Demographics of Argentina

Demographics of Argentina
Population of Argentina, 1961–2010
Population	42,192,500[1]
Growth rate	1.036% (2010 est.)[2]
Birth rate	17.75 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)
Death rate	7.39 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)
Life expectancy	77.14 years
• male	73.9 years
• female	80.54 years (2012 est.)
Fertility rate	2.29 children born/woman (2012 est.)
Infant mortality rate	10.52 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	25.2% (male 5,450,679/ female 5,200,704)
15–64 years	63.6% (male 13,400,997/ female 13,440,948)
65 and over	11.1% (male 1,940,810/ female 2,758,356) (2012 est.)
Sex ratio
Total	0.97 male(s)/female (2011 est.)
At birth	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.05 male(s)/female
15–64 years	1 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.7 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Argentine
Language
Official	Spanish language
Spoken	English, Italian, German, Welsh, Yiddish, Portuguese, Guarani, Quechua, Mapudungun and many others are also spoken varying by region

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

In the 2001 census [INDEC], Argentina had a population of 36,260,130 inhabitants, and preliminary results from the 2010 census [INDEC] census were of 40,091,359 inhabitants.^[3][4] Argentina ranks third in South America in total population and 33rd globally. Population density is of 15 persons per square kilometer of land area, well below the world average of 50 persons. The population growth rate in 2008 was estimated to be 0.92% 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.

The proportion of people under 15, at 24.6%, is somewhat below the world average (28%), and the cohort of people 65 and older is relatively high, at 10.8%. The percentage of senior citizens in Argentina has long been second only to Uruguay in Latin America and well above the world average, which is currently 7%.

Argentina's population has long had one of Latin America's lowest birth rates and population growth rates (recently, about 1% a year), but it enjoys a comparatively low infant mortality rate. The median age is approximately 30 years and life expectancy at birth is of 76 years. According to an official cultural consumption survey conducted in 2006, 42.3% of Argentines speak English (though only 15.4% of those claimed to have a high level of English comprehension), 8.3% speak Portuguese^[5] and 6.9% speak Italian.^[6]

Ethnic groups

	Name	Number	Percent
	Italian	20,500,000	47.8
	French	6,800,000	15.8
	Arabs	4,500,000	10.5
	German	3,600,000	8.4
	Basques	3,500,000	8.2
	Irish	1,000,000	2.3

Population

According to the 2010 revison of the World Population Prospects the total population was 40,412,000 in 2010, compared to only 17,150,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 24.9%, 64.5% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 10.6% was 65 years or older .^[7]

Argentine population structure in 2009, illustrated in a population pyramid

	Total population (× 1000)	Proportion aged 0–14 (%)	Proportion aged 15–64 (%)	Proportion aged 65+ (%)
1950	17 150	30.5	65.3	4.2
1955	18 929	30.7	64.4	4.8
1960	20 619	30.7	63.7	5.5
1965	22 283	30.2	63.7	6.2
1970	23 973	29.3	63.8	6.9
1975	26 067	29.2	63.3	7.5
1980	28 106	30.3	61.5	8.2
1985	30 389	30.8	60.6	8.6
1990	32 730	30.6	60.4	9.0
1995	34 995	29.1	61.4	9.5
2000	37 057	27.9	62.2	9.9
2005	39 145	26.9	63.0	10.1
2010	41 223	25.8	63.8	10.4
2015	43 417	25.1	64.0	10.9

Structure of the population^[8]

Structure of the population (01.07.2010 ) (Estimates- Data refer to projections based on 2001 Population Census):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	19,846,671	20,672,280	40,518,951	100
0–4	1,740,485	1,679,188	3,419,673	8.44
5–9	1,689,364	1,632,628	3,321,992	8.20
10–14	1,735,344	1,679,302	3,414,646	8.43
15–19	1,751,386	1,698,173	3,449,559	8.51
20–24	1,697,550	1,652,173	3,349,723	8.27
25–29	1,618,705	1,591,188	3,209,903	7.92
30–34	1,628,149	1,620,658	3,248,807	8.02
35–39	1,353,587	1,358,431	2,712,018	6.69
40–44	1,179,076	1,194,181	2,373,257	5.86
45–49	1,093,940	1,131,951	2,225,891	5.49
50–54	991,757	1,076,899	2,068,656	5.11
55–59	906,470	996,927	1,903,397	4.70
60–64	760,092	867,044	1,627,136	4.02
65–69	602,756	726,318	1,329,074	3.28
70–74	456,960	614,371	1,071,331	2.64
75–79	331,313	513,715	845,028	2.09
80+	309,737	639,123	948,860	2.34

