Argentines


Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Argentine.
Argentina is a multiethnic society, home to people of various ethnic, racial, religious, denomination, 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. 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, and ahead of other immigrant destinations such as Canada, Brazil and Australia.

Ethnic groups

Overview

Argentina is a multiethnic society, which means that it is home to people of many different ethnic, racial, religious, and denominational backgrounds. Argentina is a melting pot of different peoples.
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, and famines. The main immigration sources were from Europe, the countries from the Near and the 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.
Therefore, most Argentines are of full or partial European descent, and are either descendants of colonial-era settlers and/or of the 19th and 20th century immigrants from Europe.
The most common ethnic groups are Europeans and/or Mestizos. According to Argentine government websites, it is estimated that more than 20 million Argentines, more than 46% of the total population, have Italian ancestry, wholly or in part. Argentines descend mostly from Spaniards, Italians, Native Americans and to a lesser extent from French, Germans, East Asians, and others.
Immigration of recent decades includes mainly Paraguayans, Bolivians, Peruvians, and Brazilians, among other Latin Americans, Eastern Europeans, Africans, Arabs, and Asians.
  • In the 1778 census, mulattoes were included in the "Black" category despite having up to 50% White admixture.

    Genetics studies

Large comprehensive studies across Argentina's many regions in order to characterize the genetic admixture have been lacking. Small sample size studies give the following composition.
  • Homburguer et al., 2015, PLOS One Genetics: 67% European, 28% Amerindian, 4% African and 1.4% Asian.
  • Olivas et al., 2017, Nature: 84,1% European and 12,8% Amerindian.
  • Seldin et al., 2006, American Journal of Physical Anthropology: 78.0% European, 19.4% Amerindian and 2.5% African. Using other methods it was found that it could be: 80.2% European, 18.1% Amerindian and 1.7% African.
  • Genera : 85% Caucasian, 13% Amerindian and 1% African.
  • According to Caputo et al., 2021, the study of autosomal DIPs show that the genetic contribution is 77.8% European, 17.9% Amerindian and 4.2% African. The X-DIPs matrilineal show 52.9% European, 39.6% Amerindian and 7.5% African.
  • Avena et al., 2012, PLOS One Genetics: 65% European, 31% Amerindian, and 4% African.
  • * Buenos Aires Province: 76% European and 24% others.
  • * South Zone : 54% European and 46% others.
  • * Northeast Zone : 54% European and 46% others.
  • * Northwest Zone : 33% European and 67% others.
  • Other studies indicate that the genetic composition between regions would be:
  • * Central Zone: 81% European, 15% Amerindian and 4% African
  • * South Zone: 68% European, 28% Amerindian and 4% African
  • * Northeast Zone: 79% European, 17% Amerindian and 4% African
  • * Northwest Zone: 55% European, 35% Amerindian and 10% African
  • Corach et al.,. 2010, Annals of Human Genetics: 78.5% European, 17.3% Amerindian, and 4.2% African ancestry.
  • Oliveira, 2008, on Universidade de Brasília: 60% European, 31% Amerindian and 9% African.
  • National Geographic: 61% Caucasian, 27% Amerindian ancestry and 9% African.
A team led by Daniel Corach conducted a study in 2010, analyzing 246 samples from eight provinces and three different regions of the country. The results were as follows: the analysis of Y-Chromosome DNA revealed a 94.1% of European contribution, and only 4.9% and 0.9% of Native American and Black African contribution, respectively. Mitochondrial DNA analysis again showed a great Amerindian contribution by maternal lineage, at 53.7%, with 44.3% of European contribution, and a 2% African contribution. The study of 24 autosomal markers also proved a large European contribution of 78.5%, against 17.3% of Amerindian and 4.2% Black African contributions.
Several studies found out that the European ancestry in Argentina comes mainly from the Iberian Peninsula and Italy with a much lower contribution from Central and Northern Europe. The Italian component appears strongest in the East and Center-West, while the Spanish influence dominates in the North East and North West.

European Argentines

Argentines of total or partial 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, and mainly of immigrants from Europe in the great immigratory wave from the mid 19th century to the mid 20th century. No recent Argentine census has included comprehensive questions on ethnicity, although numerous studies have determined that European Argentines have been a majority in the country since 1914. Some international sources claim the European component of the population to be at around 97%.
The most numerous immigrant European communities are: Spaniards, Italians, Germans, Scandinavians, Slavs, Finns, the French, the Irish, Portuguese, the Dutch, among others in smaller number.
There are approximately 300,000 Romani descendants in Argentina. They belong to the Romani subgroups Greek, Moldavian and Russian Kalderash, some Lovari and some Chilean Xoraxane. There are also Spanish Kalé and Boyash living in Argentina.

Mixed Argentines

Within the population totals, there may be an imprecise amount of mixed population.
In one of the most comprehensive genetic studies involving the population of Argentina, 441 Argentines from across the North East, Salta, Chubut and 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 by Daniel Corach that attempted to find the average Argentine ancestry 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.

Indigenous Argentines

Argentina has 35 officially recognized indigenous people groups. As of the, some 955,032 Argentines self-identify as indigenous or first-generation descendants of indigenous peoples.
The most populous indigenous groups were the Aonikenk, Kolla, Qom, Wichí, Diaguita, Mocoví, Huarpe peoples, Mapuche and Guarani Many Argentines also identify as having at least one indigenous ancestor; a genetic study conducted by the University of Buenos Aires in 2011 showed that 56% of the 320 Argentines sampled were shown to have at least one indigenous ancestor in one parental lineage and around 11% had indigenous ancestors in both parental lineages. Other studies suggest that figure could be 30%.
Jujuy Province, in the Argentine Northwest, is home to the highest percentage of households with at least one indigenous resident or a direct descendant of an indigenous person; Chubut and Neuquén Provinces, in Patagonia, have upwards of 12%.

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 19th and 20th centuries. In the 19th century, West Asian immigrants, primarily from Lebanon and Syria came as a result of the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war. In the early 20th century, a small wave of East Asian immigrants, particularly from Japan came to the country.

East Asians Argentines

The first Argentines of East 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 wave of Asian immigration so far to Argentina, from mainland Chinese immigrants, eventually becoming the fourth largest immigrant community in 2013, after Paraguayans, Bolivians, and Peruvians. The small East Asian Argentine population has generally kept a low profile, and is accepted by greater Argentine society. 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.

West Asian Argentines

Arabs and Argentines with partial Arab ancestry represent about 3.2 million people, whose ancestry traces back to any of various waves of immigrants, largely from the Levantine region of Western Asia, from what is now Syria and Lebanon; and from Cilicia and Palestine in a lesser extent. 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.
There are also 80,000 to 135,000 descendants of Armenians in Argentina, most of them in Buenos Aires, representing one of the largest Armenian diasporas in the world.