Population of Argentina

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The population of Argentina is derived from a majority of Europeans. Nevertheless, there is a numerically strong minority of mestizos and another 25 indigenous peoples recognized as independent ethnic groups on the state territory who continue to cultivate their language and culture.

Another characteristic is the very high degree of urbanization (89 percent live in settlements of 2,000 or more inhabitants), which even exceeds the corresponding values ​​from the industrialized countries. It is characteristic that in practically all regions of the country the population is concentrated in a few urban centers and that there are wide empty spaces with very low population density.

Population structure

48.7% of the population of Argentina are men, 51.3% women. However, this relatively even distribution has only become apparent for a few decades; there was a surplus of men well into the 20th century (53.5% men in 1914), a consequence of immigration. The southern provinces, particularly Tierra del Fuego , continue to have a surplus of men due to the internal migration of young men to this region, while the north, which is more affected by emigration, tends to have a surplus of women.

The age structure is also relatively even today. 26.4% of the population are under 14 years old, 63.5% of the working age between 15 and 64, and 10.1% over 65 years of age. The trend here is clearly towards an increase in the average age.

The distribution of the population shows a high degree of urbanization. 89.31% live in localities with more than 2000 inhabitants, 62.29% in large cities with over 100,000 inhabitants. 3.40% live in towns with less than 2,000 inhabitants and 7.28% live in the open countryside, where there is also a high surplus of men at 54.02%.

The proportion of foreigners has declined continuously since the wave of immigration at the end of the 19th century, when it had meanwhile reached 30%, and in 2001 was only 4.2%. The largest group of foreigners in 2010 were the Paraguayans (550,713), Bolivians (345,272), Chileans (191,147) and Peruvians (157,514). In 2016/2017, according to different estimates, the proportion of foreigners was 4.5 - 4.9%, or around 2.2 million inhabitants. The majority of immigrants (54%) were female.

7.1% of the population are affected by physical or mental disabilities, 6.8% for men and 7.3% for women.

Demographic indicators

Argentina shows a high level of development among the developing countries, in the index of human development it was ranked 38 (2007/2008) and thus in first place in Latin America. However, this was only partially reflected in the demographic indicators; child mortality , for example, was at a similarly high level as in Jamaica , despite the country's significantly lower general level of development.

According to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC), the demographic indicators for 2005 to 2010 were as follows:

The following observations can be made about this data:

  • The fertility rate and birth rate have fallen sharply since the 19th century, but they seem to have largely stabilized at the current level. In some cities, both numbers are significantly lower (1.6 children per woman in Buenos Aires), while rural regions have values ​​up to 5.
  • The child mortality rate continues to decline despite the economic crisis. However, despite the country's high level of development, it is only at a medium level in Latin America (in Cuba and Chile it is significantly lower at 5.6 and 7.8 respectively)
  • Life expectancy is also only at a medium level in a global comparison.

Population development

The population of Argentina made a sudden increase, especially around 1900. This was due to a strong wave of immigration from Europe, which later decisively shaped the country's culture. Between 1881 and 1914, two million Italians, 1.4 million Spaniards, 170,000 French and 160,000 Russians immigrated. From 1930 immigration from Europe declined, but new citizens came from the neighboring countries Chile, Bolivia and Paraguay as well as Peru later.

Population growth has generally declined since the middle of the 20th century. This is due both to a slowdown in the flow of immigrants (at the moment immigration and emigration are almost balanced out) as well as to the decline in the birth rate, which is now only slightly above the level of industrialized countries and is only sufficient for marginal natural growth.

year population Growth rate (% / year) * Proportion of foreigners (%) Urban population (%) Children per woman Life expectancy at birth
1869 1,877,490 k. A. 11.2 k. A. k. A. k. A.
1895 4,044,911 k. A. 24.9 37.4 6.0 40
1914 7,903,662 3.6 30.3 52.7 5.3 48.5
1947 15,893,811 2.04 15.3 62.2 3.3 61.1
1960 20,013,793 1.79 13.0 72.0 3.0 66.4
1970 23,364,431 1.56 9.5 79.0 2.9 65.6
1980 27,949,480 1.81 6.8 83.0 3.44 69.0
1991 32,615,528 1.47 5.0 88.4 2.8 72.1
2001 36.260.130 1.01 4.2 89.3 2.4 74.1
2010 40.117.096 4.5
2017 44,681,886 4.5-4.9

*) based on the period between the current and the previous census

Regional characteristics

Origin and demographic structure of the population differ from region to region, which results from the history of the country with different migration movements from neighboring countries, but also from the economic situation of the individual parts of the country. The following describes the characteristics by region.

Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires Province

In both the city and the province of Buenos Aires, the majority of the population is descended from European immigrants. A distinction can be made between two groups: on the one hand the immigrants of the main wave (1880-1915) who settled in the cities and especially Buenos Aires , on the other hand the so-called colonizers (colonizadores), who have often lived in the country since the beginning of the 19th century ethnically very homogeneous agricultural colonies formed, which later mostly also became cities.

The reason for the dominance of the Europeans in this province is on the one hand the small, nomadic indigenous population in the north of the area, on the other hand the systematic extermination of the indigenous population in the so-called conquista del desierto around 1880 in the south, where the well-fortified equestrian culture of the Mapuche has long been present could hold. The Argentines of Spanish descent dominated until the middle of the 19th century, but this changed with the immigration laws of Nicolás Avellaneda's government . During the first wave of immigration around 1900, mainly immigrants from Italy settled in the big cities , followed by the Spanish and English as well as some French and Germans ; in the country besides from these countries also from Poland and Russia . These groups and their descendants have made up about 85 percent of the region's population since that time.

From the 1930s onwards, internal migration from more remote provinces to the capital led to a new class consisting primarily of mestizos (and therefore often discriminated against as cabecitas negras , "black heads ").

The population distribution in the province of Buenos Aires is very even , with the exception of the agglomeration of Gran Buenos Aires itself and the extreme south of the province, where the density is very low. There are many small and medium-sized towns in which a large part of the population is concentrated. According to the 2001 INDEC census, the picture is as follows:

Places and agglomerations population Percentage ownership %
over 1 million inhabitants 12,046,799 72.56
100,000–1 million 1,736,913 10.46
50,000-100,000 778.680 4.69
10,000-50,000 1,105,372 6.66
2,000-10,000 430,593 2.59
under 2,000 504.984 3.04
total 16,603,341 100

The dominance of the Buenos Aires metropolitan area is particularly clear in this table: 72 percent of the residents of the area live in this agglomeration.

Central Argentina (Región Centro)

In the Centro region , which combines the provinces of Córdoba , Entre Ríos and Santa Fe , the situation is similar to that in the province of Buenos Aires. Most of the inhabitants come from Europeans who either immigrated to the big cities or founded "colonies" in the countryside - including the Volga Germans in Entre Ríos. However, the proportion of mestizos is higher in this area, which is mainly due to the fact that parts of these areas were already relatively densely populated by the so-called criollos , mixed race of Indians and Spaniards, before the wave of immigration around 1880 , and immigration is largely on concentrated the region around Buenos Aires.

In the north of the province of Santa Fe there are still some indigenous people of the Toba Indians according to their culture, there are also Guaraní colonies in some remote areas of Entre Ríos . In addition, around 5000 comechingones live in Córdoba, but their culture has largely been lost and their language is no longer spoken.

The population distribution in this region is uneven. The focus is on the one hand on the rivers of the Paraná and the Río Uruguay , on the other hand in the area around Córdoba and on the main connecting routes between the largest cities. In contrast, the population densities are very low in the north of Santa Fe and Córdoba and generally in the mountain regions of the Sierras de Córdoba with the exception of the tourist areas such as the Valle de Punilla .

The population structure is structured as follows:

Places and agglomerations Cordoba Entre Ríos Santa Fe total Percentage ownership %
over 1 million inhabitants 1,368,301 0 1,161,188 2,529,489 35.00
100,000–1 million 149.303 385,409 454.238 988.950 13.68
50,000-100,000 208,587 64,954 233.734 507.275 7.02
10,000-50,000 541.515 367.020 448,543 1,357,078 18.78
2,000-10,000 453.361 127,469 377,689 958.519 13.26
under 2,000 345.734 202.733 325,309 873.776 12.09
total 3,066,801 1,158,147 3,000,701 7,225,649 100

The table shows that although around half of the region's population is in the big cities, the degree of urbanization is much more balanced than in the Buenos Aires region.

