Argentines (argentinos in Spanish) are the citizens of Argentina, or their descendants abroad. Argentina is a multiethnic society, which means that it is home to people of many different ethnic backgrounds. According to the 2001 census [INDEC], Argentina had a population of 36,260,130 inhabitants, of which 1,527,320, or 4.2%, were born abroad. The population growth rate in 2008 was estimated 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. As of 2008, the total population is of 40,301,927 inhabitants.[3]
Argentina's population has long had one of Latin America's lowest growth rates (recently, about one percent a year) and it also enjoys a comparatively low infant mortality rate. Strikingly, though, its birth rate is still nearly twice as high (2.3 children per woman) as that in Spain or Italy, despite comparable religiosity figures.[4][5] The median age is approximately 30 years and life expectancy at birth is of 80 years.
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Argentina is a multiethnic society, which means that it is home to people of many different ethnic backgrounds. As a result, the people there usually treat their nationality as a citizenship, but not an ethnicity.
Argentina is, along with other areas of new settlement like Canada, Australia or the United States, a melting pot of different peoples.[6] Most Argentines are descendents of colonial-era settlers and of the 19th and 20th century immigrants from Europe, with about 90 % of the population being of European descent.[7][8] Recent decades immigration includes mainly Paraguayans, Bolivians and Peruvians, among other Latin Americans, Eastern Europeans and East Asians.
The most common ethnic groups are Italian and Spaniard (including Galicians and Basques). It is estimated that up to 25 million Argentines are of Italian descent, up to 60% of the total population.[9] There are also Germanic, Slavic, British and French populations.[10] Smaller Jewish, Native American, Arab, East Asian, Gypsy, and African communities contribute to what has been referred to as a "crucible of races".
Argentines of European descent constitute the majority of Argentina's population. They are the Argentine descendants of colonists from Spain and Portugal during the colonial period prior to 1810, and mainly of immigrants from Europe and the Middle East in the great immigratory wave during the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Although a named category "Argentines of European descent" is not officially used, and no official census data exist, some international sources claim that they make up between 82.9%[11] up to 86.4%[7] of Argentina's population.
The current most numerous immigrant European communities are: Spanish, Italian, French, Basque, German, Irish, Croat, Ukrainian and Polish, among many others. Arabs and Caucasians (mainly Armenian) are usually considered White population in Argentina.
Within these totals there may be an imprecise amount of mixed "mestizo" population. Some sources provide estimates that state that Mestizo people represent between 6.5%[7] up to 14%.[12]
Arabs, who are considered as White population, comprise between 2.9%[11] and 3.3%[7] of Argentina's population. They represent about 1.3 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 Lebanon and Syria, but also there are some individuals from the twenty-two countries which comprise the Arab World. Due to the fact that many Arab countries were under Ottoman control by the time the immigration took place, most Arabs entered the country with Turkisn passport, and so they are colloquially referred to as turcos.
Contemporary Amerindian 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 indigenous persons (about 1.6% 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.[10] Some Mestizo population may identify with indigenous ethnicity.
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 retailing, and buffet-style restaurants. The small Asian-Argentine population has generally kept a low profile, and is accepted by greater Argentine society.
Blacks in Argentina might be about 67,000 people; this figure includes 53,000 direct descendants from slaves,[11] plus 12,000-15,000 Caboverdian Mulatto immigrants and their descendants, who arrived in the 1950s and 1960s.[13] With 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.
While the vast majority of Argentines self identify as being of European descent, genetic studies show that a majority of Argentinians are partially descended from the pre-Columbian Amerindian population, with a much smaller proportion also showing some African ancestry.
MTDNA studies show that 15.3% of Argentines carry an Amerindian MTDNA lineage, passed through the female line, whereas 94.1% of Argentine men carry Y-chromosomes of European origin. This result is consistent with mass male immigration, and reproductive advantages for male European immigrants over native men.
The average level of African genetic contribution in Argentines is 4%, but can vary considerably by individual. [14]
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 Native American 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[15] (such as Vilela, Puelche, Tehuelche and Selknam).
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.
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.
A majority of the population of Argentina is nominally 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.
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 America (see Islam in Argentina).
The rate of Argentine emigration to Europe (especially to Spain and Italy[16]) and, to a lesser degree, to South America (mostly to Uruguay and the Brazil) peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s and is noteworthy.[17]
Most Argentines outside Argentina are people who have migrated from the middle and upper middle classes. The most popular immigration destinations in America are: USA, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia and Canada, but other communities' stationed in Venezuela, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica. In Europe, Spain and Italy have large communities but also in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. There are also significant communities in Israel and Australia. 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 the main destinations in 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, the main destination in Europe, especially Spain, although there was also an increase in emigration to neighboring countries, particularly Brazil, Chile and Paraguay.
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