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	5,165,193	4,991,118	10,156,311	25.07
15–64	12,980,712	13,187,635	26,168,347	64.58
65+	1,700,766	2,493,527	4,194,293	10.35

Structure of the population (01.07.2013) (Estimates) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	20,409,830	21,250,587	41,660,417	100
0–4	1,749,655	1,687,476	3,437,131	8.25
5–9	1,715,945	1,657,086	3,373,031	8.10
10–14	1,700,757	1,645,030	3,345,787	8.03
15–19	1,744,462	1,690,668	3,435,130	8.25
20–24	1,730,871	1,683,204	3,414,075	8.20
25–29	1,656,747	1,621,991	3,278,738	7.87
30–34	1,622,019	1,607,268	3,229,287	7.75
35–39	1,524,110	1,527,463	3,051,573	7.32
40–44	1,261,322	1,275,243	2,536,565	6.09
45–49	1,124,926	1,154,104	2,279,030	5.47
50–54	1,032,385	1,099,746	2,132,131	5.12
55–59	929,866	1,033,655	1,963,521	4.71
60–64	811,871	927,818	1,739,689	4.18
65–69	646,847	782,142	1,428,989	3.43
70–74	484,152	642,176	1,126,328	2.70
75–79	340,769	524,101	864,870	2.08
80+	333,126	691,416	1,024,542	2.46

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	5,166,357	4,989,592	10,155,949	24.38
15–64	13,438,579	13,621,160	27,059,739	64.95
65+	1,804,894	2,639,835	4,444,729	10.67

Cities

Argentina is highly urbanized,^[2] with the ten largest metropolitan areas accounting for half of the population, and fewer than one in ten living in rural areas. About 3 million people live in Buenos Aires proper, and the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area totals around 13 million, making it one of the largest urban areas in the world.^[9] The metropolitan areas of Córdoba and Rosario have around 1.3 million inhabitants each,^[9] and six other cities (Mendoza, Tucumán, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Salta and Santa Fe)^[9][10] have at least half a million people each.

The population is unequally distributed amongst the provinces, with about 60% living in the Pampa region (21% of the total area), including 15 million people in Buenos Aires Province, and 3 million each in Córdoba Province, Santa Fe Province and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Seven other provinces each have about one million people: Mendoza, Tucumán, Entre Ríos, Salta, Chaco, Corrientes and Misiones. Tucumán is the most densely populated (with 60 inhabitants/km², the only Argentine province more densely populated than the world average), while the southern province of Santa Cruz has less than 1 inhabitant/km².

In the mid-19th century, a large wave of immigration started to arrive to 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. In fact, the immigration torrent was so strong that Argentina eventually received the second-largest number of immigrants in the world, second only to the US and ahead of such immigration receptor countries such as Canada, Brazil, Australia, etc.^[11][12]

Most of these European immigrants settled in the cities which offered jobs, education and other opportunities enabling them to enter the middle class. Many also settled in the growing small towns along the expanding railway system and since the 1930s many rural workers have moved to the big cities.^[13] Urban areas reflect the influence of European immigration, and most of the larger ones feature boulevards and diagonal avenues inspired by the redevelopment of Paris. Argentine cities were originally built in a colonial Spanish grid style, centered on a plaza overlooked by a cathedral and important government buildings. Many still retain this general layout, known as a damero, meaning checkerboard, since it is based on a pattern of square blocks. The city of La Plata, designed at the end of the 19th century by Pedro Benoit, combines the checkerboard layout with added diagonal avenues at fixed intervals, and was the first in South America with electric street illumination.^[14]

