Argentines of European descent
Encyclopedia
Argentine people
of European descent
belongs to several communities that has migrated to Argentina from Europe, contributing to the country's cultural and demographic variety. They are the descendants of colonists from Spain
and Portugal
during the colonial period prior to 1810, or in the majority of cases, of Italians
and other Europeans who arrived in the great immigration wave during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and who largely intermarried among their many nationalities during and after this wave. No recent Argentine census has included comprehensive questions on ethnicity, although numerous studies have determined that Argentines of European descent have been a majority in the country since 1914.
, they settled especially in the central-eastern region known as the Pampas (the provinces of Buenos Aires
, Santa Fe
, Córdoba
, Entre Ríos
and La Pampa), Their presence in the northern region is less evident due to several reasons: it was the most densely populated region of the country (mainly by Amerindian and Mestizo
people) until the immigratory wave of 1857 to 1940, and it was the area where the European newcomers settled the least. During the last decades, due to internal migration from these northern provinces, and due to immigration especially from Bolivia
, Perú
and Paraguay
(which have Amerindian and Mestizo majorities), the percentage of European Argentines in certain areas of the Greater Buenos Aires
, and the provinces of Salta
and Jujuy
has significantly decreased as well.
Neither official census data nor statistically significant studies exist on the precise amount or percentage of Argentines of European descent today. The Argentine government recognizes the different communities, but Argentina's National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) does not conduct ethnic/racial censuses, nor includes questions about ethnicity. The Census conducted on October 27, 2010, did include questions on Indigenous peoples (complementing the survey performed in 2005) and on Afro-descendants.
Nevertheless, most international sources agree that Argentines of European descent make up around 85% of the country population: Encyclopedia Britannica and Worldstatesmen.org estimate a figure of 86.4%, and the World Fact File powered by Dorling Kindersley Books also states a figure of 83%. A detailed study on the ethnic composition of Latin America
, written by Mexican
UAEM scholar Francisco Lizcano Fernández, and Ethnic Groups Worldwide: A Ready Reference Handbook, written by David Levinson, also provide an estimate of 85% for people of Europeans origin in Argentina. Other on-line encyclopedias and works of reference display similar percentages.
The figure of 97% quoted in the CIA Factbook likely resulted from the inclusion of mestizo populations in the figure, or may have resulted from a campaign implemented by Argentina's ruling elite in the early 20th century to present the country's society to be as white as possible. It is frequently consulted and used as source for many news articles.
ancestry. The first study on the matter in Argentina was conducted in 1985. A scientific team from the University of Buenos Aires
School of Medicine analyzed the blood types of 73,875 donors from the Blood Bank of the Policlínico Ferroviario Central, with the purpose of finding European and Amerindian genetic components. The samples were organized following a map of the country, and the study concluded that "the percentages found in native populación were: European component, 81.47%-81.77%, and Amerindian component 18.23%-18.57%."
Another study of the Amerindian ancestry of Argentines was headed by Argentine geneticist Daniel Corach of the University of Buenos Aires. The results of this study in which DNA
from 320 individuals in 9 Argentine provinces was examined showed that 56% of these individuals had at least one Amerindian ancestor. Another study on African ancestry was also conducted by the University of Buenos Aires
in the city of La Plata
. In this study 4.3% of the 500 study participants were shown to have some degree of African ancestry. Nevertheless, it must be said here that this type of genetic studies -meant only to search for specific lineages in the mtDNA or in the Y-Chromosome, which do not recombine- may be misleading. For example, a person with seven European great-grandparents and only one Amerindian/Mestizo great-grandparent will be included in that 56%, although his/her phenotype will most probably be Caucasian.
A separate genetic study on genic admixture was conducted by Argentine and French scientists from multiple academic and scientific institutions (CONICET, UBA, Centres D'Anthropologie de Toulouse). This study showed that the average contribution to Argentine ancestry was 79.9% European
, 15.8% Amerindian and 4.3% African. Another similar study was conducted in 2006, and its results were also similar. A team led by Michael F. Seldin from the University of California
, with members of scientist institutes from Argentina
, United States, Sweden
and Guatemala
, analyzed samples from 94 individuals and concluded that the average genetic estructure of Argentine population contains 78.1% European contribution, 19.4% Amerindian contribution and 2.5% African contribution (using the Bayesian algorithm).
A team led by Daniel Corach conducted a new study in 2009, 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 (a little higher than the 90% of the 2005 study), 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 78.6%, against 17.3% of Ameridian and 4.1% Black African contributions. The samples were compared with three assumed parental populations, and the MDS analysis plot resulting showed that "most of the Argentinean samples clustered with or closest to Europeans, some appeared between Europeans and Native Americans indicating some degree of genetic admixture between these two groups, three samples clustered close to Native Americans, and no Argentinean sampled appeared close to Africans".
in the Argentine territory began in 1516, when Spanish Conquistador
Juan Díaz de Solís
explored the Río de la Plata
. In 1527, Sebastian Cabot
founded the fort of Sancti Spiritus, near Coronda
, Santa Fe; this was the first Spanish settlement on Argentine soil. The process of Spanish occupation continued with expeditions coming from Upper Peru
(present-day Bolivia
), that founded Santiago del Estero
in 1553, San Miguel de Tucumán in 1565 and Córdoba
in 1573, and from Chile, which founded Mendoza
in 1561 and San Juan
in 1562. Other Spanish expeditions founded the cities of Santa Fe
(1573), Buenos Aires
(1580), and Corrientes
(1588).
It was not until the creation of the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata in 1776, that the first censuses with classification into casta
s were conducted. The 1778 Census ordered by viceroy
Juan José de Vértiz
in Buenos Aires
revealed that, of a total population of 37,130 inhabitants, the Spaniards and Criollos
numbered 25,451, or 68.55% of the total. Another census carried out in the Corregimiento de Cuyo
in 1777 showed that the Spaniards and Criollos numbered 4,491 (or 51.24%) out of a population of 8,765 inhabitants. In Córdoba
(city and countryside) the Spanish/Criollo people comprised a 39.36% (about 14,170) of 36,000 inhabitants.
According to data from the Argentine government in 1810, about 6,000 Spanish lived in the territory of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata Spanish, of a total population of around 700,000 inhabitants. This small number indicates that the presence of people with European ancestors was very small, and a large number of Criollos were mixed with indigenous and African mothers, although the fact was often hidden; in this regard, for example, according to researcher José Ignacio García Hamilton
the Liberator, José de San Martín
, would be mestizo.
Nevertheless, these censuses were generally restricted to the cities and the surrounding rural areas, so little is known about the racial composition of large areas of the Viceroyalty, though it is supposed that Spaniards and Criollos were always a minority, with the other castas comprising the majority. It is worth noting that, since a person who was classified as Peninsular or Criollo had access to more privileges in the colonial society, many Castizo
s (resulting from the union of a Spanish and a mestizo) purchased their limpieza de sangre
("purity of blood").
Although being a minority in demographics terms, the Criollo people played a leading role in the May Revolution
of 1810, as well as in the independence of Argentina
from the Spanish Empire
in 1816. Argentine national heroes such as Manuel Belgrano
and Juan Martín de Pueyrredón
, military men as Cornelio Saavedra
and Carlos María de Alvear
, and politicians as Juan José Paso
and Mariano Moreno
were mostly Criollos of Spanish, Italian or French descent. The Second Triumvirate
and the 1813 assembly
enacted laws encouraging immigration, and instituted advertising campaigns and contract work programs among prospective immigrants in Europe.
The Minister of Government of Buenos Aires Province, Bernardino Rivadavia
, established the Immigration Commission in 1824. He appointed Ventura Arzac to conduct a new Census in the city, and it showed these results: the city had 55,416 inhabitants, of which 40,000 were of European descent (about 72.2%); of this total of Whites, a 90% were Criollos, a 5% were Spaniards, and the other 5% were from other European nations.
After the wars for independence, a long period of internal struggle
followed. During the period between 1826 and 1852, some Europeans settled in the country as well -sometimes hired by the local governments. Notable among them, Savoy
an litographer Charles Pellegrini
(President Carlos Pellegrini
's father) and his wife Maria Bevans, Neapolitan
journalist Pedro de Angelis, and German physician/zoologist Hermann Burmeister
. Because of this long conflict, there were neither economic resources nor political stability to carry out any census until the 1850s, when some provincial censuses were organized. These censuses did not continue the classification into castas typical of the pre-independence period.
The administration of Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas
, who had been given the sum of public power
by other governors in the Argentine Confederation
, maintained Rivadavia' Immigration Commission, which continued to advertise Agricultural colonies in Argentina
among prospective European immigrants. Following Rosas' overthrow by Entre Ríos Province
Governor Justo José de Urquiza
, jurist and legal scholar Juan Bautista Alberdi
was commissioned to prepare a draft for a new Constitution. His outline, Bases and Starting Points for the Political Organization of the Argentine Republic, called the Federal Government to "promote European immigration," and this policy would be included as Article 25 of the Argentine Constitution of 1853.
The first post-independence census conducted in Buenos Aires took place in 1855; it showed that there were 26,149 European inhabitants in the city. Among the nationals there is no distinction of race, but it does distinguish literates from illiterates; at that time formal education was a privilege almost exclusive for the upper sectors of society, who were predominantly of European descent. Including European residents and the 21,253 Argentine literates, around 47,402 people of mainly European descent resided in Buenos Aires in 1855; they would have comprised about 51.6% of a total population of 91,895 inhabitants.
granted lands for the settlement of ten Swiss families in an agricultural colony near that town. Later that year, another colony was founded by Swiss immigrants in Esperanza
, Santa Fe
. These provincial initiatives remained isolated cases until differences between the Argentine Confederation
and the State of Buenos Aires
were resolved with the Battle of Pavón
in 1861, and a strong central government could be established. Presidents Bartolomé Mitre
(the victor at Pavón), Domingo Sarmiento and Nicolás Avellaneda
implemented policies that encouraged massive European immigration. These were formalized with the 1876 Congressional approval of Law 817 of Immigration and Colonization, signed by President Avellaneda. During the following decades, and until the mid-twentieth century, waves of European settlers came to Argentina. Major contributors included Italy
(initially from Piedmont
, Veneto
and Lombardy
, later from Campania
, Calabria
, and Sicily
), and Spain (most were Galicians
and Basques
), but there were Asturians
.