Northeast (Región Noreste)

In the Región Noreste Argentino , the provinces of Corrientes , Misiones , Chaco and Formosa , the descendants of immigrants from Europe also make up the majority of the population, but the proportion of mestizo and indigenous people is significantly higher than in central Argentina. It is particularly high in western Formosa and Chaco, where peoples such as the Wichí (also matacos ), Toba and Chiriguano (Guaraní groups who came into contact with the Andean peoples) have their ancestral settlement area; in Misiones and Corrientes, however, there are only a few Guaraní left . In total, around 150,000 people speak a native language, but many of them are bilingual.

The population in all provinces is concentrated in the river valleys of the Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay. 80 percent of the population live there and all major cities in the region are located there. Misiones is still the most evenly populated province thanks to its very mild climate and good soils, which are mainly used for yerba cultivation (mate). In Corrientes there is a large unpopulated area in the center of the province, where swamps ( Esteros del Iberá ) are located and there are only a few smaller towns. The west of Formosa and Chaco is relatively sparsely populated, but it is growing rapidly due to oil production and new agricultural areas. According to INDEC, Juan José Castelli was between 1991 and 2001 with 97 percent after the tourist seaside resort Pinamar the fastest growing independent city with more than 20,000 inhabitants in the whole country.

Places and agglomerations Formosa Chaco Misiones Corrientes total Percentage ownership %
over 1 million inhabitants 0 0 0 0 0 0
100,000–1 million 198.074 359,590 279.961 316,782 1,154,407 34.28
50,000-100,000 0 76,794 51.503 66,709 195.006 5.79
10,000-50,000 99,619 208,616 223,867 256.369 788.471 23.41
2,000-10,000 80,489 139,695 124.717 99.180 444.081 13.18
under 2,000 108,377 199,751 285.474 191,951 785.553 23.32
total 486,559 984.446 965,522 930.991 3367518 100

It is noticeable in this region that in addition to the agglomeration in the provincial capitals (the only major cities in the region), where a third of the population lives, the degree of urbanization is relatively low and many people still live in towns with less than 2,000 inhabitants, many of them even in the open country.

Northwest (Región Noroeste)

The region of northwest Argentina ( Región Noroeste Argentino ) forms with the provinces Jujuy , Salta , Catamarca , La Rioja , Tucumán and Santiago del Estero a relatively large and densely populated, but culturally relatively homogeneous area. A comparatively high proportion of mestizo and indigenous people can be found in all of these provinces, and the component of inhabitants of Arab origin (especially Syrians and Lebanese ) and Armenians is relatively high.

The indigenous people are divided into highland dwellers and lowland dwellers. Among the first are the Kollas , which emerged from numerous subgroups such as the Omaguacas and are deeply rooted in culture in the Inca tradition, they were the most technologically advanced of all Argentine indigenous groups. The Diaguita- Calchaquíes, who live further south, are now almost completely mestizized and have almost perished as an independent culture, even if there are strong tendencies towards resuscitation in the affected area, especially in the town of Amaicha del Valle in Tucumán, where the mayor of the Argentina's only Indian Council rules the city. The lowland Indians inhabit the Chaco plain, among them you can find Toba, Wichí and Chiriguanos in the northeast, but also Chané , Chorotes , Chulupíes and the kolla-guaraníes , a mixed community of highland and lowland inhabitants. The northeast of Salta is generally considered to be the "most multicultural" area of ​​Argentina, 8 different peoples live here in a small area.

A characteristic of the region is a concentration on certain areas that coincide with the traffic axes and river valleys; for example the south of Jujuy, central Salta and Tucumán and the capitals of La Rioja and Catamarca. In contrast, remote areas are only sparsely populated, especially on the plateau. What is striking, however, is the high population growth in the region, especially in the large cities.

Places and agglomerations Catamarca Jujuy La Rioja Salta Santiago del Estero Tucuman total Percentage ownership %
over 1 million inhabitants 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
100,000–1 million 171,923 278,336 143,684 468,583 327.974 738.479 2,128,979 47.75
50,000-100,000 0 55,220 0 123.223 0 0 178,443 4.00
10,000-50,000 54,618 117.955 51,702 198.391 107,527 232.925 763.118 17.11
2,000-10,000 21,198 68,562 45,721 109,974 96.104 92,230 433,789 9.72
under 2,000 86,829 91,815 48,876 178,880 273,748 274,889 955.037 21.42
total 334,568 611,888 289.983 1,079,051 804.457 1,338,523 4,458,470 100

What is striking is the polarization between the provincial capitals, which account for almost half of the population, and the small towns with less than 2,000 inhabitants, which make up almost another quarter. Only in the provinces of Salta and Tucumán are there notable medium-sized cities.

