Demographics of Chile

Demographics of Chile
Population pyramid of Chile, 2014
Population	17,094,270 (2010)[1]
Growth rate	0.9% (2010)
Birth rate	14.7 births/1,000 population (2010)
Death rate	5.7 deaths/1,000 population (2010)
Life expectancy	77.53 years
• male	74.26 years
• female	80.96 years (2010)
Fertility rate	1.89 children born/woman (2010)
Infant mortality rate	7.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2010)[2]
Age structure
0–14 years	23.2% (male 1,966,017/female 1,877,963)
15–64 years	67.8% (male 5,625,963/female 5,628,146)
65 and over	9.1% (male 627,746/female 875,872) (2010)
Sex ratio
Total	0.98 male(s)/female (2010)
At birth	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.05 male(s)/female
15–64 years	1 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.72 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Chilean
Major ethnic	European and Mestizo 95.4%[3]
Minor ethnic	Mapuche 4%, other indigenous groups 0.6% (2002 census)
Language
Official	Spanish (de facto)

This article is about the demographic features of Chile, including population density, ethnicity, economic status and other aspects of the population.

Chile's 2002 census reported a population of 15,116,435 people. Its rate of population growth has been decreasing since 1990, due to a declining birth rate.^[4] By 2050 the population is expected to reach approximately 20.2 million people.^[5] About 85% of the country's population lives in urban areas, with 40% living in Greater Santiago. The largest agglomerations according to the 2002 census are Greater Santiago with 5.6 million people, Greater Concepción with 861,000 and Greater Valparaíso with 824,000.^[6]

Population

According to the 2010 revison of the World Population Prospects the total population was 17,114,000 in 2010, compared to only 6,082,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 22.1%, 68.6% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 9.3% was 65 years or older .^[7]

	Total population (x 1000)	Proportion aged 0–14 (%)	Proportion aged 15–64 (%)	Proportion aged 65+ (%)
1950	6 082	36.7	59.0	4.3
1955	6 768	38.1	57.4	4.5
1960	7 652	39.4	55.8	4.8
1965	8 656	40.4	54.5	5.0
1970	9 578	39.6	55.2	5.2
1975	10 419	36.9	57.7	5.4
1980	11 179	33.0	61.4	5.7
1985	12 107	30.9	63.3	5.9
1990	13 188	29.9	63.9	6.2
1995	14 409	29.6	63.7	6.6
2000	15 420	27.8	65.0	7.3
2005	16 302	24.9	67.0	8.1
2010	17 114	22.1	68.6	9.3

Ethnic structure

Chile is a multiethnic society,^[8] home to people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Studies on the ethnic structure of Chile vary significantly from one another.

An autosomal DNA study from 2014 found out Chile to be 44.34% (± 3.9%) native American, 51.85% (± 5.44%) European and 3.81% (± 0.45%) African.^[9][10] A 2015 study analyzing hundreds of thousands of SNPs yielded similar results — around 55% European, 43% Native, and 2% African.^[11]

A public health book from the University of Chile states that 30% of the population is of Caucasian origin; Mestizos with an average 60% Caucasian ancestry and 40% Native American ancestry are estimated to amount a total of 65%, while Native Americans (Amerindians) comprise the remaining 5%.^[12] A genetic study by the same university showed that the average Chilean's genes are 64% Caucasian and 35% Amerindian.^[13]

UNAM professor of Latin American studies, Francisco Lizcano, in his social research estimates that a predominant 52.7% of the Chilean population can be classified as culturally European, with an estimated 44% as Mestizo.^[14] Other social studies put the total amount of Whites at over 60 percent.^[15] Some publications, such as the CIA World Factbook, state that the entire population consist of a combined 95.4% of "Whites and White-Amerindians", and 4.6% of Amerindians. These figures are based on a national census held in 2002, which classified the population as indigenous and non-indigenous, rather than as White or Mestizo.^[16]

