Demographics of Argentina
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This article is about the demographics (distribution, ethnicity, economic status and other features of the population) of Argentina.
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Origins and ethnicity
Unlike most of its neighboring countries, Argentina's population overwhelmingly descends from Europeans. Argentines are a fusion of groups of various national and ethnic origins, the most predominant of these being the descendants of Spanish (settlers from both the colonial era and 19th and early 20th century) and Italian (19th and early 20th century) immigrants.
Waves of immigrants from many other European countries also arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and contributed to the population genepool. Syrian, Lebanese, and other Middle Eastern immigrants number about half a million, mainly in urban areas. Argentina also harbors the largest Jewish population in Latin America, about 250,000.
In the second half of the 20th century Asian inmigration started flowing to Argentina, first Japanese (mostly from Okinawa), then Koreans, Vietnamese and Chinese (for details, see the article on Asian-Argentines).
Recent genetic research, conducted by the University of Buenos Aires, on mtDNA and Y chromosomes, has also revealed a surprising picture on the Argentine demography. The research indicates that although the Argentine population is overwhelmingly "European", around 56% of all Argentines possess at least some Amerindian ancestry. [1] (http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/01/16/sociedad/s-03415.htm).
The indigenous population, estimated at 700,000, is concentrated in the provinces of the north, northwest, and south, and is less abundant in the central, more populous areas of the Atlantic coast and the Paraná river litoral. In recent years there was a substantial influx of immigrants from neighboring Latin American countries, especially during the 1990s, when the peso-dollar exchange rate was advantageous to those willing to send money to relatives abroad.
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Population and growth
The Argentine population has one of Latin America's lowest growth rates (about one percent per annum), and it also enjoys a comparatively small infant mortality rate. The age structure of the population is therefore similar to that of more developed countries, with a median age of about 29 years and a life expectancy of 75 years at birth.
As per the 2001 national census and estimates, the total population is around 35 million. This figure turns out to be lower than expected prior to the census; the difference was attributed to the impact of the economic recession.
Demographic distribution
Eighty percent of the Argentine population resides in cities or towns of more than two thousand inhabitants, and over one-third lives in the Greater Buenos Aires area. With 13 million inhabitants, this sprawling metropolis serves as the focus for national life.
An additional 1.3 million people live in the metropolitan area of Rosario, and a comparable amount in the city of Córdoba. Most of the Argentine population lives in the corresponding provinces (Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Córdoba).
The rest of the country is, by comparison, underpopulated (for example, the whole southern province of Santa Cruz has about 200,000 inhabitants.) Large extensions of the Argentine territory are dedicated to agriculture and pastures.
Economic status
Argentines enjoy high standards of living compared to other Latin American countries; half the population considers itself middle class. The general empoverishment of the country during the last part of the 1990s, culminating with the economic crisis at the turn of the millennium, have greatly diminished this impression. As of 2005, no less than 40% of the population is under the official poverty line, and income distribution has become considerably unequal.
Even in this context, the educational level remains acceptable, at least in urban areas with ready access to public schools and universities. The Argentine literacy rate is very high (97%).
Huge ranches, called estancias, cover much of the Pampa and Patagonia. Some rural people work on estancias, while others own small farms. As a general rule, country people do not live as well as city people. Because of this fact the rural population is declining as farm workers seek better life in the cities. Many rural houses are built of adobe. The poorer people live in houses with adobe walls, dirt floors, and roofs of straw and mud. Wealthy landowners have elegant country estates and luxurious city homes.
Linguistic survey
The official language of Argentina is Spanish, which is spoken by practically the whole population, employing several dialects. Rioplatense Spanish is the name given to the dialect spoken in the central areas (around the River Plate basin), which is also the standard in the media. Rioplatense's distinctive feature is the use of the pronoun vos instead of tú for the second person singular (voseo).
The province of Córdoba has a dialect with a particularly curious intonation pattern. People in the province of Mendoza speak a dialect influenced by Chilean Spanish, while in the north-west Andean provinces there is influence from Bolivian dialects.
Many people in the litoral provinces of the north-east, especially near Paraguay, speak Guaraní, an indigenous language, usually mixing it with Spanish. Near the Brazilian border, it is common to hear a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish.
There is a small but prosperous community of Welsh speakers in the province of Chubut, in the Patagonia, who descend from 19th century immigrants.
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 many jobs, so most middle-class children and teenagers now speak, read and/or understand it with various degrees of efficiency.
The average Argentinian can usually understand Italian, as well as Brazilian Portuguese, if not spoken too fast and in a more or less standard dialect.
Demographic data
Population: 39,537,943 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
- 0-14 years: 25.6% (male 5,170,721/female 4,938,171)
- 15-64 years: 63.9% (male 12,626,711/female 12,627,026)
- 65 years and over: 10.6% (male 1,712,117/female 2,463,197) (2005 est.)
Median age:
- Total: 29.42 years
- Male: 28.52 years
- Female: 30.4 years (2005 est.)
Annual population growth rate: 0.98% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 16.9 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 7.56 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
- At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
- Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
- Total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
- Total: 15.18 deaths/1,000 live births
- Male: 17.07 deaths/1,000 live births
- Female: 13.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
- Total population: 75.91 years
- Male: 72.17 years
- Female: 79.85 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.19 children born/woman (2005 est.)
- Adult prevalence rate: 0.7% (2001 est.)
- People living with HIV/AIDS: 130,000 (2001 est.)
- Deaths: 1,500 (2003 est.)
- White (mostly Spanish and Italian) 97%
- Mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry), Amerindian, or other non-white groups 3%
Religions:
Main article: Religion in Argentina
- Nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing)
- Protestant 2%
- Jewish 2%
- Other 4%
Languages:
- Spanish (official; most spoken dialect: Rioplatense Spanish)
- Guaraní (north-eastern litoral areas and near Paraguayan border)
- Portuguese (near Brazilian border)
- Others: Italian, English, French, German
See also: List of native American languages in Argentina.
Literacy (defined as individuals of age 15 and over who can read and write):
- Total population: 97.1%
- Male: 97.1%
- Female: 97.1% (2003 est.)
References
- This article incorporates information from The World Factbook, which is in the public domain.
- U.S. Department of State websitept:Demografia da Argentina