Smaller but significant numbers of immigrants include those from France
, Poland, Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, England
, Scotland
, Ireland
, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, and others. Europeans from the former Ottoman Empire
were mainly Greek (Lebanese
and Armenian immigrants arrived in larger numbers). The majority of Argentina's Jewish community descend from immigrants of north and eastern European origin (Ashkenazi Jews
).
This migratory influx had mainly two effects on Argentina's demography:
1) The exponential growth of the country's population. In the first National Census of 1869 the Argentine population was just 1,877,490 inhabitants, in 1895 it had doubled to 4,044,911, in 1914 it had reached 7,903,662, and by 1947 it had doubled again to 15,893,811. It is estimated that by 1920, more than 50% of the residents in Buenos Aires had been born abroad. According to Zulma Recchini de Lattes' estimate, if this great immigratory wave from Europe and the Middle East had not happened, Argentina's population by 1960 would have been less than 8 million, while the national census carried out that year revealed a population of 20,013,793 inhabitants. Argentina received a total of 6,611,000 European and Middle-Eastern immigrants during the period 1857-1940; 2,970,000 were Italians (44.9%), 2,080,000 were Spaniards (31.5%), and the remaining 23.6% was composed by French, Poles, Russians, Germans, Austro-Hungarians, British, Portuguese, Swiss, Belgians, Danes, Dutch , Swedish, etc.
2) A radical change in its ethnic composition; the 1914 National Census revealed that around 80% of the national population were either European immigrants, their children or grandchildren. Among the remaining 20% (those descended from the population residing locally before this immigrant wave took shape), around a fifth were of mainly European descent. Put down to numbers, this means that about 84%, or 6,300,000 people (out of a total population of 7,903,662), residing in Argentina were of European descent. European immigration continued to account for over half the nation's population growth during the 1920s, and was again significant (albeit in a smaller wave) following World War II.
The distribution of these European/Middle Eastern immigrants was not uniform across the country. Most newcomers settled in the coastal cities and the farmlands of Buenos Aires
, Santa Fe
, Córdoba
and Entre Ríos
. For example, the 1914 National Census showed that, of almost three million people -2,965,805 to be exact- living in the provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe, 1,019,872 were European immigrants, and one and a half million more were children of European mothers; in all, this community comprised at least 84.9% of this region's population. The same dynamic was less evident in the rural areas of the northwestern provinces, however: immigrants (mostly of Syrian-Lebanese origin) represented a mere 2.6% (about 15,600) of a total rural population of 600,000 in Jujuy
, Salta
, Tucumán
, Santiago del Estero
and Catamarca
.
Notes:
This figure includes Ukrainians
, Volga Germans, Belarusians
, Poles
, Lithuanians
, etc. that entered Argentina with passport of the Russian Empire
. This figure includes all the peoples that lived within the boundaries of the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1867 and 1918: Austrians
, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovenians
, Croatians, Bosniaks
, Ruthenians
and people from the regions of Voivodina in Serbia
, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Trieste
in Italy
, Transilvania in Romania
, and Galitzia in Poland
. The United Kingdom included Ireland
until 1922; that is why most of the British immigrants -nicknamed "ingleses"- were in fact Irish
, Welsh
and Scottish
. Around 0,5% of Luxembourg's total population emigrated to Argentina during the 1880s.
Source:Dirección Nacional de Migraciones: Infografías.
(emigrated with his parents in 1948), actors Rodolfo Ranni
(emigrated in 1947) and Gianni Lunadei
(1950), publisher César Civita
(1941), businessman Francisco Macri
(1949), lawmaker Pablo Verani
(1947), and rock musician Kay Galiffi
(1950).
Argentina also received thousands of Germans, including the humanitarian businessman Oskar Schindler
and his wife, hundreds of Ashkenazi Jews
, and hundreds of Nazi war criminals. Notorious beneficiaries of ratlines
included Adolf Eichmann
, Josef Mengele
, Erich Priebke
, Rodolfo Freude
(who became the first director of Argentine State Intelligence
), and the Ustaše
Head of State of Croatia, Ante Pavelić
. It is still matter of debate whether the Argentine government of President Juan Perón
was aware of the presence of these criminals on Argentine soil or not; but the consequence was that Argentina was considered a Nazi haven for several decades.
The flow of European immigration continued during the 1950s and afterward; but compared to the previous decade, it diminished considerably. The Marshall Plan
implemented by the United States to help Western Europe recover from the consequences of World War II was working, and emigration lessened. During the period 1951-1960, only 242,889 Europeans entered Argentina: 142,829 were Italians, 98,801 were Spaniards, 934 were French, and 325 were Poles. The next decade (1961–1970), the total number of European immigrants barely reached 13,363 (9,514 Spaniards, 1,845 Poles, 1,266 French and 738 Russians).
European immigration was nearly non-existent during the 1970s and the 1980s. Instability from 1970 to 1976 in the form of escalating violence between Montoneros
and the Triple A), guerrilla warfare
, and the Dirty War
waged against leftists after the March 1976 coup, was compounded by an economic crisis caused by the 1981 collapse of the dictatorship's domestic policies
. This situation situation encouraged emigration rather than immigration of Europeans and European-Argentines alike, and during the 1971-1976 period at least 9,971 Europeans left the country. During the period 1976-1983 thousands of Argentines and numerous Europeans were kidnapped and killed in clandestine centers by the military dictatorship's grupos de tareas (task groups); these included Haroldo Conti
, Dagmar Hagelin
, Rodolfo Walsh
, Héctor Oesterheld (all presumably assassinated in 1977) and Jacobo Timerman
(who was liberated in 1979; sought exile in Israel
, and returned in 1984). CONADEP, the commission formed by President Raúl Alfonsín
, investigated and documented the existence of at least 8,960 cases, though other estimates vary between 13,000 and 30,000 dead.
Given that the main sources of South American immigrants since the 1960s have been Bolivia
, Paraguay
and Perú
, most of these immigrants have been either Amerindian or Mestizo
, for they represent the ethnic majorities in those countries. The increasing numbers of immigrants from these sources has caused the proportion of Argentines of European descent to be reduced significantly in certain areas of the Greater Buenos Aires
(particularly in Morón
, La Matanza
, Escobar
and Tres de Febrero
), as well as the Buenos Aires neighbourhoods of Flores
, Villa Soldati
, Villa Lugano
and Nueva Pompeya
. Unfortunately, many Amerindian or Mestizo people of Bolivian/Paraguayan/Peruvian origin have suffered racist discrimination, and in some cases, violence, or have been victims of sexual slavery
and forced labor in textile sweat shops.
, Cuba
, Mexico
, and in particular, Uruguay
. Uruguayan immigrants represent a very distinct case in Argentina, for they may pass unnoticed as "foreigners". Uruguay
received a great part of the same influx of European immigrants that changed Argentina's ethnic profile, so most Uruguayans are of European origin (estimates vary from 87.4% to 94.6%). Uruguayans and Argentinians also speak the same Rioplatense Spanish
, which is heavily influenced by the entonation patterns of the Italian language
's southern dialects.
The official censuses show a slow growth in the Uruguayan-born community: 51,100 in 1970, 114,108 in 1980, and 135,406 in 1991, with a decline to 117,564 in 2001. Around 218,000 Uruguayans emigrated to Argentina between 1960 and 1980, however.
and Eastern Europe, the governments of Western Europe were worried about a possible massive exodus from Eastern Europe and Russia
. President Carlos Saúl Menem - in the political framework of the Washington Consensus
- offered to receive part of that emigratory wave in Argentina. Accordingly, Resolution 4632/94 was enacted on December 19, 1994, allowing "special treatment" for all the applicants who wished to emigrate from the former Soviet republics
. A total of 9,399 Eastern Europeans emigrated to Argentina from January 1994 to December 2000, and of the total, 6,720 were Ukrainians (71.5%), 1,598 were Russians (17%), 160 Romanians (1.7%), 122 Bulgarians (1.3%), 94 Armenians (1%), 150 Georgians
/Moldovans/Poles (1,6%) and 555 (5.9%) traveled with a Soviet passport.
Around 85% of the newcomers were under age 45, and 51% had a university education, so most integrated quite rapidly into Argentine society, albeit with some initial difficulties finding gainful employment. These also included some 200 Romanian Gypsy families that arrived in 1998, and 140 more Romanian Gypsies who migrated to Uruguay in 1999, but only to enter Argentina later by crossing the Uruguay river
through Fray Bentos
, Salto
or Colonia
.
European immigration in Argentina has not stopped since this wave from Eastern Europe,. According to the National Bureau of Migrations, some 14,964 Europeans have settled in Argentina (3,599 Spaniards, 1,407 Italians and 9,958 from other countries) during the period 1999-2004. To this figure, many of the 8,285 Americans and 4,453 Uruguayans may be added, since these countries have European-descended majorities of 75% and 87% in their populations.
is the result of a fusion of European, Amerindian and Black African elements. The impact of European immigration on both Argentina's culture and demography has largely become mainstream and is shared by most Argentines, being no longer perceived as a separate "European" culture. Even those traditional elements that have Amerindian origin - as the mate
and the Andean music
- or Criollo origin - the asado
, the empanada
s, and some genres within folklore music - were rapidly adopted, assimilated and sometimes modified by the European immigrants and their descendants.
1) The music played by the Black African
communities of the Río de la Plata region. Its very name might derive from a word in Yoruba
-a Bantu language- and its rhythm appears to be based on candombe
.
2) The milonga campera
, a popular genre among the gaucho
s that lived in the Buenos Aires
countryside, and later moved to the city looking for better jobs.
3) The music brought by the European immigrants: the Andalucian tanguillo, the polka
, the waltz
and the tarantella
.
They heavily influenced its melody and its sound by adding instruments such as piano, violin and -especially- bandoneón
.
In spite of this tripartite origin, tango mainly developed as urban music, and was assimilated and embraced by European immigrants and their descendants; most icons of the genre were either European or had largely European ancestry.
survived in the shape of chants such as vidalas and huayno
s, and in dances like the carnavalito
. The peoples of Gran Chaco
and Patagonia
-areas that the Spaniards did not effectively occupied- kept their cultures almost untouched until the late 19th century.