Despite the genetic considerations, many Chileans, if asked, would self-identify as white. The 2011 Latinobarómetro survey asked respondents in Chile what race they considered themselves to belong to. Most answered "white" (59%), while 25% said "mestizo" and 8% self-classified as "indigenous".^[17] A 2002 national poll revealed that a majority of Chileans believed they possessed some (43.4%) or much (8.3%) "indigenous blood", while 40.3% responded that they had none.^[18]

European immigration

Chile was never an attractive place for migrants simply because it was far from Europe, and the difficulty of reaching such a remote place,^[19][20] a situation recognized in the census of 1907, census which recorded the highest percentage of Europeans versus the total population of Chile (2.2%).^[21]

The observed increase in 1885 is due in large part to the annexation of three provinces after the Pacific War and the final conquest of the Araucanía. Given that our country receives almost no foreign immigration, this increase is significant, when compared with that of more advanced countries in this regard. The comparative table that follows demonstrates this:

(...)

Except for those lucky countries that have seen in the last half century flocking to its beaches, a huge influx of immigrants, a situation that unfortunately is not ours, the rate of increase of the population of Chile, figures honorably between the rate of the most prosperous countries on Earth.

— National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas)^[21]

The European migration did not result in a remarkable change in the ethnic composition of Chile, except in the region of Magellan.^[22]

The Spaniard was actually the only relevant among European immigration to Chile,^[19] since there was never a massive immigration, as happened in neighboring nations such as Argentina or Uruguay.^[20] Therefore, neither have whitened the Chilean population to level of overall percentages.^[20] Facts about the amount of the flow of immigration do not coincide with certain national chauvinistic discourse, in which Chile, like Argentina or Uruguay, would have been constituted due to immigration in one of the "white" Latin American countries, in contrast to what prevails in the rest of the continent.^[20] However, it is undeniable that immigrants have played a role in Chilean society.^[20] Between 1851 and 1924 Chile only received the 0.5% of the European immigration flow to Latin America, against 46% of Argentina, 33% of Brazil, 14% of Cuba, and 4% of Uruguay.^[19] This was because most of the migration occurred across the Atlantic, not the Pacific, and that this migration occurred mostly before the construction of the Panama Canal.^[19] Also, Europeans preferred to stay in countries closer to their homelands instead of taking that long tour across the Straits of Magellan or crossing the Andes.^[19] In 1907, European-born reached a top of 2.2% of Chilean population,^[23] it down to 1.9% in 1920,^[24] and 1.6% in 1930.^[25]

The largest contingent of people to have arrived in post-independence Chile came from Spain and the Basque country, a region divided between northern Spain and southern France. Estimates of the number Chileans who have one or two surnames from Basque origin ranges from 10% (1,600,000) to as high as 20% (3,200,000).^{[26][27][28][29][30][31][32]} Note that this phenomenon occurs not only in Chile, but also in every Autonomous Community of Spain,^[33] as well as in other Latin American countries one can see that a substantial portion of their populations have one or two surnames of Basque or Navarre origin,^{[34][35][36][37][38][39]} tending to be more common in the upper classes, and hence becoming more unusual in lower classes.^[40]

Chile's various waves of non-Spanish immigrants include Italians, Irish, French, Greeks, Germans, English, Scots, Croats, and Poles.

In 1848 an important and substantial German immigration took place, laying the foundation for the German-Chilean community.^[41][42] Sponsored by the Chilean government for the colonization of the southern region, the Germans (including German-speaking Swiss, Silesians, Alsatians and Austrians), strongly influenced the cultural and racial composition of the southern provinces of Chile. It is difficult to count the number of descendants of Germans in Chile, given the great amount of time. Because many areas of southern Chile were sparsely populated, the traces of German immigration that are quite noticeable. An independent estimate calculates that about 500,000 Chileans could be descendants of German immigrants.^[43]

