Demographics of Argentina

Argentines are a fusion of diverse national and ethnic groups, with descendants of Italian and Spanish immigrants predominant. Waves of immigrants from many European countries arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Syrian, Lebanese, and other Middle Eastern immigrants number about 500,000, mainly in urban areas. Argentina has the largest Jewish population in Latin America, about 250,000 strong. In recent years, there has been a substantial influx of immigrants from neighboring Latin American countries. The indigenous population, estimated at 700,000, is concentrated in the provinces of the north, northwest, and south. The Argentine population has one of Latin America's lowest growth rates. Eighty percent of the population resides in cities or towns of more than 2,000, and over one-third lives in the greater Buenos Aires area. With 13 million inhabitants, this sprawling metropolis serves as the focus for national life. Argentines enjoy comparatively high standards of living; half the population considers itself middle class. As far as rural life is concerned, huge ranches, called estancias, cover much of the Pampa and Patagonia. Some rural people work on estancias. Others own small farms. As a general rule, country people do not live as well as city people. Because of this fact the rural population is declining as farm workers seek better life in the cities. Many rural houses are built of adobe. The poorer people live in houses with adobe walls, dirt floors, and roofs of straw and mud. Wealthy landowners have elegant country estates and luxurious city homes.

Population: 39,144,753 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 27% (male 5,061,588; female 4,827,582)
15-64 years: 63% (male 11,625,574; female 11,613,358)
65 years and over: 10% (male 1,582,861; female 2,244,219) (2000 est.) <p>Population growth rate: 1.02% (2004 est.) <p>Birth rate: 17.19 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) <p>Death rate: 7.57 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) <p>Net migration rate: 0.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) <p>Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2000 est.) <p>Infant mortality rate: 18.31 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.) <p>Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 75.05 years
male: 71.67 years
female: 78.61 years (2000 est.) <p>Total fertility rate: 2.24 children born/woman (2004 est.) <p>Nationality:
noun: Argentine(s)
adjective: Argentine <p>Ethnic groups: white (mostly Spanish and Italian) 97%, mestizo, Amerindian, or other nonwhite groups 3% <p>Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4% <p>Languages: Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French, Welsh <p>Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 96.2%
male: 96.2%
female: 96.2% (1995 est.)

Reference

Much of the material in this article comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

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