The major Spanish contribution to music in the Río de la Plata area during the colonial period was the introduction of three instruments: the vihuela or guitarra criolla, the bombo legüero
and the charango
(a small guitar, similar to the tiple
used in the Canary Islands
; made with the shell of an armadillo
). Once the Criollos
obtained their independence from Spain, they had the chance to create new musical styles; dances like pericón, triunfo
, gato
and escondido, and chants such as cielito and vidalita all appeared during the post-independence period, primarily in the 1820s.
European immigration brought important changes to Argentina's popular music, especially in the Litoral
; where new genres appeared, like chamamé and purajhei (or Paraguayan polka). Chamamé
appeared in the second half of the 18th century -though it was not named as such until the 1930s- as a result of the fusion of ancient Guaraní rhythms with the music brought by the Volga German
, Ukrainian, Polish and Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants that settled in the region. The newcomers added the melodic style of their polka
s and waltz
es to the native rhythmic base, and played it with their own instruments, such as accordion
s and violins.
Other genres -like chacarera
and zamba- developed as an integral fusion of Amerindian and European influences. While traditionally played on guitars, charangos and bombos, they also began to be played with other European instruments, such as piano
; one notable example is Sixto Palavecino
's use of the violin to play the chacarera. Regardless of the origin of the different rhythms and styles, later European immigrants and their descendants rapidly assimilated the local music and contributed to those genres creating new songs.
- in the late 18th century and early 19th century.
Football is by far the most popular sport in Argentina. It was brought by the British railway businessmen and workers, and it was later embraced with passion by the other collectivities. The first official football match ever played in Argentina took place on 20 June 1867, when the "White Caps" beat the "Red Caps" by 4-0. A look at the list of players -eight by team- shows a collection of British names/surnames. "White Caps": Thomas Hogg, James Hogg, Thomas Smith, William Forrester, James W. Bond, E. Smith, Norman Smith and James Ramsbotham. "Red Caps": Walter Heald, Herbert Barge, Thomas Best, Urban Smith, John Wilmott, R. Ramsay, J. Simpson and William Boschetti. The development of this sport in Argentina was greatly boosted by Scottish
teacher Alexander Watson Hutton
. He arrived in Argentina in 1882 and founded the Buenos Aires English High School in 1884, hiring his countryman William Walters as coach of the school's football team. On 21 February 1893 Watson founded the Argentine Association Football League, the historical antecedent of the Asociación de Fútbol Argentino. Watson's son Arnold
continued the tradition playing during the amateur age of Argentine football.
Tennis
was also imported by the British immigrants; in April 1892 they founded the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club
. Among the founding members, we find all British surnames: Arthur Herbert, W. Watson, Adrian Penard, C. Thursby, H. Mills and F. Wallace. Soon their example was followed by British immigrants who resided in Rosario; F. Still, T. Knox, W. Birschoyle, M. Leywe and J. Boyles founded the Rosario Lawn Tennis.
The first Argentine tennis player of European descent to achieve some international success was Mary Terán de Weiss
in the 1940s and 1950s; the sport, however, was considered an elite men's sport and her efforts to popularize this activity among women did not prosper at the time. Guillermo Vilas
, who is of Spanish descent, won the French Open and the US Open both in 1977, and two Australian Open
in 1978 and 1979, and popularized the sport in Argentina.
Another sport in which Argentines with European ancestry have stood out is car racing. The greatest exponent was Juan Manuel Fangio
, whose parents were both Italian. He won five Formula One
World titles in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957; his five-championships record remained unbeaten until 2003, when Michael Schumacher
obtained his sixth F1 trophy. Another exponents are Carlos Alberto Reutemann (his grandfather was German Swiss
, and his mother was Italian), who reached the second place in the World Drivers' Championship of 1981.
Boxing
is another popular sport which was also brought by the British immigrants. The first championship ever organized in Argentina took place in December 1899, and the champion was Jorge Newbery
(son of a White American
odontologist who migrated after the American Civil War
), one of the pioners of boxing, car racing and aviation in the country. A list of Argentine boxers of European descent should include: Luis Ángel Firpo (nicknamed "the wild bull of the pampas", whose father was Italian and his mother was Spanish), Nicolino Locche
(who was nicknamed "the Untouchable" for his defensive style; both his parents were Italian), etc.
Golf
was brought to Argentina by Scottish Argentine Valentín Scroggie, who established the nation's first golf course
in San Martín, Buenos Aires
in 1892.The Argentine Golf Association was founded in 1926 and includes over 43,000 members.
Hockey
was another sport imported by the British immigrants in the early 20th Century. It was initially played in the clubs founded by the British citizens until 1908, when the first official matches between Belgrano Athletic, San Isidro Club y Pacific Railways (today San Martín) took place. That same year the Asociación Argentina de Hockey was founded, and its first president was Thomas Bell. In 1909 this Association allowed the formation of female teams. One of the first feminine teams was Belgrano Ladies; they played their first match on August 25, 1909, against St. Catherine's College, winning by 1 to 0.
Cycling
was introduced by Italian immigrants in Argentina in 1898, when they founded the Club Ciclista Italiano. One of the first South American champions in this sport was an Argentine of Italian descent, Clodomiro Cortoni.
Rugby
was also brought by British immigrants. The first rugby match ever played in Argentina took place in 1873; the teams were Bancos (Banks) against Ciudad (City). In 1886, the Buenos Aires Football Club
and Rosario Athletic Club played the first official match between clubs. The River Plate Rugby Championship was founded on April 10, 1889, and was the direct antecedent of the Unión Argentina de Rugby
, created to organize local championships; the founding clubs were Belgrano Athletic, Buenos Aires Football Club
, Lomas Athletic y Rosario Athletic. Its first president was Leslie Corry Smith, and Lomas Athletic was the first champion that same year.
Argentine people
Argentines are the citizens of Argentina, or their descendants abroad. Argentina is a multiethnic society, which means that it is home to people of many different ethnic backgrounds. According to the , Argentina had a population of 36,260,130 inhabitants, of which 1,527,320, or 4.2%, were born...
of European descent
Emigration from Europe
Emigration from Europe began on a large scale during the European colonial empires of the 17th to 19th centuries. This concerns especially the Spanish Empire in the 16th to 17th centuries , the British Empire in the 18th to 19th centuries , the Portuguese Empire and the Russian Empire in the 19th...
belongs to several communities that has migrated to Argentina from Europe, contributing to the country's cultural and demographic variety. They are the descendants of colonists from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
during the colonial period prior to 1810, or in the majority of cases, of Italians
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
and other Europeans who arrived in the great immigration wave during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and who largely intermarried among their many nationalities during and after this wave. No recent Argentine census has included comprehensive questions on ethnicity, although numerous studies have determined that Argentines of European descent have been a majority in the country since 1914.
Distribution
Argentines of European descent may live in any part of the country, though their proportion varies according to the region. Due to the fact that the main entry point for European immigrants was the Port of Buenos AiresPort of Buenos Aires
The Port of Buenos Aires is the principal maritime port in Argentina. Operated by the Administración General de Puertos , a State enterprise, it is the leading transshipment point for the foreign trade of Argentina....
, they settled especially in the central-eastern region known as the Pampas (the provinces of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
, Santa Fe
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
, Córdoba
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
, Entre Ríos
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....
and La Pampa), Their presence in the northern region is less evident due to several reasons: it was the most densely populated region of the country (mainly by Amerindian and Mestizo
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
people) until the immigratory wave of 1857 to 1940, and it was the area where the European newcomers settled the least. During the last decades, due to internal migration from these northern provinces, and due to immigration especially from Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Perú
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
(which have Amerindian and Mestizo majorities), the percentage of European Argentines in certain areas of the Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires is the generic denomination to refer to the megalopolis comprising the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the conurbation around it, over the province of Buenos Aires—namely the adjacent 24 partidos or municipalities—which nonetheless do not constitute a single administrative...
, and the provinces of Salta
Salta Province
Salta is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy...
and Jujuy
Jujuy Province
Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south.-History:...
has significantly decreased as well.
Estimates
Nevertheless, most international sources agree that Argentines of European descent make up around 85% of the country population: Encyclopedia Britannica and Worldstatesmen.org estimate a figure of 86.4%, and the World Fact File powered by Dorling Kindersley Books also states a figure of 83%. A detailed study on the ethnic composition of Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, written by Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
UAEM scholar Francisco Lizcano Fernández, and Ethnic Groups Worldwide: A Ready Reference Handbook, written by David Levinson, also provide an estimate of 85% for people of Europeans origin in Argentina. Other on-line encyclopedias and works of reference display similar percentages.
The figure of 97% quoted in the CIA Factbook likely resulted from the inclusion of mestizo populations in the figure, or may have resulted from a campaign implemented by Argentina's ruling elite in the early 20th century to present the country's society to be as white as possible. It is frequently consulted and used as source for many news articles.
Genetic research
Recent genetic studies concluded in 2005 have shown that a significant portion of the population has varying degrees of Amerindian and to a lesser extent AfricanBlack people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
ancestry. The first study on the matter in Argentina was conducted in 1985. A scientific team from the University of Buenos Aires
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...
School of Medicine analyzed the blood types of 73,875 donors from the Blood Bank of the Policlínico Ferroviario Central, with the purpose of finding European and Amerindian genetic components. The samples were organized following a map of the country, and the study concluded that "the percentages found in native populación were: European component, 81.47%-81.77%, and Amerindian component 18.23%-18.57%."
Another study of the Amerindian ancestry of Argentines was headed by Argentine geneticist Daniel Corach of the University of Buenos Aires. The results of this study in which DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
from 320 individuals in 9 Argentine provinces was examined showed that 56% of these individuals had at least one Amerindian ancestor. Another study on African ancestry was also conducted by the University of Buenos Aires
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...
in the city of La Plata
La Plata
La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of La Plata partido. According to the , the city proper has a population of 574,369 and its metropolitan area has 694,253 inhabitants....
. In this study 4.3% of the 500 study participants were shown to have some degree of African ancestry. Nevertheless, it must be said here that this type of genetic studies -meant only to search for specific lineages in the mtDNA or in the Y-Chromosome, which do not recombine- may be misleading. For example, a person with seven European great-grandparents and only one Amerindian/Mestizo great-grandparent will be included in that 56%, although his/her phenotype will most probably be Caucasian.