Largest cities

Provinces and districts

Flag	Province/District	Capital	Official Language	Population (2010)[16]	Rank	Area (km²)	Rank	Density (/km²)[16]	Rank
	Buenos Aires City	–		2,891,082	4	203	24	14,241.8	1
	Buenos Aires Province	La Plata		15,594,428	1	307,571	1	50.7	3
	Catamarca Province	San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca		367,820	20	102,602	11	3.6	20
	Chaco Province	Resistencia		1,053,466	10	99,633	12	10.6	11
	Chubut Province	Rawson	Spanish, Welsh	506,668	18	224,686	3	2.3	22
	Córdoba Province	Córdoba		3,304,825	2	165,321	5	20.0	6
	Corrientes Province	Corrientes	Spanish, Guaraní	993,338	11	88,199	16	11.3	10
	Entre Ríos Province	Paraná		1,236,300	7	78,781	17	15.7	7
	Formosa Province	Formosa		527,895	17	72,066	19	7.3	14
	Jujuy Province	San Salvador de Jujuy		672,260	14	53,219	20	12.6	8
	La Pampa Province	Santa Rosa		316,940	22	143,440	8	2.2	23
	La Rioja Province	La Rioja		331,847	21	89,680	14	3.7	19
	Mendoza Province	Mendoza		1,741,610	5	148,827	7	11.7	9
	Misiones Province	Posadas		1,097,829	9	29,801	21	36.8	4
	Neuquén Province	Neuquén		550,334	16	94,078	13	5.8	17
	Río Negro Province	Viedma		633,374	15	203,013	4	3.1	21
	Salta Province	Salta		1,215,207	8	155,488	6	7.8	12
	San Juan Province	San Juan		680,427	13	89,651	15	7.6	13
	San Luis Province	San Luis		431,588	19	76,748	18	5.6	18
	Santa Cruz Province	Río Gallegos		272,524	23	243,943	2	1.1	24
	Santa Fe Province	Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz		3,200,736	3	133,007	10	24.1	5
	Santiago del Estero Province	Santiago del Estero		896,461	12	136,351	9	6.6	15
	Tierra del Fuego Province	Ushuaia		126,190	24	21,263^a	23	5.8^a	16
	Tucumán Province	San Miguel de Tucumán		1,448,200	6	22,524	22	64.3	2

^a Not including claims to the Falkland Islands and the Argentine Antarctica.

Vital statistics

The table below gives an overview of the number of birth and deaths in Argentina during the past century. Several sources were combined to construct the table.^[17][18][19] The number of births in 2010 (756,176) was the highest number ever recorded. The number of deaths in 2010 also was the highest ever record. However, as the population of Argentina showed a sixfold increase during the past century, the birth and death rates in 2010 (18.7 and 7.9, respectively) were rather low in a historical perspective.

