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Ethnography of Argentina

Mestizo population in Argentina, unlike in other Latin American countries, is very low, as is the Black population after being decimated by diseases and wars in the 19th century, though since the 1990s a new wave of Black immigration is arriving.

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Buenos Aires itself is said to have over 100,000 practicing Jews, making it one of the largest Jewish urban centers in the world (see also History of the Jews in Argentina).

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Between 1857 and 1950, 6,611,000 European immigrants arrived in Argentina, making it the country with the second biggest immigration wave in the world, only second to the United States with 27 millions, and ahead of such other areas of new settlement such as Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay; and permanently changing the ethnography of Argentina.

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There are Amerindian groups like the Tobas, Aymaras, Guaraníes and Mapuches among others that still maintain their cultural roots, but under continuous pressure for religious and idiomatic integration.

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Upon the independence of Argentina, the newborn country had a large territory but was thinly populated, and like the other Latin American countries, the ethnic composition was largely the same from the colonial-era that lasted from 16th to early 19th centuries.

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Argentine elites diminished the Spanish culture from their culture in the newly independent country and created Argentine culture.

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Italians form a majority of the population of Argentina and neighbouring Uruguay as up to two-third have some Italian background; among the Latin American countries, only Brazil has more people of Italian descent (28 million, approximately 15 percent of Brazil's total population).

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The Hotel de Inmigrantes, built in 1906 to accommodate the 100,000 to 200,000 yearly arrivals at the Port of Buenos Aires, was made a National Historic Monument.

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The local natives that speak Quechua adopted that language by the teachings of the Spanish religious missionaries that came from Peru to today's Santiago del Estero Province; the language is quickly losing importance.

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Italians became firmly established throughout Argentina, but the greatest concentrations are in the City of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires Province, Santa Fe Province, Entre Rios Province, Córdoba Province, Tucumán Province, La Pampa Province and, in the nearby country of Uruguay.

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Finally, through centuries people from neighboring countries like Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru immigrated to Argentina, establishing important communities.

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In fact, immigration to Argentina was so strong that Argentina eventually became the second country in the world that received the most immigrants, with 6.6 millions, second only to the USA with 27 millions, and ahead of such other immigratory receptors such as Canada, Brazil and Australia.

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In particular, many emblematic buildings in cities like Buenos Aires, Rosario, and Córdoba were built following French Beaux Arts and neoclassical styles, such as the Argentine National Congress, the Metropolitan Cathedral, or the Central Bank building.

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Native Argentines on the other hand have significant populations in the country's North-West (Quechua, Diaguita, Kolla, Aymara); in the North-East (Guaraní, Mocoví, Toba, Wichí); and in the Patagonia or South (Mapuche, Tehuelche).