A separate genetic study on genic admixture was conducted by Argentine and French scientists from multiple academic and scientific institutions (CONICET, UBA, Centres D'Anthropologie de Toulouse). This study showed that the average contribution to Argentine ancestry was 79.9% European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
, 15.8% Amerindian and 4.3% African. Another similar study was conducted in 2006, and its results were also similar. A team led by Michael F. Seldin from the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, with members of scientist institutes from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, United States, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, analyzed samples from 94 individuals and concluded that the average genetic estructure of Argentine population contains 78.1% European contribution, 19.4% Amerindian contribution and 2.5% African contribution (using the Bayesian algorithm).
A team led by Daniel Corach conducted a new study in 2009, 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 (a little higher than the 90% of the 2005 study), and only 4.9% and 0.9% of Native American and Black African contribution, respectively. Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...
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 78.6%, against 17.3% of Ameridian and 4.1% Black African contributions. The samples were compared with three assumed parental populations, and the MDS analysis plot resulting showed that "most of the Argentinean samples clustered with or closest to Europeans, some appeared between Europeans and Native Americans indicating some degree of genetic admixture between these two groups, three samples clustered close to Native Americans, and no Argentinean sampled appeared close to Africans".
Colonial and post-independence period
The presence of European peopleEuropean people
European people may refer to:*Ethnic groups in Europe*Demographics of Europe*people from Europe*people from the European Union*People outside of Europe of European descent** European African or White African**White American ***European American...
in the Argentine territory began in 1516, when Spanish Conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
Juan Díaz de Solís
Juan Díaz de Solís
Juan Díaz de Solís was a Spanish navigator and explorer.Díaz de Solís was probably born in Lebrija, Seville, although some other authors argue that his birth may have actually taken place in Portugal to an Andalusian emigree family....
explored the Río de la Plata
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
. In 1527, Sebastian Cabot
Sebastian Cabot (explorer)
Sebastian Cabot was an explorer, born in the Venetian Republic.-Origins:...
founded the fort of Sancti Spiritus, near Coronda
Coronda
Coronda is a small and beautiful city in the . It is located in the San Jerónimo Department, 43 km south from the provincial capital . It has a population of about 17,000 inhabitants ....
, Santa Fe; this was the first Spanish settlement on Argentine soil. The process of Spanish occupation continued with expeditions coming from Upper Peru
Upper Peru
Upper Peru was the region in the Viceroyalty of Peru, and after 1776, the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, comprising the governorships of Potosí, La Paz, Cochabamba, Los Chiquitos, Moxos and Charcas...
(present-day Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
), that founded Santiago del Estero
Santiago del Estero
Santiago del Estero is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 244,733 inhabitants, making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surface area of 2,116 km². It lies on the Dulce River and on National Route 9, at a distance of...
in 1553, San Miguel de Tucumán in 1565 and Córdoba
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...
in 1573, and from Chile, which founded Mendoza
Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza is the capital city of Mendoza Province, in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. As of the , Mendoza's population was 110,993...
in 1561 and San Juan
San Juan, Argentina
San Juan is the capital city of the Argentine province of San Juan in the Cuyo region, located in the Tulúm Valley, west of the San Juan River, at above mean sea level, with a population of around 112,000 as per the ....
in 1562. Other Spanish expeditions founded the cities of Santa Fe
Santa Fe, Argentina
Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...
(1573), Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
(1580), and Corrientes
Corrientes
Corrientes is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12...
(1588).
It was not until the creation of the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata in 1776, that the first censuses with classification into casta
Casta
Casta is a Portuguese and Spanish term used in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries mainly in Spanish America to describe as a whole the mixed-race people which appeared in the post-Conquest period...
s were conducted. The 1778 Census ordered by viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
Juan José de Vértiz
Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo
Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo was a Spanish colonial politician born in New Spain, and Viceroy of the Río de la Plata.-Biography:...
in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
revealed that, of a total population of 37,130 inhabitants, the Spaniards and Criollos
Criollo people
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...
numbered 25,451, or 68.55% of the total. Another census carried out in the Corregimiento de Cuyo
Cuyo (Argentina)
Cuyo is the name given to the wine-producing, mountainous area of central-west Argentina. Historically it comprised the provinces of San Juan, San Luis and Mendoza. The term New Cuyo is a modern one, which indicates both Cuyo proper and the province of La Rioja...
in 1777 showed that the Spaniards and Criollos numbered 4,491 (or 51.24%) out of a population of 8,765 inhabitants. In Córdoba
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...
(city and countryside) the Spanish/Criollo people comprised a 39.36% (about 14,170) of 36,000 inhabitants.
According to data from the Argentine government in 1810, about 6,000 Spanish lived in the territory of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata Spanish, of a total population of around 700,000 inhabitants. This small number indicates that the presence of people with European ancestors was very small, and a large number of Criollos were mixed with indigenous and African mothers, although the fact was often hidden; in this regard, for example, according to researcher José Ignacio García Hamilton
José Ignacio García Hamilton
José Ignacio García Hamilton was an Argentine writer, noted historian, lawyer and politician. He was elected to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies for the Radical Civic Union representing Tucumán Province.- Biography :...
the Liberator, José de San Martín
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
, would be mestizo.
Nevertheless, these censuses were generally restricted to the cities and the surrounding rural areas, so little is known about the racial composition of large areas of the Viceroyalty, though it is supposed that Spaniards and Criollos were always a minority, with the other castas comprising the majority. It is worth noting that, since a person who was classified as Peninsular or Criollo had access to more privileges in the colonial society, many Castizo
Castizo
Castizo is a Spanish word with a general meaning of "pure" or "genuine". The feminine form is castiza. From this meaning it evolved other meanings, such as "typical of an area" and it was also used for one of the colonial Spanish race categories, the castas, that evolved in the seventeenth...
s (resulting from the union of a Spanish and a mestizo) purchased their limpieza de sangre
Limpieza de sangre
Limpieza de sangre , Limpeza de sangue or Neteja de sang , meaning "cleanliness of blood", played an important role in modern Iberian history....
("purity of blood").
Although being a minority in demographics terms, the Criollo people played a leading role in the May Revolution
May Revolution
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish colony that included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay...
of 1810, as well as in the independence of Argentina
Argentine Declaration of Independence
What today is commonly referred as the Independence of Argentina was declared on July 9, 1816 by the Congress of Tucumán. In reality, the congressmen that were assembled in Tucumán declared the independence of the United Provinces of South America, which is still today one of the legal names of the...
from the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
in 1816. Argentine national heroes such as Manuel Belgrano
Manuel Belgrano
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano , usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina...
and Juan Martín de Pueyrredón
Juan Martín de Pueyrredón
Juan Martín de Pueyrredón y O'Dogan was an Argentine general and politician of the early 19th century. He was appointed Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata after the Argentine Declaration of Independence.-Early life:Pueyrredón was born in Buenos Aires, the fifth of...
, military men as Cornelio Saavedra
Cornelio Saavedra
Cornelio Judas Tadeo de Saavedra y Rodríguez was a military officer and statesman from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata...
and Carlos María de Alvear
Carlos María de Alvear
Carlos María de Alvear was an Argentine soldier and statesman, Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in 1815....
, and politicians as Juan José Paso
Juan José Paso
Juan José Paso, was an Argentine politician who participated in the events that started the Argentine War of Independence known as May Revolution of 1810....
and Mariano Moreno
Mariano Moreno
Mariano Moreno was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, and politician. He played a decisive role in the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina, created after the May Revolution....
were mostly Criollos of Spanish, Italian or French descent. The Second Triumvirate
Second Triumvirate (Argentina)
The Second Triumvirate was the governing body of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata that followed the First Triumvirate in 1812, shortly after the May Revolution, and lasted 2 years....
and the 1813 assembly
Asamblea del Año XIII
The Assembly of Year XIII was a meeting called by the Second Triumvirate governing the young republic of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata on October 1812....
enacted laws encouraging immigration, and instituted advertising campaigns and contract work programs among prospective immigrants in Europe.
The Minister of Government of Buenos Aires Province, Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino Rivadavia
Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia was the first president of Argentina, from February 8, 1826 to July 7, 1827 . He was a politician of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, Argentina today...
, established the Immigration Commission in 1824. He appointed Ventura Arzac to conduct a new Census in the city, and it showed these results: the city had 55,416 inhabitants, of which 40,000 were of European descent (about 72.2%); of this total of Whites, a 90% were Criollos, a 5% were Spaniards, and the other 5% were from other European nations.
After the wars for independence, a long period of internal struggle
Argentine Civil War
The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of internecine wars that took place in Argentina from 1814 to 1876. These conflicts were separate from the Argentine War of Independence , though they first arose during this period....
followed. During the period between 1826 and 1852, some Europeans settled in the country as well -sometimes hired by the local governments. Notable among them, Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
an litographer Charles Pellegrini
Charles Pellegrini
Charles Pellegrini was a French Argentine engineer, lithographer, painter, and architect.-Life and work:Charles Henri Pellegrini was born in Chambéry, Savoie, France, in 1800. His mother, Marguerite Berthet, was French, and his father, Bernardo Pellegrini, was from Canton Ticino, Switzerland...
(President Carlos Pellegrini
Carlos Pellegrini
Carlos Enrique José Pellegrini Bevans was President of Argentina from 6 August 1890 to 12 October 1892....
's father) and his wife Maria Bevans, Neapolitan
Neapolitan
Neapolitan may refer to:* Neapolitan, of or pertaining to the city of Naples, Italy and sometimes its wider Duchy or Province of Naples** Previously a nationality, during the time of the Kingdom of Naples or the Neapolitan Republics* Neapolitan cuisine...
journalist Pedro de Angelis, and German physician/zoologist Hermann Burmeister
Hermann Burmeister
Karl Hermann Konrad Burmeister was a German zoologist, entomologist, and herpetologist.Burmeister was born in Stralsund and became a professor of Zoology at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg from 1837 to 1861...
. Because of this long conflict, there were neither economic resources nor political stability to carry out any census until the 1850s, when some provincial censuses were organized. These censuses did not continue the classification into castas typical of the pre-independence period.
The administration of Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...