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Fertility rates
1910	6 800	260 000	129 000	131 000	38.3	18.9	19.4
1911	7 070	268 000	129 000	139 000	37.9	18.2	19.7
1912	7 470	288 000	127 000	161 000	38.6	17.0	21.6
1913	7 840	298 000	127 000	171 000	38.0	16.2	21.8
1914	8 000	294 000	123 000	171 000	36.7	15.4	21.3
1915	8 150	288 000	129 000	159 000	35.3	15.8	19.5
1916	8 300	293 000	142 000	151 000	35.3	17.1	18.2
1917	8 450	284 000	136 000	148 000	33.6	16.1	17.5
1918	8 600	283 000	157 000	126 000	32.9	18.2	14.7
1919	8 750	286 000	161 000	125 000	32.7	18.4	14.3
1920	8 970	290 000	139 000	151 000	32.3	15.5	16.8
1921	9 220	302 000	146 000	156 000	32.8	15.8	17.0
1922	9 520	315 000	133 000	182 000	33.1	14.0	19.1
1923	9 890	336 000	146 000	190 000	34.0	14.8	19.2
1924	10 220	335 000	146 000	189 000	32.8	14.3	18.5
1925	10 500	334 000	148 000	186 000	31.8	14.1	17.7
1926	10 800	337 000	147 000	190 000	31.2	13.6	17.6
1927	11 130	342 000	157 000	185 000	30.7	14.1	16.6
1928	11 440	352 000	151 000	201 000	30.8	13.2	17.6
1929	11 750	355 000	162 000	193 000	30.2	13.8	16.4
1930	12 050	355 000	153 000	202 000	29.5	12.7	16.8
1931	12 290	350 000	156 000	194 000	28.5	12.7	15.8
1932	12 520	352 000	139 000	213 000	28.1	11.1	17.0
1933	12 730	332 000	150 000	182 000	26.1	11.8	14.3
1934	12 940	319 661	143 065	176 596	24.7	11.1	13.6
1935	13 150	322 002	162 768	159 234	24.5	12.4	12.1
1936	13 370	318 651	150 092	168 559	23.8	11.2	12.6
1937	13 610	319 024	154 275	164 749	23.4	11.3	12.1
1938	14 202	325 412	161 555	163 857	22.9	11.4	11.5
1939	14 397	329 393	149 153	180 240	22.9	10.4	12.5
1940	14 591	339 029	151 856	187 173	23.2	10.4	12.8
1941	14 796	340 339	148 947	191 392	23.0	10.1	12.9
1942	15 004	338 199	150 030	188 169	22.5	10.0	12.5
1943	15 216	358 977	150 166	208 811	23.6	9.9	13.7
1944	15 441	380 950	154 093	226 857	24.7	10.0	14.7
1945	15 674	388 191	157 785	230 406	24.8	10.1	14.7
1946	15 912	387 496	149 895	237 601	24.4	9.4	14.9
1947	16 109	398 468	158 059	240 409	24.7	9.7	15.0
1948	16 284	413 132	152 648	260 484	25.4	9.4	16.0
1949	16 671	419 656	150 604	269 052	25.2	9.0	16.1
1950	17 150	438 766	154 540	284 226	25.6	9.0	16.6
1951	17 506	444 326	156 406	287 920	25.4	9.0	16.5
1952	17 865	446 156	153 887	292 269	25.0	8.6	16.4
1953	18 224	459 734	162 217	297 517	25.3	8.9	16.4
1954	18 580	457 559	156 347	301 212	24.6	8.4	16.2
1955	18 931	461 293	167 357	293 936	24.4	8.8	15.5
1956	19 277	474 142	161 321	312 821	24.6	8.4	16.2
1957	19 618	478 368	179 578	298 790	24.4	9.2	15.2
1958	19 955	472 865	166 235	306 630	23.7	8.3	15.4
1959	20 291	476 211	173 409	302 802	23.5	8.5	14.9
1960	20 625	473 038	179 266	293 772	22.9	8.7	14.2
1961	20 961	476 259	176 477	299 782	22.7	8.4	14.3
1962	21 297	490 414	184 013	306 401	23.0	8.6	14.4
1963	21 633	491 109	187 492	303 617	22.7	8.7	14.0
1964	21 966	496 256	193 141	303 115	22.6	8.8	13.8
1965	22 297	481 814	196 467	285 347	21.6	8.8	12.8
1966	22 622	479 396	194 450	284 946	21.2	8.6	12.6
1967	22 945	480 317	195 265	285 052	20.9	8.5	12.4
1968	23 273	493 354	213 313	280 041	21.2	9.2	12.0
1969	23 617	580 699	222 937	357 762	24.6	9.4	15.2
1970	23 983	544 521	222 113	322 408	22.7	9.3	13.5
1971	24 376	564 787	225 000	339 787	23.2	9.2	14.0
1972	24 792	559 398	228 000	331 398	22.6	9.2	13.4
1973	25 222	561 500	231 000	330 500	22.3	9.2	13.1
1974	25 654	590 000	234 000	356 000	23.0	9.1	13.9
1975	26 079	620 000	237 000	383 000	23.8	9.1	14.7
1976	26 493	656 768	240 764	416 004	24.8	9.1	15.7
1977	26 899	661 222	234 430	426 792	24.6	8.7	15.9
1978	27 303	665 000	233 482	431 518	24.4	8.6	15.8
1979	27 712	647 864	234 926	412 938	23.4	8.5	14.9
1980	28 131	697 775	241 125	456 650	24.8	8.6	16.3
1981	28 562	680 292	241 904	438 388	23.8	8.5	15.4
1982	29 001	663 429	234 926	428 503	22.9	8.1	14.8
1983	29 448	655 876	233 071	422 805	22.3	7.9	14.4
1984	29 900	635 323	255 591	379 732	21.3	8.6	12.7
1985	30 354	650 783	241 377	409 406	21.5	8.0	13.5
1986	30 811	675 388	241 004	434 384	22.0	7.8	14.1
1987	31 270	668 136	249 882	418 254	21.4	8.0	13.4
1988	31 729	680 605	254 953	425 652	21.5	8.1	13.5
1989	32 187	667 058	252 302	414 756	20.8	7.9	12.9
1990	32 642	678 644	259 683	418 961	20.9	8.0	12.9
1991	33 094	694 776	255 609	439 167	21.0	7.7	13.3
1992	33 540	678 761	262 287	416 474	20.2	7.8	12.4
1993	33 982	667 518	267 286	400 232	19.6	7.9	11.8
1994	34 420	673 787	257 431	416 356	19.6	7.5	12.1
1995	34 855	658 735	268 997	389 738	18.9	7.7	11.2
1996	35 287	675 437	268 715	406 722	19.1	7.6	11.5
1997	35 715	692 357	270 910	421 447	19.4	7.6	11.8
1998	36 135	683 301	280 180	403 121	18.9	7.8	11.2
1999	36 541	686 748	289 543	397 205	18.8	7.9	10.9
2000	36 931	701 878	277 148	424 730	19.0	7.5	11.5
2001	37 302	683 495	285 941	397 554	18.3	7.7	10.7
2002	37 657	694 684	291 190	403 494	18.4	7.7	10.7
2003	38 001	697 952	302 064	395 888	18.4	7.9	10.4
2004	38 341	736 261	294 051	442 210	19.2	7.7	11.5
2005	38 681	721 220	293 529	427 691	18.6	7.6	11.1
2006	39 024	696 451	292 313	404 138	17.8	7.5	10.4
2007	39 368	700 792	315 852	384 940	17.8	8.0	9.8
2008	39 714	746 460	301 801	444 659	18.8	7.6	11.2
2009	40 062	745 336	304 525	440 811	18.6	7.6	11.0	2.380
2010	40 412	756 176	318 602	437 574	18.7	7.9	10.8	2.392
2011	40 900	758 042	319 059	438 983	18.5	7.8	10.7	2.379
2012[20]	41 282	738 318	319 539	418 779	17.9	7.7	10.2	2.27
2013	41 690	754 603	326 197	428 406	18.1	7.8	10.3
2014	42 669	777 012	325 539	451 437	18.2	7.6	10.6

