airfares". Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  22. "INDEC". Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
  23. "En la última década se radicaron en el país 800.000 extranjeros". La Nación (in Spanish). 16 September 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  24. Comisión de apoyo a refugiados y migrantes (CAREF): Los migrantes de Europa del Este y Central en el Área Metropolitana 1999-2002 Archived 3 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
  25. Homburger; et al. (2015). "Genomic Insights into the Ancestry and Demographic History of South America". PLOS Genetics. 11: e1005602. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1005602. PMC 4670080. PMID 26636962.
  26. Avena; et al. (2012). "Heterogeneity in Genetic Admixture across Different Regions of Argentina". PLOS One. 7: e34695. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034695. PMC 3323559. PMID 22506044.
  27. "O impacto das migrações na constituição genética de populações latino-americanas" (PDF). Repositorio.unb.br. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  28. "Reference Populations - Geno 2.0 Next Generation". Genographic.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  29. Historical Dictionary of Argentina. London: Scarecrow Press, 1978. pp. 239–40.
  30. "Acerca de la Argentina: Inmigración" [About Argentina: Immigration]. Government of Argentina (in Spanish). 2005. Archived from the original on 13 March 2008.
  31. Francisco Lizcano Fernández (31 May 2005). "Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI" [Ethnic Composition of the Three Cultural Areas of the American Continent to the Beginning of the 21st century] (PDF). Convergencia (in Spanish). México (38): 185–232. ISSN 1405-1435. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  32. "Argentina. The World Factbook. 2008". Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  33. Departamento de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas de la Universidad Nacional de La Matanza (14 November 2011). "Historias de inmigrantes italianos en Argentina" (in Spanish). infouniversidades.siu.edu.ar. Se estima que en la actualidad, el 90% de la población argentina tiene alguna ascendencia europea y que al menos 25 millones están relacionados con algún inmigrante de Italia.
  34. Barros, Carolina (23 August 2012). "Argentina's Syrians". www.buenosairesherald.com. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  35. Corach, D; Lao, O; Bobillo, C; et al. (January 2010). "Inferring Continental Ancestry of Argentineans from Autosomal, Y-Chromosomal and Mitochondrial DNA". Annals of Human Genetics. 74: 65–76. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1809.2009.00556.x. PMID 20059473.
  36. Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: Languages of Argentina, Retrieved on 2007-01-02.
  37. "Encuesta CONICET sobre creencias" (PDF). Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  38. ISRAELY/Feltre, JEFF (12 January 2003). "Argentine's reclaim Italian roots - TIME". TIME.com. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  39. "Version 1". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
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