, who had been given the sum of public power
Sum of public power
The sum of public power is a legal figure from Argentina, included in its constitution. It represents the sum of the three powers, and deems the complete delegation of them into the executive power as a crime of high treason....
by other governors in the Argentine Confederation
Argentine Confederation
The Argentine Confederation is one of the official names of Argentina, according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35...
, maintained Rivadavia' Immigration Commission, which continued to advertise Agricultural colonies in Argentina
Agricultural colonies in Argentina
Agricultural colonies in Argentina were a demographically and economically important part of the evolution of the country. The Argentine government, faced with large areas of fertile land that were unpopulated or settled by aboriginal tribes , encouraged European immigration, welcoming settling...
among prospective European immigrants. Following Rosas' overthrow by Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....
Governor Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza
Justo José de Urquiza y García was an Argentine general and politician. He was president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860.He was governor of Entre Ríos during the government of Juan Manuel de Rosas, governor of Buenos Aires with powers delegated from the other provinces...
, jurist and legal scholar Juan Bautista Alberdi
Juan Bautista Alberdi
Juan Bautista Alberdi was an Argentine political theorist and diplomat. Although he lived most of his life in exile in Montevideo and Chile, he was one of the most influential Argentine liberals of his age.-Biography:...
was commissioned to prepare a draft for a new Constitution. His outline, Bases and Starting Points for the Political Organization of the Argentine Republic, called the Federal Government to "promote European immigration," and this policy would be included as Article 25 of the Argentine Constitution of 1853.
The first post-independence census conducted in Buenos Aires took place in 1855; it showed that there were 26,149 European inhabitants in the city. Among the nationals there is no distinction of race, but it does distinguish literates from illiterates; at that time formal education was a privilege almost exclusive for the upper sectors of society, who were predominantly of European descent. Including European residents and the 21,253 Argentine literates, around 47,402 people of mainly European descent resided in Buenos Aires in 1855; they would have comprised about 51.6% of a total population of 91,895 inhabitants.
The great wave of immigration from Europe (1857-1940)
In February 1856, the municipal government of BaraderoBaradero
Baradero is the oldest town of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, being founded in 1615. It is the head town of the Baradero Partido.It is located on the bank of the Baradero River which is a tributary of the Paraná River.-External links:...
granted lands for the settlement of ten Swiss families in an agricultural colony near that town. Later that year, another colony was founded by Swiss immigrants in Esperanza
Esperanza, Santa Fe
Esperanza is a city in the center of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It has about 36,000 inhabitants as of the and it is the head town of the Las Colonias Department....
, Santa Fe
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
. These provincial initiatives remained isolated cases until differences between the Argentine Confederation
Argentine Confederation
The Argentine Confederation is one of the official names of Argentina, according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35...
and the State of Buenos Aires
State of Buenos Aires
The State of Buenos Aires was a secessionist republic resulting from the overthrow of the Argentine Confederation government in the Province of Buenos Aires on September 11, 1852. The State of Buenos Aires was never recognized by the Confederation or by foreign nations; it remained, however,...
were resolved with the Battle of Pavón
Battle of Pavón
The Battle of Pavón was a key battle of the Argentine civil wars fought in Pavón, in Santa Fé Province, Argentina, on September 17, 1861, between the Army of Buenos Aires, commanded by Bartolomé Mitre, and the National Army, commanded by Justo José de Urquiza...
in 1861, and a strong central government could be established. Presidents Bartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre
Bartolomé Mitre Martínez was an Argentine statesman, military figure, and author. He was the President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868.-Life and times:...
(the victor at Pavón), Domingo Sarmiento and Nicolás Avellaneda
Nicolás Avellaneda
Nicolás Remigio Aurelio Avellaneda Silva was an Argentine politician and journalist, and president of Argentina from 1874 to 1880. Avellaneda's main projects while in office were banking and education reform, leading to Argentina's economic growth...
implemented policies that encouraged massive European immigration. These were formalized with the 1876 Congressional approval of Law 817 of Immigration and Colonization, signed by President Avellaneda. During the following decades, and until the mid-twentieth century, waves of European settlers came to Argentina. Major contributors included Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(initially from Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
, Veneto
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
and Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, later from Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
, and Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
), and Spain (most were Galicians
Galician people
The Galicians are an ethnic group, a nationality whose historical homeland is Galicia in north-western Spain. Most Galicians are bilingual, speaking both their historic language, Galician, and Castilian Spanish.-Political and administrative divisions:...
and Basques
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
), but there were Asturians
Asturian people
The Asturians are one of the nationalisms of Spain, issuing from the historical country of the Principality of Asturias. They have Celtiberian heritage, related to its historical and cultural links with neighbouring Galicia, as well as Visigothic cultural influences most notably found in the...
.
Smaller but significant numbers of immigrants include those from France
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, Poland, Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, England
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, Scotland
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
, Ireland
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, and others. Europeans from the former Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
were mainly Greek (Lebanese
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
and Armenian immigrants arrived in larger numbers). The majority of Argentina's Jewish community descend from immigrants of north and eastern European origin (Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
).
1) The exponential growth of the country's population. In the first National Census of 1869 the Argentine population was just 1,877,490 inhabitants, in 1895 it had doubled to 4,044,911, in 1914 it had reached 7,903,662, and by 1947 it had doubled again to 15,893,811. It is estimated that by 1920, more than 50% of the residents in Buenos Aires had been born abroad. According to Zulma Recchini de Lattes' estimate, if this great immigratory wave from Europe and the Middle East had not happened, Argentina's population by 1960 would have been less than 8 million, while the national census carried out that year revealed a population of 20,013,793 inhabitants. Argentina received a total of 6,611,000 European and Middle-Eastern immigrants during the period 1857-1940; 2,970,000 were Italians (44.9%), 2,080,000 were Spaniards (31.5%), and the remaining 23.6% was composed by French, Poles, Russians, Germans, Austro-Hungarians, British, Portuguese, Swiss, Belgians, Danes, Dutch , Swedish, etc.
2) A radical change in its ethnic composition; the 1914 National Census revealed that around 80% of the national population were either European immigrants, their children or grandchildren. Among the remaining 20% (those descended from the population residing locally before this immigrant wave took shape), around a fifth were of mainly European descent. Put down to numbers, this means that about 84%, or 6,300,000 people (out of a total population of 7,903,662), residing in Argentina were of European descent. European immigration continued to account for over half the nation's population growth during the 1920s, and was again significant (albeit in a smaller wave) following World War II.
The distribution of these European/Middle Eastern immigrants was not uniform across the country. Most newcomers settled in the coastal cities and the farmlands of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
, Santa Fe
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
, Córdoba
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
and Entre Ríos
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....
. For example, the 1914 National Census showed that, of almost three million people -2,965,805 to be exact- living in the provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe, 1,019,872 were European immigrants, and one and a half million more were children of European mothers; in all, this community comprised at least 84.9% of this region's population. The same dynamic was less evident in the rural areas of the northwestern provinces, however: immigrants (mostly of Syrian-Lebanese origin) represented a mere 2.6% (about 15,600) of a total rural population of 600,000 in Jujuy
Jujuy Province
Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south.-History:...
, Salta
Salta Province
Salta is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the east clockwise Formosa, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán and Catamarca. It also surrounds Jujuy...
, Tucumán
Tucumán Province
Tucumán is the most densely populated, and the smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the capital is San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neighboring provinces are, clockwise from the north: Salta, Santiago del Estero and...
, Santiago del Estero
Santiago del Estero Province
Santiago del Estero is a province of Argentina, located in the north of the country. Neighbouring provinces are from the north clockwise Salta, Chaco, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Catamarca and Tucumán.-History:...
and Catamarca
Catamarca Province
Catamarca is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province has a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km². Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are : Salta, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, and La Rioja...
.
Origin of the immigrants between 1857 and 1920
| Net Immigration by Nationality (1857–1920) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Total numbers of immigrants | Percentage of total |
| 2,341,126 | 44.72% | |
| 1,602,752 | 30.61% | |
| (1) | 163,862 | 3.13% |
 Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in... (2) |
87,266 | 1.67% |
| 69,896 | 1.34% | |
| (3) | 60,477 | 1.16% |
| 34,525 | 0.66% | |
| 30,729 | 0.59% | |
| 23,549 | 0.45% | |
| 22,074 | 0.42% | |
| 8,111 | 0.15% | |
| (4) | 1,000 | 0.02% |
| Others | 791,027 | 15.11% |
| Total | 5,235,394 |
Notes:
This figure includes Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
, Volga Germans, Belarusians
Belarusians
Belarusians ; are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Old Belarusian...
, Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
, Lithuanians
Lithuanians
Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...
, etc. that entered Argentina with passport of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. This figure includes all the peoples that lived within the boundaries of the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1867 and 1918: Austrians
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovenians
Slovenians
The Slovenes, Slovene people, Slovenians, or Slovenian people are a South Slavic people primarily associated with Slovenia and the Slovene language.-Population:Most Slovenes today live within the borders of the independent Slovenia...
, Croatians, Bosniaks
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
, Ruthenians
Ruthenians
The name Ruthenian |Rus']]) is a culturally loaded term and has different meanings according to the context in which it is used. Initially, it was the ethnonym used for the East Slavic peoples who lived in Rus'. Later it was used predominantly for Ukrainians...
and people from the regions of Voivodina in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Transilvania in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, and Galitzia in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. The United Kingdom included Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
until 1922; that is why most of the British immigrants -nicknamed "ingleses"- were in fact Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
and Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
. Around 0,5% of Luxembourg's total population emigrated to Argentina during the 1880s.
Source:Dirección Nacional de Migraciones: Infografías.
Second wave of immigration
During and after the Second World War, many Europeans fled to Argentina, escaping the hunger and poverty of the post-war period. According to the National Bureau of Migrations, during the period 1941-1950 at least 392,603 Europeans entered the country: 252,045 Italians, 110,899 Spaniards, 16,784 Poles, 7,373 Russians and 5,538 French. Among the notable Italian immigrants in that period were protest singer Piero De BenedictisPiero De Benedictis
Piero De Benedictis is an Italian-born Argentine folk singer who also holds Colombian citizenship.When he was three years old, De Benedictis' family moved from Italy to Argentina...
(emigrated with his parents in 1948), actors Rodolfo Ranni
Rodolfo Ranni
Rodolfo Ranni is an Italian Argentine film actor.He has made over 85 film and TV appearances since 1958. More recently he has appeared in Argentine television dramas.-External links: ....