UN estimates

The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates of vital statistics of Argentina. ^[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	457,600	163,800	293,800	25.4	9.1	16.3	3.15	66	62.5	60.4	65.1
1955–1960	479,800	169,800	310,000	24.3	8.6	15.7	3.13	60	64.5	62.1	67.4
1960–1965	497,200	188,800	308,400	23.2	8.8	14.4	3.09	60	65.2	62.4	68.6
1965–1970	521,400	209,400	312,000	22.5	9.1	13.4	3.05	57	65.7	62.7	69.3
1970–1975	585,200	224,400	360,800	23.4	9.0	14.4	3.15	48	67.2	64.1	70.7
1975–1980	694,800	241,000	453,800	25.7	8.9	16.8	3.44	39	68.6	65.4	72.2
1980–1985	676,400	247,800	428,600	23.1	8.5	14.7	3.15	32	70.1	66.8	73.7
1985–1990	701,000	264,800	436,200	22.2	8.4	13.8	3.05	27	71.0	67.5	74.6
1990–1995	721,800	274,800	447,000	21.3	8.1	13.2	2.90	24	72.1	68.6	75.8
1995–2000	711,200	282,600	428,600	19.7	7.8	11.8	2.63	22	73.2	69.6	76.9
2000–2005	731,800	296,200	435,600	19.2	7.8	11.4	2.52	15	74.3	70.6	78.1
2005–2010	741,400	309,000	432,400	18.5	7.7	10.8	2.40	13	75.3	71.6	79.1
2010–2015	754,200	321,400	432,800	17.8	7.6	10.2	2.35	11	76.2	72.5	79.8
2015–2020	749,600	334,200	415,400	16.9	7.5	9.4	2.27	10	77.1	73.6	80.6
* 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)

Ethnic groups

Indigenous peoples

Distribution of the Indigenous Peoples in Argentina

According to the data of INDEC's Complementary Survey of Indigenous Peoples (ECPI) 2004–2005, 600,000 officially recognized indigenous persons (about 1.4% 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 Guaranis and Qom, who live mostly in the northeast.^[21] In the census of 2010, 955,032 people autorreconocieron as indigenous or descendants of indigenous peoples, thus representing 2.4% of the national population. This is without prejudice that more than half of the population has at least one indigenous ancestor, although in most cases family memory lost that origin.