Patagonia (Región Patagonia)

The Patagonia Argentina region (provinces Río Negro , Chubut , Neuquén , La Pampa , Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego ) is, apart from a few urban centers, very thinly and unevenly populated. The population is made up for the most part of internal migrants from other regions, with the Northwest Argentinians taking first place. Even if most of the inhabitants of European descent come from Italians and Spaniards, there is a large number of British descent, among which the Welsh (around Puerto Madryn and Trelew ) and the English in Santa Cruz are particularly noteworthy.

Most of the indigenous peoples in the region are now mestizized and their culture and language are only processed by scientists (e.g. the Ona or Selk'nam and Yamaná in Tierra del Fuego and Pehuenches and Tehuelches on the mainland). The Mapuche (or Araucans) in the southern Andes are an exception, although the vast majority live in Chile (1 million versus 100,000 Argentine Mapuche). Even of them, however, only a small part still speaks the original Mapudungun language .

The degree of urbanization is uneven. The more sparsely populated provinces such as Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego are much more urbanized than Rio Negro and Chubut. La Pampa is a special case, the eastern part of which is agrarian and therefore not very urbanized, while in the west the small population is concentrated in a few centers.

Places and agglomerations Chubut La Pampa Neuquén Río Negro Santa Cruz Tierra del Fuego total Percentage ownership %
over 1 million inhabitants 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
100,000–1 million 135,632 102,399 224,742 0 0 0 462.773 22.71
50,000-100,000 145.919 52,475 0 225.063 79.144 52,681 555.282 27.25
10,000-50,000 50,582 11,869 158.008 166.283 61,299 45,430 493.471 24.21
2,000-10,000 37,677 76,635 37,233 75.193 48,919 0 275,657 13.52
under 2,000 43,427 55,916 54.172 86,283 7,596 2,968 250,362 12.29%
total 413.237 299.294 474.155 552.822 196,958 101.079 2,037,545 100

It is noticeable that the medium-sized cities (10,000–100,000 inhabitants) have almost half of the population. This is because there are only three major cities ( Santa Rosa de Toay , Comodoro Rivadavia and Neuquén ). However, their number could increase in the near future , because Trelew , Río Gallegos , San Carlos de Bariloche (80,000–90,000 inhabitants) as well as Puerto Madryn and Río Grande (around 60,000) show a strong population growth.

Cuyo (Cuyo Region)

The Cuyo region (provinces of San Luis , Mendoza and San Juan ) is a very unevenly populated area. This is due to the barren Monte landscape, which allows agriculture only in oases; therefore the population of the region is concentrated there.

There are hardly any indigenous people in the region, the Huarpes , Ranqueles and Diaguita-Calchaquíes with their sub-tribes such as the Comechingones are almost completely mestizized. Nevertheless, the proportion of mestizos is relatively high. Among the immigrants, in addition to the Europeans, the dominance of descendants of Arab peoples (Syrians, Lebanese, Armenians) is striking.

Places and agglomerations Mendoza San Juan San Luis total Percentage ownership %
over 1 million inhabitants 0 0 0 0 0
100,000–1 million 955.046 421,640 162.011 1,538,697 59.93
50,000-100,000 79,662 0 96,781 176,443 6.87
10,000-50,000 108.068 65,666 11,159 184,893 7.20
2,000-10,000 109,911 45,716 50,561 206.188 8.03
under 2,000 326.964 87.001 47,421 461.386 17.97
total 1,579,651 620.023 367.933 2,567,607 100

The concentration in the big cities on the one hand and among the rural population on the other hand results from the use of the land, whereby the vast steppe and monte areas are hardly populated and in the oases there are many small and medium-sized farms in addition to the big cities.

Indigenous population

Tehuelche Indians (around 1832)

Main article: Indigenous peoples in Argentina

Despite the fact that, according to a study by the University of Buenos Aires, 56 percent of all Argentines are in part descendants of indigenous peoples , their culture has now been pushed back to a few peripheral areas. However, since the final arrival of democracy in the 1980s, there has been an upturn across the country in the movements of the indigenous peoples who have come together in organizations such as the AIRA (Asociación de Indígenas de la República Argentina) and campaigning for their rights in the Society fight.