(emigrated in 1947) and Gianni Lunadei
Gianni Lunadei
Gianni Lunadei was a versatile Italian Argentine actor best known for his work in Argentine comedy.-Life and work:...
(1950), publisher César Civita
César Civita
-Life and times:Cesare Civita was born in New York to Vittoria Carpi, an opera chanteuse, and Carlo Civita, an Italian Jewish businessman. Raised in Milan, he developed an early interest in commerce, and in 1936, was named general manager of the prestigious publishing house, Arnoldo Mondadori...
(1941), businessman Francisco Macri
Francisco Macri
Francisco Macri is a prominent Argentine businessman and father of Mauricio Macri, current mayor of Buenos Aires.-Childhood in Italy:...
(1949), lawmaker Pablo Verani
Pablo Verani
Pablo Federico Verani is an Argentine politician, formerly of the Radical Civic Union , from Río Negro Province, Argentina.-Life and times:...
(1947), and rock musician Kay Galiffi
Los Gatos (band)
Los Gatos were an Argentine rock group of the late 1960s, members of the founding trilogy of Spanish-language rock in Argentina.- History:The group got their start in 1967...
(1950).
Argentina also received thousands of Germans, including the humanitarian businessman Oskar Schindler
Oskar Schindler
Oskar Schindler was an ethnic German industrialist born in Moravia. He is credited with saving over 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories, which were located in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic respectively.He is the subject of the...
and his wife, hundreds of Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
, and hundreds of Nazi war criminals. Notorious beneficiaries of ratlines
Ratlines (history)
Ratlines were a system of escape routes for Nazis and other fascists fleeing Europe at the end of World War II. These escape routes mainly led toward havens in South America, particularly Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile. Other destinations included the United States and perhaps...
included Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Otto Eichmann was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust...
, Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele
Josef Rudolf Mengele , also known as the Angel of Death was a German SS officer and a physician in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He earned doctorates in anthropology from Munich University and in medicine from Frankfurt University...
, Erich Priebke
Erich Priebke
Erich Priebke is a former Hauptsturmführer in the Waffen SS. In 1996 he was convicted of war crimes in Italy, for participating in the massacre at the Ardeatine caves in Rome, on March 24, 1944...
, Rodolfo Freude
Rodolfo Freude
Rodolfo Freude was a close advisor of Argentine President Juan Perón and served as his Director of the Information Division ....
(who became the first director of Argentine State Intelligence
Side
Side was an ancient Greek city in Anatolia, in the region of Pamphylia, in what is now Antalya province, on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey...
), and the Ustaše
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
Head of State of Croatia, Ante Pavelić
Ante Pavelic
Ante Pavelić was a Croatian fascist leader, revolutionary, and politician. He ruled as Poglavnik or head, of the Independent State of Croatia , a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia...
. It is still matter of debate whether the Argentine government of President Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
was aware of the presence of these criminals on Argentine soil or not; but the consequence was that Argentina was considered a Nazi haven for several decades.
The flow of European immigration continued during the 1950s and afterward; but compared to the previous decade, it diminished considerably. The Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
implemented by the United States to help Western Europe recover from the consequences of World War II was working, and emigration lessened. During the period 1951-1960, only 242,889 Europeans entered Argentina: 142,829 were Italians, 98,801 were Spaniards, 934 were French, and 325 were Poles. The next decade (1961–1970), the total number of European immigrants barely reached 13,363 (9,514 Spaniards, 1,845 Poles, 1,266 French and 738 Russians).
European immigration was nearly non-existent during the 1970s and the 1980s. Instability from 1970 to 1976 in the form of escalating violence between Montoneros
Montoneros
Montoneros was an Argentine Peronist urban guerrilla group, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The name is an allusion to 19th century Argentinian history. After Juan Perón's return from 18 years of exile and the 1973 Ezeiza massacre, which marked the definitive split between left and right-wing...
and the Triple A), guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
, and the Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
waged against leftists after the March 1976 coup, was compounded by an economic crisis caused by the 1981 collapse of the dictatorship's domestic policies
José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz
José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz was an Argentine executive and policy maker. He served as Minister of the Economy under de facto President Jorge Rafael Videla between 1976 and 1981, and shaped economic policy during the self-styled National Reorganization Process military dictatorship.-Early...
. This situation situation encouraged emigration rather than immigration of Europeans and European-Argentines alike, and during the 1971-1976 period at least 9,971 Europeans left the country. During the period 1976-1983 thousands of Argentines and numerous Europeans were kidnapped and killed in clandestine centers by the military dictatorship's grupos de tareas (task groups); these included Haroldo Conti
Haroldo Conti
Haroldo Conti|thumb|right|150pxHaroldo Conti was an Argentine writer, screenwriter, teacher and Latin professor. On May 5, 1976 he disappeared during the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional military dictatorship, on this day the "Día del Escritor Bonaerense" is held in his honour.- Biography...
, Dagmar Hagelin
Dagmar Hagelin
Dagmar Hagelin was an Argentine-Swedish girl who disappeared during the Dirty War on January 27, 1977 and is presumed to have been arrested by security forces in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and murdered in a case of mistaken identity...
, Rodolfo Walsh
Rodolfo Walsh
Rodolfo Jorge Walsh was an Argentine writer, considered the founder of investigative journalism. He is most famous for his Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta which he wrote the day before his murder, protesting that their economic policies were having an even greater effect on...
, Héctor Oesterheld (all presumably assassinated in 1977) and Jacobo Timerman
Jacobo Timerman
Jacobo Timerman was an Argentine publisher, journalist, and author who was persecuted and honored for confronting the atrocities of the Argentine military regime's Dirty War...
(who was liberated in 1979; sought exile in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and returned in 1984). CONADEP, the commission formed by President Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
, investigated and documented the existence of at least 8,960 cases, though other estimates vary between 13,000 and 30,000 dead.
Recent trends
The principal source of immigration into Argentina after 1960 was no longer from Europe, but rather from bordering South American countries. During the period in between the Censuses of 1895 and 1914, immigrants from Europe comprised 88.4% of the total, and the Latin American immigrants represented only the 7.5%. By the 1960s, however, this trend had been completely reverted: the Latin American immigrants were the 76.1%, and the Europeans merely 18.7% of the total.Given that the main sources of South American immigrants since the 1960s have been Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
and Perú
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, most of these immigrants have been either Amerindian or Mestizo
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
, for they represent the ethnic majorities in those countries. The increasing numbers of immigrants from these sources has caused the proportion of Argentines of European descent to be reduced significantly in certain areas of the Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires is the generic denomination to refer to the megalopolis comprising the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the conurbation around it, over the province of Buenos Aires—namely the adjacent 24 partidos or municipalities—which nonetheless do not constitute a single administrative...
(particularly in Morón
Morón, Buenos Aires
Morón is a city in the Argentine province of Buenos Aires, capital of the Morón Partido, located in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, at...
, La Matanza
La Matanza Partido
La Matanza is a partido located in the Greater Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires Province in Argentina....
, Escobar
Escobar Partido
Escobar Partido is a partido situated in the northern part of the Gran Buenos Aires urban area, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.The provincial subdivision has a population of about 178,000 inhabitants in an area of , and its capital city is Belén de Escobar, which is located from Buenos...
and Tres de Febrero
Tres de Febrero Partido
Tres de Febrero is a partido of the Greater Buenos Aires conurbation area in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.-Districts:* Caseros* Churruca* Ciudad Jardín Lomas del Palomar* Ciudadela* El Libertador* José Ingenieros...
), as well as the Buenos Aires neighbourhoods of Flores
Flores
Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, an island arc with an estimated area of 14,300 km² extending east from the Java island of Indonesia. The population was 1.831.000 in the 2010 census and the largest town is Maumere. Flores is Portuguese for "flowers".Flores is located east of Sumbawa...
, Villa Soldati
Villa Soldati
Villa Soldati is a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the South-West of the city. It has a population of approximately 41,000 people, 40 % of which live in Barrio Soldati, a public housing development built between 1973 and 1979....
, Villa Lugano
Villa Lugano
Villa Lugano is a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the West of the city. It has a population of approximately 114,000 people....
and Nueva Pompeya
Nueva Pompeya
Nueva Pompeya is a neighbourhood in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located in the South side, it has long been one of the city's proletarian districts steeped in the tradition of tango and one where many of the first tangos were written and performed....
. Unfortunately, many Amerindian or Mestizo people of Bolivian/Paraguayan/Peruvian origin have suffered racist discrimination, and in some cases, violence, or have been victims of sexual slavery
Sexual slavery
Sexual slavery is when unwilling people are coerced into slavery for sexual exploitation. The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and tabulated by UNESCO, with the cooperation of various international agencies...
and forced labor in textile sweat shops.
Latin American immigrants of European origin
Latin Americans of European descent have arrived primarily from ChileChile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and in particular, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. Uruguayan immigrants represent a very distinct case in Argentina, for they may pass unnoticed as "foreigners". Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
received a great part of the same influx of European immigrants that changed Argentina's ethnic profile, so most Uruguayans are of European origin (estimates vary from 87.4% to 94.6%). Uruguayans and Argentinians also speak the same Rioplatense Spanish
Rioplatense Spanish
Rioplatense Spanish or River Plate Spanish is a dialectal variant of the Spanish language spoken mainly in the areas in and around the Río de la Plata basin of Argentina and Uruguay, and also in Rio Grande do Sul, although features of the dialect are shared with the varieties of Spanish spoken...
, which is heavily influenced by the entonation patterns of the Italian language
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
's southern dialects.
The official censuses show a slow growth in the Uruguayan-born community: 51,100 in 1970, 114,108 in 1980, and 135,406 in 1991, with a decline to 117,564 in 2001. Around 218,000 Uruguayans emigrated to Argentina between 1960 and 1980, however.
3rd immigratory wave from Eastern Europe (1994-2000)
Following the fall of the Communist regimes of the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Eastern Europe, the governments of Western Europe were worried about a possible massive exodus from Eastern Europe and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. President Carlos Saúl Menem - in the political framework of the Washington Consensus
Washington Consensus
The term Washington Consensus was coined in 1989 by the economist John Williamson to describe a set of ten relatively specific economic policy prescriptions that he considered constituted the "standard" reform package promoted for crisis-wracked developing countries...