Other historically significant immigrant groups included Croats, whose descendants today are estimated at 380,000 persons, or 2.4% of the Chilean population^[44][45] Some authors claim that close to 4.6% of the Chilean population must have some Croatian ancestry.^[46] Over 700,000 Chileans (4.5% of the Chilean population) may have British (English, Scottish, Irish or Welsh) forebears.^[47] Chileans of Greek descent are estimated to number between 90,000 and 120,000;^[48] most live in or near either Santiago or Antofagasta, and Chile is one of the five countries in the world most populated with descendants of Greeks.^[49] The descendants of Swiss immigrants add 90,000,^[50] and it is estimated that about 5% of the Chilean population has some French ancestry.^[51] Between 600.000 to 800.000 Chileans descend from Italian immigrants. Other groups of Europeans have followed but are found in smaller numbers, as the descendants of Austrians^[52] and Dutchmen it is currently estimated at about 50,000.^[53][54] Altogether, these immigrants with their descendants, they have transformed the country culturally, economically and politically.

Indigenous communities

The 1907 census reported 101,118 Indians, or 3.1% of the total country population. Only those that practiced their native culture or spoke their native language were considered, irrespective of their "racial purity."^[55]

According to the 2002 census, only indigenous people that still practiced a native culture or spoke a native language were surveyed, and 4.6% of the population (692,192 people) fit that description. Of that 4.6%, 87.3% declared themselves Mapuche.^[56] Most of the indigenous population show varying degrees of mixed ancestry.^[57]

Chile is one of the twenty-two countries to have signed and ratified the only binding international law concerning indigenous peoples, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989.^[58] It was adopted in 1989 as the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 169. Chile ratified the convention in 2008. In November 2009, a court decision in Chile, considered to be a landmark ruling in indigenous rights concerns, made use of the ILO convention 169. The Supreme Court decision on Aymara water rights upholds rulings by both the Pozo Almonte tribunal and the Iquique Court of Appeals, and marks the first judicial application of ILO Convention 169 in Chile.^[59]

Those belonging to recognised indigenous communities (2002)
Alacaluf	2,622	0.02%	Mapuche	604,349	4.00%
Atacameño	21,015	0.14%	Quechua	6,175	0.04%
Aymara	48,501	0.32%	Rapanui	4,647	0.03%
Colla	3,198	0.02%	Yámana	1,685	0.01%

Other ethnic groups

It is estimated that about 5% of the population (800,000) is descendant of Asian immigrants, chiefly from the Middle East (i.e. Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese and Middle East Armenians, see Arab Chileans).^[60][61] (This may include Israelis, both Jewish and non-Jewish citizens of the nation of Israel.) Chile is also home to a large population of immigrants, mostly Christian, from the Levant.^[62] Roughly 500,000 Palestinian descendants are believed to reside in Chile.^{[63][64][65][66][67][68]}

In recent years, Chile has had a growing East Asian population, mainly from China (see Chinese Chilean), but also from Japan (see Japanese Chilean) and South Korea (see Koreans in Chile). The earliest wave of East Asian immigration took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly Chinese and Japanese contract laborers.

Chile administers Easter Island a territory 4,100 km west of the mainland. The Rapa Nui people are native to the island and are Polynesian in origin. About 3,500 live on the island,^[69] but around 10,000 came to the mainland in the 20th century.

There is a sizable population of Romani people in Chile. They are widely and easily recognized, and continue to hold on to their traditions and language, and many continue to live semi-nomadic lifestyles traveling from city to city and living in small tented communities.

Recent immigration

Since the reestablishment of democracy in Chile, the former tendency for emigrants from the country to outnumber immigrants to it has reversed. Chile now is one of the two countries in Latin American with a positive migration rate.^[70]

Today, the principal immigrant groups correspond to the countries bordering Chile. Argentines constitute the largest group, followed by Peruvians. One of the main factors contributing to such immigration has been the growth of the Chilean economy during the past few decades. Immigration from other Latin American countries has also occurred.

According to the 2002 report of the International Organization for Migration, more than 10,000 people from the United States have emigrated to Chile. Most of these arrived in Chile initially to work for multinational corporations. Most possess professional degrees, and most are well situated economically.