Indigenous population of Argentina

Ethnic group	Survey 2004–2005
	Number	%
Atacama	3,044	0.5
Avá-Guaraní	21,807	3.6
Aymara	4,104	0.7
Chané	4,376	0.7
Charrúa	4,511	0.7
Chorote	2,613	0.4
Chulupí	553	0.1
Comechingón	10,863	1.8
Diaguita/diaguita calchaquí	31,753	5.3
Guaraní	22,059	3.7
Huarpe	14,633	2.4
Kolla	70,505	11.7
Lule	854	0.1
Mapuche	113,680	18.8
Mbyá guaraní	8,223	1.4
Mocoví	15,837	2.6
Omaguaca	1,553	0.3
Ona	696	0.1
Pampa	1,585	0.3
Pilagá	4,465	0.7
Quechua	6,739	1.1
Querandí	736	0.1
Rankulche	10,149	1.7
Sanavirón	563	0.1
Tapiete	524	0.1
Tehuelche	10,590	1.8
Toba	69,452	11.5
Tonocoté	4,779	0.8
Tupí guaraní	16,365	2.7
Wichí	40,036	6.6
Others	3,864	0.6
Not specified	102,247	16.0

Immigration to Argentina

European settlement

As with other areas of new settlement such as Canada, Australia, the United States, Brazil, New Zealand and Uruguay, Argentina is considered a country of immigrants.^[22] When it is considered that Argentina was second only to the United States (27 million of immigrants) in the number of immigrants received, even ahead of such other areas of new settlement like Canada, Brazil and Australia;^[11][12] and that the country was scarcely populated following its independence, the impact of the immigration to Argentina becomes evident.

Most Argentines, between 83%^[23] to 85%,^[24] are descended from colonial-era settlers (most of which have been mixed with Amerindians) and of the 19th and 20th century immigrants from Europe, . An estimated 56% of the population is mestizo, and a further 5% to as high as 10% of Argentines are of Arab (including mixed heritage; in Argentina the Arab ethnicity is considered among the White people, just like in the US Census) or Asian heritage.^[24] In the last national census, based on self-identification, 952,032 Argentines (2.4% of the population) declared to be Amerindians^[21] Most of the 6.2 million European immigrants arriving between 1850 and 1950, regardless of origin, settled in several regions of the country. Due to this large-scale European immigration, Argentina's population more than doubled.

Immigrant population in Argentina (1869–1991)

The majority of these European immigrants came from Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Russia, Ukraine, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Bulgaria, Armenia, Greece, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and several other regions.

Italian population in Argentina arrived mainly from the northern Italian regions varying between Piedmont, Veneto and Lombardy, later from Campania and Calabria;^[25] Many Argentines have the gentilic of an Italian city, place, street or occupation of the immigrant as last name, many of them were not necessarily born Italians, but once they did the roles of immigration in Italy the name usually changed. Spanish immigrants were mainly Galicians and Basques.^[26][27] Millions of immigrants also came from France (notably Béarn and the Northern Basque Country), Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Finland, Russia and the United Kingdom.^[28] The Welsh settlement in Patagonia, known as Y Wladfa, began in 1865; mainly along the coast of Chubut Province. In addition to the main colony in Chubut, a smaller colony was set up in Santa Fe and another group settled at Coronel Suárez, southern Buenos Aires Province.^[29] Of the 50,000 Patagonians of Welsh descent, about 5,000 are Welsh speakers.^[30] The community is centered on the cities of Gaiman, Trelew and Trevelin.^[31]

Recent immigrants

Foreign born residents in Argentina by country of birth.^[32]

According to the INDEC 1,531,940 of the Argentine resident population in 2001 were born outside Argentina, representing 4.22% of the total Argentine resident population.^[33][34] In 2010, 1,805,957 of the Argentine resident population were born outside Argentina, representing 4.50% of the total Argentine resident population.^{[33][34][35][36]}