- offered to receive part of that emigratory wave in Argentina. Accordingly, Resolution 4632/94 was enacted on December 19, 1994, allowing "special treatment" for all the applicants who wished to emigrate from the former Soviet republics
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
. A total of 9,399 Eastern Europeans emigrated to Argentina from January 1994 to December 2000, and of the total, 6,720 were Ukrainians (71.5%), 1,598 were Russians (17%), 160 Romanians (1.7%), 122 Bulgarians (1.3%), 94 Armenians (1%), 150 Georgians
Georgian people
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
/Moldovans/Poles (1,6%) and 555 (5.9%) traveled with a Soviet passport.
Around 85% of the newcomers were under age 45, and 51% had a university education, so most integrated quite rapidly into Argentine society, albeit with some initial difficulties finding gainful employment. These also included some 200 Romanian Gypsy families that arrived in 1998, and 140 more Romanian Gypsies who migrated to Uruguay in 1999, but only to enter Argentina later by crossing the Uruguay river
Uruguay River
The Uruguay River is a river in South America. It flows from north to south and makes boundary with Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of the Mesopotamia from the other two countries...
through Fray Bentos
Fray Bentos
Fray Bentos, the capital of the Río Negro Department of western Uruguay, is a port on the Uruguay River. It is close to the border with Argentina and about due north of Buenos Aires.-History:...
, Salto
Salto, Uruguay
Salto is the capital city of the Salto Department in northwestern Uruguay and the second largest city of the country. It is located on Route 3, about northwest of Montevideo, and on the east bank of Río Uruguay, across the city Concordia of Argentina...
or Colonia
Colonia del Sacramento
Colonia del Sacramento is a city in southwestern Uruguay, by the Río de la Plata, facing Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the oldest town in Uruguay and capital of the departamento of Colonia. It has a population of around 22,000.It is renowned for its historic quarter, a World Heritage Site...
.
European immigration in Argentina has not stopped since this wave from Eastern Europe,. According to the National Bureau of Migrations, some 14,964 Europeans have settled in Argentina (3,599 Spaniards, 1,407 Italians and 9,958 from other countries) during the period 1999-2004. To this figure, many of the 8,285 Americans and 4,453 Uruguayans may be added, since these countries have European-descended majorities of 75% and 87% in their populations.
Influences on Argentine culture
The culture of ArgentinaCulture of Argentina
The culture of Argentina is as varied as the country's geography and mix of ethnic groups. Modern Argentine culture has been largely influenced by European immigration although there are lesser elements of Amerindian and African influences, particularly in the fields of music and art...
is the result of a fusion of European, Amerindian and Black African elements. The impact of European immigration on both Argentina's culture and demography has largely become mainstream and is shared by most Argentines, being no longer perceived as a separate "European" culture. Even those traditional elements that have Amerindian origin - as the mate
Mate (beverage)
Mate , also known as chimarrão or cimarrón, is a traditional South American infused drink, particularly in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, southern states of Brazil, south of Chile, the Bolivian Chaco, and to some extent, Syria and Lebanon...
and the Andean music
Andean music
Andean music comes from the general area inhabited by Quechuas, Aymaras and other peoples that lived roughly in the area of the Inca Empire prior to European contact. It includes folklore music of parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela...
- or Criollo origin - the asado
Asado
Asado is a term used both for a range of barbecue techniques and the social event of having or attending a barbecue in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and southern Brazil. In the former countries asado is also the standard word for barbecue. An asado usually consists of beef alongside various...
, the empanada
Empanada
An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in Latin America, Southern Europe and parts of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanada is made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing...
s, and some genres within folklore music - were rapidly adopted, assimilated and sometimes modified by the European immigrants and their descendants.
Tango
Argentine tango is a hybrid genre, result of the fusion of different ethnic and cultural elements, so well intermingled that it is difficult to identify them separately. According to some experts, tango has combined elements from three main sources:1) The music played by the Black African
Afro Argentine
The black population resulting from the slave trade during the centuries of Spanish domination of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata had a major role in Argentine history...
communities of the Río de la Plata region. Its very name might derive from a word in Yoruba
Yoruba language
Yorùbá is a Niger–Congo language spoken in West Africa by approximately 20 million speakers. The native tongue of the Yoruba people, it is spoken, among other languages, in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo and in communities in other parts of Africa, Europe and the Americas...
-a Bantu language- and its rhythm appears to be based on candombe
Candombe
Candombe is a musical genre that has its roots in the African Bantu, and is proper of Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil .Uruguayan Candombe is the most practiced and spread internationally and has been recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity...
.
2) The milonga campera
Milonga
Milonga can refer to an Argentine, Uruguayan, and Southern Brazilian form of music which preceded the tango and the dance form which accompanies it, or to the term for places or events where the tango or Milonga are danced...
, a popular genre among the gaucho
Gaucho
Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...
s that lived in the Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
countryside, and later moved to the city looking for better jobs.
3) The music brought by the European immigrants: the Andalucian tanguillo, the polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
, the waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
and the tarantella
Tarantella
The term tarantella groups a number of different southern Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time , accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance...
.
They heavily influenced its melody and its sound by adding instruments such as piano, violin and -especially- bandoneón
Bandoneón
The bandoneón is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It plays an essential role in the orquesta típica, the tango orchestra...
.
In spite of this tripartite origin, tango mainly developed as urban music, and was assimilated and embraced by European immigrants and their descendants; most icons of the genre were either European or had largely European ancestry.
Argentine Folk music
When the Spaniards arrived in what is now Argentina, the Amerindian inhabitants already had their own musical culture: instruments, dances, rhythms and styles. Much of that culture was lost during and after the conquest; only the music played by the Andean peoplesAndean music
Andean music comes from the general area inhabited by Quechuas, Aymaras and other peoples that lived roughly in the area of the Inca Empire prior to European contact. It includes folklore music of parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela...
survived in the shape of chants such as vidalas and huayno
Huayno
Huayno is a genre of popular Andean Music and dance from Andean countries. It is especially common in Peru. It originated in Serrania, Peru as a combination of traditional rural folk music and popular urban dance music...
s, and in dances like the carnavalito
Carnavalito
The Carnavalito is a traditional South American dance from the Altiplano and Puna regions that is practiced in relation to religious festivities. The current form of the dance is an expression of syncretism between indigenous and Spanish colonial culture....
. The peoples of Gran Chaco
Gran Chaco
The Gran Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, where it is connected with the Pantanal region...
and Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
-areas that the Spaniards did not effectively occupied- kept their cultures almost untouched until the late 19th century.
Bombo legüero
Bombo legüero is an Argentine drum traditionally made of a hollowed tree trunk and covered with cured skins of animals such as goats, cows or sheep. It derives from the old European military drums, and uses a similar arrangement of hoops and leather thongs and loops to tighten the drumheads, which...
and the charango
Charango
The charango is a small Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, 66 cm long, traditionally made with the shell of the back of an armadillo. Primarily played in traditional Andean music, and is sometimes used by other Latin American musicians. Many contemporary charangos are now made with...
(a small guitar, similar to the tiple
Tiple
Tiple is the Spanish word for treble or soprano, is often applied to specific instruments, generally to refer to a small chordophone of the guitar family. A tiple player is called a tiplista.-Colombian tiple:...
used in the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
; made with the shell of an armadillo
Armadillo
Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"...
). Once the Criollos
Criollo people
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...
obtained their independence from Spain, they had the chance to create new musical styles; dances like pericón, triunfo
Triunfo
Triunfo is a municipality in the state Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.It is also the richest municipality in Brazil, with a per capita income of R$122,750 .-See also:*List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul...
, gato
Gato (artform)
The gato is a style of Argentine music and an associated dance. Is an folkloric dance very popular in the country. His rhythm is like the chacarera, but its structure is different. Usually, the lyrics of gato are hots or humorous ....
and escondido, and chants such as cielito and vidalita all appeared during the post-independence period, primarily in the 1820s.
European immigration brought important changes to Argentina's popular music, especially in the Litoral
Mesopotamia, Argentina
La Mesopotamia, Región Mesopotámica is the humid and verdant area of north-east Argentina, comprising the provinces of Misiones, Entre Ríos and Corrientes. The region called Litoral consists of the Mesopotamia and the provinces of Chaco, Formosa and Santa Fe...
; where new genres appeared, like chamamé and purajhei (or Paraguayan polka). Chamamé
Chamamé
Chamamé is a folk music genre from the Argentine Northeast, Mesopotamia and in the south of Brazil. Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Mato Grosso do Sul....
appeared in the second half of the 18th century -though it was not named as such until the 1930s- as a result of the fusion of ancient Guaraní rhythms with the music brought by the Volga German
Volga German
The Volga Germans were ethnic Germans living along the River Volga in the region of southern European Russia around Saratov and to the south. Recruited as immigrants to Russia in the 18th century, they were allowed to maintain German culture, language, traditions and churches: Lutherans, Reformed,...
, Ukrainian, Polish and Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants that settled in the region. The newcomers added the melodic style of their polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
s and waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
es to the native rhythmic base, and played it with their own instruments, such as accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
s and violins.
Other genres -like chacarera
Chacarera
The Chacarera is a dance of Argentine origin. It is a genre of folk music that, for many Argentines, serves as a rural counterpart to the cosmopolitan imagery of the Tango...
and zamba- developed as an integral fusion of Amerindian and European influences. While traditionally played on guitars, charangos and bombos, they also began to be played with other European instruments, such as piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
; one notable example is Sixto Palavecino
Sixto Palavecino
Sixto Doroteo Palavecino was a poet, musician and singer of Argentine folk music, who has played the violin since he was 10 years-old.Palavecino has been influential as a player, a compiler of folk traditions, and in sustaining the Santiago Quechua...
's use of the violin to play the chacarera. Regardless of the origin of the different rhythms and styles, later European immigrants and their descendants rapidly assimilated the local music and contributed to those genres creating new songs.
Sports
Many sports that nowadays are very popular in Argentina were introduced by European immigrants -particularly by the BritishBritish people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
- in the late 18th century and early 19th century.