Languages

The Spanish spoken in Chile is distinctively accented and quite unlike that of neighbouring South American countries because final syllables and "s" sounds are dropped, and some consonants have a soft pronunciation. Accent varies only very slightly from north to south; more noticeable are the small differences in accent based on social class or whether one lives in the city or the country. That the Chilean population was largely formed in a small section at the center of the country and then migrated in modest numbers to the north and south helps explain this relative lack of differentiation, which was maintained by the national reach of radio, and now television, which also helps to diffuse and homogenize colloquial expressions.^[71]

There are several indigenous languages spoken in Chile: Mapudungun, Quechua, Aymara and Rapa Nui. After the Spanish invasion, Spanish took over as the lingua franca and the indigenous languages have become minority languages, with some now extinct or close to extinction.^[72]

German is spoken to a great extent in southern Chile,^[73] either in small countryside pockets or as a second language among the communities of larger cities.

Through initiatives such as the English Opens Doors program, the government made English mandatory for students in fifth-grade and above in public schools. Most private schools in Chile start teaching English from kindergarten.^[74] Common English words have been absorbed and appropriated into everyday Spanish speech.^[75] Since 2010, all students from 3rd grade in secondary school have been tested on listening and reading comprehension for English language. The evaluation is compulsory and the instrument is TOIEC Bridge, developed by Educational Testing Service.

Religion

In the most recent census (2002), 70 percent of the population over age 14 identified as Roman Catholic and 15.1 percent as evangelical. In the census, the term "evangelical" referred to all non-Catholic Christian churches with the exception of the Orthodox Church (Greek, Persian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and Armenian), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Seventh-day Adventists, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Approximately 90 percent of evangelicals are Pentecostal. Wesleyan, Lutheran, Reformed Evangelical, Presbyterian, Anglican, Episcopalian, Baptist and Methodist churches are also present.^[76] Non-religious people, atheists and agnostics, account for around 8% of the population.

Vital statistics

Official statistics^[77]

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate
1985	12 047	261 978	73 534	188 444	21.7	6.1	15.6
1986	12 248	272 997	72 209	200 788	22.3	5.9	16.4
1987	12 454	279 762	70 559	209 203	22.5	5.7	16.8
1988	12 667	296 581	74 435	222 146	23.4	5.9	17.5
1989	12 883	303 798	75 453	228 345	23.6	5.9	17.7
1990	13 179	307 522	78 434	229 118	23.3	6.0	17.3
1991	13 422	299 456	74 862	224 594	22.3	5.6	16.7
1992	13 665	293 787	74 090	219 697	21.5	5.4	16.1	2.36
1993	13 908	290 438	76 261	214 177	20.9	5.5	15.4	2.32
1994	14 152	288 175	75 445	212 730	20.4	5.3	15.1	2.28
1995	14 395	279 928	78 517	201 411	19.4	5.5	13.9	2.20
1996	14 596	278 729	79 123	199 606	19.1	5.4	13.7	2.18
1997	14 796	273 641	78 472	195 169	18.5	5.3	13.2	2.13
1998	14 997	270 637	80 257	190 380	18.0	5.4	12.6	2.10
1999	15 197	263 867	81 984	181 883	17.4	5.4	12.0	2.04
2000	15 398	261 993	78 814	183 179	17.0	5.1	11.9	2.00
2001	15 572	259 069	81 871	177 198	16.6	5.3	11.3	1.98
2002	15 746	251 559	81 080	170 479	16.0	5.1	10.9	1.92
2003	15 919	246 827	83 672	163 155	15.5	5.3	10.2	1.87
2004	16 093	242 476	86 138	156 338	15.1	5.4	9.7	1.83
2005	16 267	242 980	86 102	156 878	14.9	5.3	9.6	1.82
2006	16 433	243 561	85 639	157 922	14.8	5.2	9.6	1.81
2007	16 598	242 054	93 000	149 054	14.6	5.6	9.0	1.87
2008	16 763	248 366	90 168	158 198	14.8	5.4	9.4	1.90
2009	16 929	253 584	91 965	161 619	15.0	5.4	9.6	1.92
2010	17 094	251 199	97 930	153 269	14.7	5.7	9.0	1.89
2011	17 2481	247 358	94 985	152 373	14.4	5.5	8.9	1.85
2012	17 445	243 635	98 711	144 924	14.0	5.7	8.3	1.80

¹This estimate and those of previous years were made before the 2012 census results were known.