Illegal immigration has been a recent factor in Argentine demographics. Most illegal immigrants come from Bolivia and Paraguay, countries which border Argentina to the north. Smaller numbers arrive from Peru and Ecuador. The Argentine government estimates that 750,000 inhabitants lack official documents and has launched a program called Patria Grande ("Greater Homeland")^[37] to encourage illegal immigrants to regularize their status; so far over 670,000 applications have been processed under the program.^[38]

Rank (2010)	Country of birth	census 2010	census 2001	census 1990
1	Paraguay	550,713	325,046	254,115
2	Bolivia	345,272	233,464	145,670
3	Chile	191,147	212,429	247,987
4	Colombia	177,000	50,250	15,939
4	Peru	157,514	88,260	15,939
5	Italy	147,499	216,718	356,923
6	Uruguay	116,592	117,564	135,406
7	Spain	94,030	134,417	244,212
8	Brazil	41,330	34,712	33,966
9	China	8,929	4,184	2,297
10	Germany	8,416	10,362	15,451
11	South Korea	7,321	8,290	8,371
12	France	6,995	6,578	6,309
13	Japan	4,036	4,753	5,674
14	Taiwan	2,875	3,511	1,870
15	Syria	1,337	2,350	N/D
16	Lebanon	933	1,619	3,171
	Other countries	121,018	127,683	150,849
TOTAL		1,805,957	1,531,940	1,628,210

Languages

The official language of Argentina is Spanish, and it is spoken by practically the entire population in several different accents. The most common variation of Spanish in Argentina is the River Plate Spanish (Spanish: Castellano Rioplatense), and it is so named because it evolved in the central areas around the Río de la Plata basin. Its distinctive feature is widespread voseo, the use of the pronoun vos instead of tú for the second person singular.

Non-indigenous minority languages

Many Argentines also speak other European languages (Italian, Portuguese, French, Welsh, German, Swedish and Croatian, as examples) due to the vast number of immigrants from Europe that came to Argentina.^[2]

English language is a required subject in many schools, and there are also many private English-teaching academies and institutions. Young people have become accustomed to English through movies and the Internet, and knowledge of the language is also required in most jobs, so most middle-class children and teenagers now speak, read and/or understand it with various degrees of proficiency. According to an official cultural consumption survey conducted in 2006, 42.3% of Argentines claim to speak some English (though only 15.4% of those claimed to have a high level of English comprehension).^[5]

Standard German is spoken by around 500,000^[39][40] Argentines of German ancestry, though the number may be as high as 3,800,000 according to some sources.^[41] German is the third or fourth most spoken language in Argentina.

There are sources of around one million Levantine Arabic speakers in Argentina,^[39] as a result of immigration from the Middle East, mostly from Syria and Lebanon.

There is a prosperous community of Argentine Welsh-speakers of approximately 25,000^[42] in the province of Chubut, in the Patagonia region, who descend from 19th century immigrants.

Religion

The 17th century Cathedral of Córdoba

The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but until 1994 the President and Vice President had to be Catholic. The society, culture, and politics of Argentina are deeply imbued with Roman Catholicism.

Estimates for the number of Roman Catholics vary from 70% of the population,^[43] to as much as 90%.^[44] The CIA Factbook lists 92% of the country is Catholic, but only 20% are practicing regularly or weekly at a church service.^[2] The Jewish population is about 300,000 (around 0.75% of the population), the community numbered about 400,000 after World War II, but the appeal of Israel and economic and cultural pressures at home led many to leave; recent instability in Israel has resulted in a modest reversal of the trend since 2003.^[44][45] Muslim Argentines number about 500,000–600,000, or approximately 1.5% of the population; 93% of them are Sunni.^[44] Buenos Aires is home to one of the largest mosques in Latin America. A recent study found that approximately 11% of Argentines are non-religious, including those who believe in God, though not religion, agnostics (4%) and atheists (5%). Overall, 24% attended religious services regularly. Protestants were the only group in which a majority regularly attended services.^[46]

Gallery

• 

  Population distribution by province.