Football is by far the most popular sport in Argentina. It was brought by the British railway businessmen and workers, and it was later embraced with passion by the other collectivities. The first official football match ever played in Argentina took place on 20 June 1867, when the "White Caps" beat the "Red Caps" by 4-0. A look at the list of players -eight by team- shows a collection of British names/surnames. "White Caps": Thomas Hogg, James Hogg, Thomas Smith, William Forrester, James W. Bond, E. Smith, Norman Smith and James Ramsbotham. "Red Caps": Walter Heald, Herbert Barge, Thomas Best, Urban Smith, John Wilmott, R. Ramsay, J. Simpson and William Boschetti. The development of this sport in Argentina was greatly boosted by Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
teacher Alexander Watson Hutton
Alexander Watson Hutton
Alexander Watson Hutton was a Scottish teacher and sportsman and is considered the father of Argentine football. In 1893 he founded the "Argentine Association Football League", which is now known as the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino...
. He arrived in Argentina in 1882 and founded the Buenos Aires English High School in 1884, hiring his countryman William Walters as coach of the school's football team. On 21 February 1893 Watson founded the Argentine Association Football League, the historical antecedent of the Asociación de Fútbol Argentino. Watson's son Arnold
Arnold Watson Hutton
Arnold Pencliffe Watson Hutton was an Argentine football striker for the Argentina national team. He also played cricket, tennis and waterpolo for Argentina....
continued the tradition playing during the amateur age of Argentine football.
Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
was also imported by the British immigrants; in April 1892 they founded the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club
Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club
The Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club is a private tennis club located in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The club is the host of the Copa Telmex, an ATP Tour tournament. The main stadium court has a capacity of 5,500 spectators...
. Among the founding members, we find all British surnames: Arthur Herbert, W. Watson, Adrian Penard, C. Thursby, H. Mills and F. Wallace. Soon their example was followed by British immigrants who resided in Rosario; F. Still, T. Knox, W. Birschoyle, M. Leywe and J. Boyles founded the Rosario Lawn Tennis.
The first Argentine tennis player of European descent to achieve some international success was Mary Terán de Weiss
Mary Terán de Weiss
María Luisa Terán de Weiss , known in Argentina as Mary Terán de Weiss, and out of Argentina as María Teran Weiss, was an Argentine tennis player, who the first Argentine women to have a relevant sport performance in the international tennis tour...
in the 1940s and 1950s; the sport, however, was considered an elite men's sport and her efforts to popularize this activity among women did not prosper at the time. Guillermo Vilas
Guillermo Vilas
Guillermo Apolinario Vilas is a retired and former World No. 2 professional tennis player from Argentina. He was the second Latin-American to win a Grand Slam tournament.-Career:...
, who is of Spanish descent, won the French Open and the US Open both in 1977, and two Australian Open
Australian Open
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
in 1978 and 1979, and popularized the sport in Argentina.
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio , nicknamed El Chueco or El Maestro , was a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing...
, whose parents were both Italian. He won five Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
World titles in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957; his five-championships record remained unbeaten until 2003, when Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
obtained his sixth F1 trophy. Another exponents are Carlos Alberto Reutemann (his grandfather was German Swiss
German Swiss
German Swiss may refer to:*German Swiss International School*Swiss Germans...
, and his mother was Italian), who reached the second place in the World Drivers' Championship of 1981.
Boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
is another popular sport which was also brought by the British immigrants. The first championship ever organized in Argentina took place in December 1899, and the champion was Jorge Newbery
Jorge Newbery
Jorge "George" Newbery, born Jorge Alejandro Newbery , was an Argentine pilot of North American descent. His father, Ralph Newbery , emigrated from Long Island, to Argentina after the American Civil War...
(son of a White American
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
odontologist who migrated after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
), one of the pioners of boxing, car racing and aviation in the country. A list of Argentine boxers of European descent should include: Luis Ángel Firpo (nicknamed "the wild bull of the pampas", whose father was Italian and his mother was Spanish), Nicolino Locche
Nicolino Locche
Nicolino Locche was an Argentine boxer from Tunuyán, Mendoza. He was of Italian origin, with his ancestors coming from Sardinia...
(who was nicknamed "the Untouchable" for his defensive style; both his parents were Italian), etc.
Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
was brought to Argentina by Scottish Argentine Valentín Scroggie, who established the nation's first golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
in San Martín, Buenos Aires
San Martín, Buenos Aires
Ciudad del Libertador General Don José de San Martín, more commonly known as San Martín is the head city of the General San Martín Partido in the Gran Buenos Aires metropolitan area.-Geography:...
in 1892.The Argentine Golf Association was founded in 1926 and includes over 43,000 members.
Hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
was another sport imported by the British immigrants in the early 20th Century. It was initially played in the clubs founded by the British citizens until 1908, when the first official matches between Belgrano Athletic, San Isidro Club y Pacific Railways (today San Martín) took place. That same year the Asociación Argentina de Hockey was founded, and its first president was Thomas Bell. In 1909 this Association allowed the formation of female teams. One of the first feminine teams was Belgrano Ladies; they played their first match on August 25, 1909, against St. Catherine's College, winning by 1 to 0.
Cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
was introduced by Italian immigrants in Argentina in 1898, when they founded the Club Ciclista Italiano. One of the first South American champions in this sport was an Argentine of Italian descent, Clodomiro Cortoni.
Rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
was also brought by British immigrants. The first rugby match ever played in Argentina took place in 1873; the teams were Bancos (Banks) against Ciudad (City). In 1886, the Buenos Aires Football Club
Buenos Aires Football Club
The Buenos Aires Football Club was an association football club from Buenos Aires, Argentina. The club merged with Buenos Aires Cricket Club in 1951 to form Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club-History:...
and Rosario Athletic Club played the first official match between clubs. The River Plate Rugby Championship was founded on April 10, 1889, and was the direct antecedent of the Unión Argentina de Rugby
Unión Argentina de Rugby
The Argentine Rugby Union ) is the governing body for rugby union in Argentina. It is a member of the International Rugby Board with a seat on that body's Executive Council....
, created to organize local championships; the founding clubs were Belgrano Athletic, Buenos Aires Football Club
Buenos Aires Football Club
The Buenos Aires Football Club was an association football club from Buenos Aires, Argentina. The club merged with Buenos Aires Cricket Club in 1951 to form Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club-History:...
, Lomas Athletic y Rosario Athletic. Its first president was Leslie Corry Smith, and Lomas Athletic was the first champion that same year.
See also
- Argentine peopleArgentine peopleArgentines are the citizens of Argentina, or their descendants abroad. Argentina is a multiethnic society, which means that it is home to people of many different ethnic backgrounds. According to the , Argentina had a population of 36,260,130 inhabitants, of which 1,527,320, or 4.2%, were born...
- Demographics of ArgentinaDemographics of ArgentinaThis article is about the demographic features of Argentina, including population density, ethnicity, economic status and other aspects of the population....
- Immigration in Argentina
- Racism in ArgentinaRacism in ArgentinaIn Argentina, as other countries with high levels of multiculturalism and immigration, there has been discrimination based on ethnic characteristics or national origin...
- White Latin AmericanWhite Latin AmericanWhite Latin Americans are the people of Latin America who are white in the racial classification systems used in individual Latin American countries. Persons who are classified as White in one Latin American country may be classified differently in another country...
- White BrazilianWhite BrazilianWhite Brazilians make up 48.4% of Brazil's population, or around 92 million people, according to the IBGE's 2008 PNAD . Whites are present in the entire territory of Brazil, although the main concentrations are found in the South and Southeastern parts of the country...
- Italian ArgentineItalian ArgentineAn Italian Argentine is a person born in Argentina of Italian ancestry. It is estimated up to 25 million Argentines have some degree of Italian descent...
- Spanish ArgentineSpanish ArgentineSpanish settlement in Argentina, that is the arrival of Spanish emigrants in Argentina, took place firstly in the period before Argentina's independence from Spain, and again in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
- Basque Argentine
- French ArgentineFrench ArgentineA French Argentine is an Argentine citizen of full or partial French ancestry. French Argentines form the third or fourth largest ancestry group after Italian Argentines, Spanish Argentines, and perhaps German Argentines...
- German Argentine
- Irish Argentine
- Polish Argentine
- Ukrainian Argentine
- Croatian ArgentineCroatian ArgentineCroatians in Argentina or Croatian Argentine are Argentine of Croatian descent. Croats and their descendants have made valuable contributions to their new country...
- Czechs in ArgentinaCzechs in ArgentinaMost Czech immigrants to Argentina came in the first half of the 20th century. Today, there are around 389,000 people of Czech descent living in Argentina, mostly in Buenos Aires and Mendoza.-External links:**...
- Argentine Jew
- Russians in ArgentinaRussians in ArgentinaThere are 250,000 people of Russian origin living in Argentina. Mostly in Buenos Aires and Greater Buenos Aires. The majority came between 1880 and 1921...
- Armenian Argentine
- Swedish Argentine
- Swiss ArgentineSwiss ArgentineUntil 1940, emigrated to Argentina, some 44.000 Swiss, who settled mainly in the provinces of Cordoba and Santa Fe and to a lesser extent, in Buenos Aires in 1856, founded in Santa Fe, the colony farm Esperanza, the mother of agricultural colonies in Argentina, and thus began a long process of...
- Slovene Argentines
- Scottish Argentine
- English Argentine
- Greeks in ArgentinaGreeks in ArgentinaThe Greek community in Argentina numbers between 35,000 and 60,000 people. The first immigrants arrived at the end of the 18th century, while the bulk of immigration occurred during the first half of the 20th century.-History:...
- Hungarians in ArgentinaHungarians in ArgentinaThe first Hungarians who came to Argentina were Jesuits in the 18th century. Most Hungarian immigrants to Argentina came in the first part of the 20th century and after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Today, there are between 40,000 and 50,000 people of Hungarian descent living in Argentina,...
- Montenegrin Argentine
- Bulgarians in South AmericaBulgarians in South AmericaBulgarians have been settling in South America as economic emigrants since the late 19th century. Their presence has been documented in Uruguay since 1905, in Argentina since 1906 and in Brazil since the early 20th century....
- Macedonian ArgentineMacedonian ArgentineMany Macedonians of Argentina are the descendants of the "pečalbari" who came to Argentina in the early 20th century. Many decided to stay in Argentina setting up Macedonian colonies in the Pampas and other regions. Most Macedonians can be found in Buenos Aires, the Pampas and Córdoba...
- Y Wladfa