Todays situation

Around a third of the Indians of Argentina have left their traditional settlement area today and have migrated to the big cities. On the one hand, there is increased mestizisation there, on the other hand, numerous indigenous organizations have been founded in order to be able to maintain the culture and language. Well-known examples are the Toba districts of Resistencia and Rosario , where members of the same people live together and support each other economically.

Despite numerous rights that have been granted to the Indians over the years, they are still affected by discrimination and disadvantage vis-à-vis the European population. They are far more affected by poverty, unemployment and illiteracy than the rest of Argentines.

Discrimination and racism

As in many other countries around the world is also available in Argentina racism and discrimination of ethnic minorities .

The most widespread today is the discrimination against Native American Argentinians and foreigners from neighboring countries. The Indians and mestizos have been despectively referred to as cabecitas negras (black-headed) since the beginning of the 20th century , today the terms negros (negro) and grasas (untranslatable, as they are not related to "fat", but from "grone", the Lunfardo - Inversion from negro ) popular, which are not always used with a racist background, but also generally as a derogatory term for members of the lower class. The discrimination against foreigners from neighboring countries has similar characteristics, since they also mostly belong to the lower class. Here, too, there are despective terms such as paragua (for Paraguayans), bolita (for Bolivians), chilote (for Chileans) and brasuca (for Brazilians). In football in particular, there are numerous sneers of rival fan groups who are known as Bolivians, for example, which shows the low status of these ethnic groups in large parts of popular culture.

Anti-Semitism , there were mainly in the 1930s and 1950s, when the governments of Argentina with the fascism and the Nazi sympathizers. A secret law was passed in 1938 to prevent the entry of Jews - nevertheless Argentina was the main host country for refugees from Europe - and numerous Nazi war criminals were admitted in the post-war period. Another anti-Semitic phase could be observed in the military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983 , when a disproportionately large number of Jews fell victim to state terror . Today there are still anti-Semitic groups in the country, as shown by the still unresolved attacks on Israeli institutions in 1992 and 1994 . Also in parts of the extreme political left , anti-Israeli or anti-Semitic positions are often represented, especially in the left-wing extremist organization Quebracho , which publicly acknowledged the anti-Israel positions of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2006 .

However, certain ethnic groups of European descent also suffered from discrimination, particularly at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The Spaniards in particular were seen as intellectually inferior and called gallegos ( Galicians ) after an allegedly particularly "backward" region of the country. Even today, numerous very popular jokes about this group are circulating in Argentina, which are comparable to East Frisian jokes . The discrimination against Poles and French had a different background and only affected women who were generally associated with prostitution .

Discrimination against Europeans is no longer widespread today, with the exception of jokes about Spaniards. On the other hand, since the Argentina crisis and in particular the inauguration of George W. Bush, there has been an increase in anti-Americanism , which is particularly evident in (albeit quite harmless) acts of violence by demonstrators against US institutions (American embassies and consulates, McDonald’s - and Citibank branches).

swell

  1. ↑ En la Argentina viven 1.8 millones de extranjeros. Retrieved May 18, 2019 (Spanish).
  2. ↑ Argentina tiene and 4.5% de extranjeros, el menor porcentaje en décadas. Retrieved May 18, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Argentina - Inmigración 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2019 (Spanish).
  4. ↑ Data in this section: INDEC ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.indec.gov.ar
  5. ^ Website of the Human Development Index
  6. ↑ INDEC website ( Memento of the original dated December 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.indec.mecon.gov.ar
  7. ^ Human Development Index
  8. ↑ En la Argentina viven 1.8 millones de extranjeros. Retrieved May 18, 2019 (Spanish).
  9. ↑ Article on the study ( Memento of the original from August 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Spanish)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.indigenas.bioetica.org
  10. ↑ The section is based on the work Los migrantes y la discriminación en Argentina by José Sáez Capel, published in: Scripta Nova, Revista Electrónica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales , Universidad de Barcelona, ​​2001.
  11. ↑ Historia de los judíos en la Argentina: Judios en la Argentina - La circular 11. In: eSefarad. Retrieved May 18, 2019 (Spanish).
  12. ↑ See also the Spanish article on Quebracho and an article in the Clarín newspaper

literature

  • José A. Friedl Zapata: Argentina. Nature, society, history, culture, economy. Erdmann, Tübingen 1978, ISBN 3-7711-0307-X .

Web links