United Nations estimates

The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. ^[7]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*	Life expectancy total	Life expectancy males	Life expectancy females
1950-1955	232 000	87 000	145 000	36.1	13.5	22.6	4.95	120	54.9	52.9	56.8
1955-1960	280 000	96 000	184 000	38.9	13.2	25.6	5.49	118	56.2	53.8	58.7
1960-1965	307 000	99 000	208 000	37.7	12.2	25.4	5.44	109	58.1	55.3	61.0
1965-1970	285 000	94 000	191 000	31.3	10.3	20.9	4.44	89	60.8	57.7	63.9
1970-1975	273 000	88 000	185 000	27.3	8.8	18.4	3.63	69	63.7	60.6	67.0
1975-1980	248 000	79 000	169 000	22.9	7.4	15.6	2.80	45	67.4	64.0	70.8
1980-1985	272 000	74 000	198 000	23.3	6.4	17.0	2.67	24	70.9	67.4	74.4
1985-1990	298 000	74 000	224 000	23.6	5.9	17.7	2.65	18	72.8	69.6	76.0
1990-1995	301 000	76 000	225 000	21.9	5.5	16.4	2.55	14	74.5	71.5	77.4
1995-2000	269 000	79 000	190 000	18.0	5.3	12.7	2.21	12	75.9	72.8	78.9
2000-2005	249 000	80 000	169 000	15.7	5.0	10.7	2.00	8	77.9	74.8	80.9
2005-2010	251 000	90 000	161 000	14.7	5.3	9.4	1.90	7	78.6	75.5	81.7
2010-2015	245 000	97 000	148 000	14.0	5.5	8.5	1.83	6	79.8	77.0	82.6
2015-2020	243 000	105 000	138 000	13.3	5.8	7.5	1.79	5	81.0	78.3	83.6
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

2012 Census

According to the Chilean census held in 2012, the population of Chile was 16,634,603.^[78]

The methodology used for the census was questioned by advisors to the National Statistics Institute (INE), however, which led to an investigation and the resignation of its director, Francisco Labbé, in April 2013. At the same time, the Chilean government ruled out doing the census over again.^[78][79]

Largest cities

This list includes conurbations and cities with over 150,000 inhabitants. Information is from the 2002 census. (Note: The population given is limited to the city area and is not the population in the whole commune.)^[80]

Largest cities or towns in Chile 2002 Census[81]
	Rank	Name	Region	Pop.
Santiago Metropolis Greater Valparaíso	1	Santiago Metropolis	Santiago Metropolitan Region	5,428,590	Greater Concepción Greater La Serena
	2	Greater Valparaíso	Valparaíso Region	803,683
	3	Greater Concepción	Biobío Region	666,381
	4	Greater La Serena	Coquimbo Region	296,253
	5	Antofagasta	Antofagasta Region	285,255
	6	Greater Temuco	Araucanía Region	260,878
	7	Rancagua conurbation	O'Higgins Region	236,363
	8	Talca	Maule Region	191,154
	9	Arica	Arica and Parinacota Region	175,441
	10	Chillán conurbation	Biobío Region	165,528

Graphs and maps

• 

  Chile. Population density by commune, based on 2002 census (2009)

• 

  Population from 1820, projected up to 2050

• 

  Agglomerations and cities above 10,000 inhabitants in 2005

References

Demographics of South America Sovereign states Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela Dependencies and other territories Falkland Islands French Guiana South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

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