• 

  Built in 1906 to welcome hundreds of newcomers daily, the Hotel de Inmigrantes is now a national museum.

See also

• National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina
• Racism in Argentina

References

1. Index Mundi 2011 Argentina
2. Argentina entry at The World Factbook
3. "Proyecciones provinciales de población por sexo y grupos de edad 2001–2015" (pdf). Gustavo Pérez (in Spanish). INDEC. p. 16. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
4. Censo 2010: Censo Nacional de Población, Hogares y Viviendas (Spanish)
5. Página/12, 27 December 2006. Los idiomas de los argentinos
6. "Argentina". Ethnologue.
7. http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/
8. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm
9. "Major Cities". Government of Argentina. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
10. "Ubicacion" (in Spanish). Directorate-General of Tourism, Municipality of the City of Salta. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
12. Sánchez-Alonso, Blanca. "European Immigration into Latin America, 1870–1930" (PDF). Madrid: Universidad San Pablo-CEU. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2011.
13. Rock, David. Argentina, 1516–1982. University of California Press, 1987.
14. "EDELAP – 120 años de alumbrado público". Edelap.com.ar. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
15. "Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censos, Argentina, 2006-07" (PDF) (in Spanish). INDEC – Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos. 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
16. 2010 Census provisional results
17. B.R. Mitchell. International historical statistics: the Americas, 1750–2000.
18. United nations. Demographic Yearbooks
19. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos
21. "Encuesta Complementaria de Pueblos Indígenas 2004–2005" (in Spanish). National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina.
22. "About Argentina". Government of Argentina. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
23. The Joshua Project: Ethnic people groups of Argentina These figures do not show up explicitly, but after doing some mathematics, the results are as follows: Argentinians White -the resulting ethnic group out of the melting pot of immigration in Argentina- sum up 29,031,000 or 72.3% of the population. The other relatively unmixed European/Caucasus ethnic groups sum up 4,258,500 (10.6%), and the Arabs sum 1,173,100 more (2.9%). All together, Whites in Argentina comprise 34,462,600 or 85.8% out of a total population of 40,133,230.
24. Ben Cahoon. "Argentina". World Statesmen.org.
25. "Federaciones Regionales". Feditalia.org.ar. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
26. "Historical references". Cdtradition.net. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
27. "Monografías". Monografias.com. 7 May 2007. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
28. Chavez, Lydia (23 June 1985). "New York Times: A bit of Britain in Argentina". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
29. Birt, Paul W. (2005). "Welsh (in Argentina)". In Diarmuid Ó Néill (ed.). Rebuilding the Celtic Languages. Talybont: Y Lolfa. p. 146. ISBN 0-86243-723-7.
30. "Wales and Argentina". Wales.com website. Welsh Assembly Government. 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
31. Berresford Ellis, Peter (1983). The Celtic revolution: a study in anti-imperialism. Talybont: Y Lolfa. pp. 175–178. ISBN 0-86243-096-8.
32. Población extranjera empadronada en el país por lugar de nacimiento INDEC
33. Tendencias recientes de la inmigración internacional INDEC
34. Investigación de la Migración Internacional en Latinoamérica (IMILA) Centro Latinoamericano y Caribeño de Demografía (CELADE). Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
35. Censo Nacional de Población, Hogares y Viviendas 2001 INDEC.
36. "Cuadro P6. Total del país. Población total nacida en el extranjero por lugar de nacimiento, según sexo y grupos de edad. Año 2010" (Press release). INDEC. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
37. "Patria Grande". Patriagrande.gov.ar. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
38. "Alientan la mudanza de extranjeros hacia el interior – Sociedad –". Perfil.com. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
39. 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.
40. WorldLanguage website. Retrieved on 2007-01-29
41. "Rápida recuperación económica tras la grave crisis"
42. Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (2005). "Language of Argentina". Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. SIL International. Retrieved 2008-08-21. Welsh (25,000)
43. Marita Carballo. Valores good food here al cambio del milenio ISBN 950-794-064-2. Cited in La Nación, 8 May 2005
44. "Argentina". International Religious Freedom Report. U.S. Department of State. 2006. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
45. "Clarín". Clarin.com. 22 December 2003. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
46. "Encuesta CONICET sobre creencias" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-04-25.

External links

• Population cartogram of Argentina